Sultan bin Ahmad

Seated portrait of Sultan bin Ahmad, a sheikh of the Sh'asha lineage of the Bayt Kathir Bedouin and a member of Wilfred Thesiger's travelling party, in the region between Wadi Rahnah and Al Maghar well.Known to Wilfred Thesiger only as "Sultan", Sultan bin Ahmad was introduced to Thesiger by the Wali of Salalah in the fall of 1945. A senior sheikh of the Sh'asha lineage of Bayt Kathir Bedouin, Sultan bin Ahmad had travelled with Bertram Thomas during his 1930 crossing of the Empty Quarter. Sultan bin Ahmad was one of the leaders of Thesiger's Bayt Kathir Bedouin travelling party. Directed by the Wali of Salalah to accompany Wilfred Thesiger on a 1945–6 locust-monitoring research trip from Salalah to Mughshin, Sultan went on to accompany Wilfred Thesiger on his two following journeys from Salalah to Al Mukalla in 1946 and from Salalah to Mughshin during Thesiger's First Crossing of the Empty Quarter in 1946–7.

While Sultan bin Ahmad proved to be an effective leader, he and Wilfred Thesiger had a falling out in December 1946 when Sultan refused to accompany Thesiger past Ramlat al Ghafah in the Empty Quarter. After this trip Thesiger and Sultan bin Ahmad ceased travelling together, and Thesiger began travelling more often with members of the Rashid Bedouin tribe.

Photographs of Sultan bin Ahmad