Editing Percy Cox (section)

==British Somaliland and Muscat (1893–1903)==
After holding minor administrative appointments in [[Kolhapur]] and [[Savantvadi]] in India, Cox was posted to [[British Somaliland]], which was then administered from India, as Assistant Political [[Resident (title)|Resident]] at [[Zeila]]. He transferred to [[Berbera]] in 1894. He was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in February 1895. In May 1895 he was given command of an expedition against the Rer Hared clan, which had blocked trade routes and was raiding the coast. With only 52 Indian and Somali regulars and 1,500 poor quality, untrained local irregulars, he defeated the Rer Hared in six weeks. Later that year 1895, he was promoted to be assistant to the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India's]] agent in [[Vadodara|Baroda]].

For 1899 he had intended to join the US expedition under [[Arthur Donaldson Smith|A Donaldson Smith]] between the [[River Nile]] and [[Lake Rudolf]], but in October 1899, the new Viceroy of India, [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]] appointed Cox Political Agent and [[Consul (representative)|consul]] at [[Muscat, Oman]], inheriting a tense situation between the British, French and Arabs who regarded the area as under their influence. The French had leased a [[coaling station]] from [[Faisal bin Turki, Sultan of Muscat and Oman|Sultan Feisal]], the local ruler, for the [[French Navy]]. The French also gave protection to the local [[History of slavery|slave trade]], which the British opposed. Feisal was ordered by the British under Cox to board the British merchantman SS ''Eclipse'', whose guns were trained on his palace and reprimanded and informed that his annual subsidy could be withdrawn by the British government.

Cox managed to successfully end French influence in the area; turning the subsidy around, and agreeing that Feisal's son could receive an education in England and visit the [[Delhi Durbar]]. When Lord Curzon, visited Muscat in 1903, he judged that Cox virtually ran the place. Cox was promoted to the rank of [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] on 6 February 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27428|pages=2794–2795|date=25 April 1902}}</ref> and was invested Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]]; whereas Feisal was rewarded for loyalty with [[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]] in Curzon's gift.