Hi Lew,
Yes your points are well taken re Oman/Trucial States. The boundaries are rather clouded, but the HILT styles tell the story. The particular hilts styles on Gavins Khanjar are originally from the (modern) UAE area or Arabia.
With reference to your pics, the second one is an Al bu Said hilt, and the 3rd one is a Meccan Style hilt but with an Omani style scabbard.
Re the 2 pics of T E Lawrence---in the left pic he is wearing a Khanjar with a MECCAN style hilt, and in the righthand one, an Al bu Said hilt. According to popular belief he had a preference for Meccan style Khanjar, and in fact had a gold Khanjar made for him in Mecca in 1917. This particular Khanjar is now in a private collection.
It must be remembered that prior to WW 1 (1914), Arabia was very much unknown, and the only contact was with traders and trading on the coasts. Various tribes tended to be rather fixed in their areas and it was only when someone elses style of Khanjar found its way to a new area, that the mix of styles found today began. Its an interesting and at times frustrating task to clearly identify exactly where each style comes from.
