ABSTRACT
Control of Masqaţ proved to be a sufficient basis for Sulţân's expanding maritime enterprise and there was no need to risk military defeat by claiming the imâmate, an attempt which would have united his brothers against him. Within a twelve-year period, eighteenth century ʿUmân's effective government and relationship with the outside world altered irrevocably. This period began at 1781 and ended at 1792/93 with attempts by Sulţân b. Aḩmad to control Masqaţ. The events of the transitional years focused on that port and indicated a growing cleavage between interior and coast, while at the same time the Ghâfirî-Hinâwî dichotomy deepened, most noticeably within the Âl bû Saʿîd itself. The interests of the effective ruler became identified with the merchant group and were soon to be entangled with the interests of European powers. There was still an imâm and indeed a potential rival imâm in Qays, but it was evident that traditional Ibâḑî principles of government were strained to the limit.
