| |||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Muscat | ||||
| Language official |
Arabic | ||||
| others | Balochi, Mehri, Kumzari, Swahili, Indian languages | ||||
| Area | 309,500 km² | ||||
| Population | 4,520,471 | ||||
| Independence | from Portugal | ||||
| declared | 1650 | ||||
| Currency | Omani rial | ||||
The Sultanate of Oman is a sovereign nation located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. Bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west and Yemen to the southwest, Oman also has a strategic coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Muscat, the capital city, is a vibrant cultural and economic hub. Oman has a rich history that spans millennia, with a legacy deeply intertwined with maritime trade and the historical spice routes. Renowned for its diverse landscapes, encompassing deserts, mountains, and coastlines, Oman is governed as an absolute monarchy, with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said ascending to the throne in 2020.
History[]
The region was inhabited by various tribes (possibly related to Nubians) and was known to the people of Ancient Mesopotamia as Magan. The coastal regions were conquered by the Achaemenid Persians while the interior was populated by Semetic-Speaking Proto-Arabs in the 1st millennium BC. It is possible that Alexander the Great may have been in the area after conquering it from the Achaemenids.
The first signs of Islam in Oman were in 630, during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. The region's conquest by the Rashidun Caliphate accelerated Oman's conversion to Islam. Subsequent Muslim dynasties in Iran, such as the Samanids and Ghassanids, also ruled over the Omani coast.
After the Seljuk Turks conquered much of Eastern Iran from the Afghan Ghassanids, they created the Kerman Seljuk Sultanate. Kerman evolved into the Kingdom of Ormuz, which grew rich of trade based out of its port-capital of Bandar-e Abbas (known as Hormuz at the time). The Kingdom controlled parts of Iran, Pakistan, Oman and the UAE while being a vassal of various Turkic Dynasties in Iran and later the Mongols. The Port was even visited by the Ming Treasure Fleets of Zheng He.
In 1507 the Portuguese conquered Dioskouridou from the Mahra Sultanate, but abandoned it after realising the risk of starvation. King Manuel I had also ordered that the entrances of the Indian Ocean should all be conquered (Malacca, Hormuz and Aden). Afonso de Albuquerque invaded Ormuz after leaving Dioskouridou, being backed by the Sheikh of Muscat. The Portuguese conquest of Oman itself was met with little resistance, since it was accomplished with only 500 men. The town of Qurayyat was the only one to offer significant resistance, most other yielded peacefully and gave gifts to the Portuguese, most notably a Farsi-language account of Alexander the Great's life. The city of Ormuz itself (ruled in name by a 12 year old king but real power lay with a Bengali court slave) refused to surrender, so the Portuguese decided to bombard it. The bombardment, combined with rumours that the Portuguese were cannibals (from the sacking of Qurayyat) meant that the Hormuzis refused to negotiate. The Portuguese gunners killed many of the Persian mercenaries hired by the Hormuzis and the King decided to surrender.
Muscat was chosen by the Portuguese as the centre of their commercial and military operations in the Middle East, due to its alliance with them during the invasion of Ormuz and its advantageous geography. The Portuguese conquered the Arab tribal raiders that had attacked Muscat for years to secure it as a viable port.
In 1552 the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis plundered Muscat during the Ottoman-Portuguese war. Leaving much of Portuguese Oman greatly weakened. The Safavids (with English support) conquered Ormuz, leaving Muscat as the capital of Portuguese Oman as the Kingdom of Ormuz was dissolved.
Omani Empire[]
Omani Empire in West Asia at greatest extent, 1717
The Yarubids, a small Ibadi tribe from Yemen, managed to unite many of the tribes of the Omani interior under their rule during the reign of Saif bin Sultan, who had to defeat his brother in war for the throne. From 1633 to 1650 the Yarubids managed to conquer Portuguese Oman, making Muscat their capital. The Yarubids sponsored pirates and privateers who raided Portuguese shipping, which weakened their enemy while also increasing their wealth. Since the Yarubids had conquered the coast from the Portuguese they improved irrigation and planted trees along the coast while encouraging the tribes of the interior to settle along the coast. This created a string of fortified agricultural communities along the coast while also breaking up the power base of the powerbase of the Tribal vassals. These types of agricultural settlements were later replicated in Oman's overseas Empire. The Omanis funded the construction of numerous forts and schools, including a naval academy in Muscat. The new Yarubid Dynasty captured many Portuguese ships and weapons and managed to reverse engineer them and begin mass producing them, creating a large and modern navy and army. This allowed Oman under the Yarubid Dynasty to become a colonial power itself, raiding and conquering numerous Portuguese colonies from Gujarat to Zambezia, while also expanding west to capture Bahrain from the Persians.
The Portuguese colony of Ilhas da Maré Vermelha (Red Tide Islands) was conquered by the Omanis in 1696, and became the wealthiest Omani colony, with the Omanis seizing control of the plantations and expanding them. The Omanis took over the local slave trade, and monolpolised exports of African slaves to the Middle East. Several local Muslim states remained allied to the Portuguese and had provided aid to the Portuguese army during the Omani war to conquer the islands. This led to Oman beginning a multi-decade long war to force these states into submission. The Cimarrón tribes also resisted Omani rule, fighting a guerilla war against them until 1885. The Omanis also encouraged immigration to their new colonies, in addition to Omani Arabs there were also Persians, Yemenis, Afghans, Balochis, Caucasians and Indians. Efforts by Omanis to eliminate Christianity and local animist faiths were largely successful, but they failed to completely replace Sunni Islam with Ibadism. Many of the colonies were governed either by local vassals or by Arab clans from Oman that were granted permission to rule a colony on behalf of Muscat.
The death of Sultan in 1718 caused considerable instability in Oman, his successor, Muhanna bin Sultan, was only briefly the ruler of the country before being deposed in 1720. Muhanna's cousin, Ya'Arab proclaims himself Imam, sparking an uprising by Muhammad bin Nasir in 1724. When the northern tribes pick sides it leads to a full-scale civil war. Saif bin Sultan II ultimatly decides to end the violence by appealing to Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid Dynasty in Iran. The Persian force invades and kills many people, while abducting many as slaves. This left Saif bin Sultan II as the undisputed ruler, until numerous tribal leaders revolted against him due to his decadent lifestyle and Pro-Persian attitude. After losing the battle of Nakhal he appealed for Persian help once again, who agreed to assist if given control of Sohar in exchange. As the Persian army arrives in 1743 Saif bin Sultan II dies, and the Persians take control of Muscat. They eventually eliminate all of the former Sultan's rivals, or turned them into vassals. After the assassination of Nader Shah, the Afsharid Empire collapsed into a power vacuum. In Oman the Persians were massacred by Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi, the former governor of Sohar. He eventually reunited Oman under his rule in 1749, although the old Yarubids remained influential.
Omani influence had been diminished, with Muscat's ability to govern the tribes of the interior regions being almost completely ended, and efforts to restore the rule of the central government here led to centuries of warfare and raiding. Oman's naval power was reduced as well, and the nobles in the colonies (still loyal to the Yarubids) revolted from 1779 to 1784. Although the Busaidis managed to win that war, it was only accomplished with British assistance.
Oman wanted British aid in reasserting their naval power and resisting the Saudis (the First Saudi State managed to occupy much of Oman until the Turco-Egyptians captured their capital in 1818). The British were interested in exerting influence over Oman for several reasons: The English East India Company had long been interested in opening trading posts in Omani territory, and the East India company later opening "factories" in Omani possessions in Africa, Azania and the Middle East, paving the way for future British colonisation of the Persian Gulf and Africa. Another reason was the fact that Oman was a major slave trading power and the British were trying to abolish the international slave trade during this period. Anglo-Omani relations became even stronger when Napoleon began considering expansion into the peripheries of the Indian Ocean, backing Russia's brief incursion into India, forming an alliance with the Safavids and even planning to seize Oman itself. The Franco-Persian invasion force never arrived due to war in Europe, but the threat of the French forced Oman even further into Britain sphere of influence. Oman saw the British using their concessions in the Gulf to expand their influence in the region, forcing regions to submit as protectorates and laucnhing numerous anti-piracy operations. Oman tried to reassert itself in the Gulf, launching their own invasions and raids against local powers, culminating in an Omani invasion of Basra, where the Sultan was killed. The new Sultan determined that his nation needed new allies in order to shake off British influence, and began to consider rapprochement with France.
In 1833, Oman signed a treaty of friendship with the United States, with the Al-Sultanah docking in New York in 1840, carrying exotic gifts for President Martin Van Buren.
After the death of the Sultan in Basra, the Sultan's two sons were too young to rule, with power being managed by a regent named Mohammed bin Nasir. A rebellion against the bin Nasir broke out shortly after, led by other Busaidis, although it was suppressed by the regent who then assumed total control over the state. The bin Nasir was backed militarily by the Saudis, which made him even more unpopular. When the sons of the former Sultan came of age they were appointed to governorships of distant provinces. The eldest, Said bin Sultan, revolted and managed to expel the Saudis from Oman, while killing Mohammed bin Nasir.
Under the rule of Said bin Sultan (1806-1856), Oman expanded its overseas Empire in Africa and Azania considerably. His successors saw the decline of the Omani Empire, as they sold key colonies to Europeans and became involved in costly wars in an effort to prevent their sphere of influence from being completely overtaken by Europeans in the aftermath of the Berlin Conference. In the end, Oman had lost its colonies and fell into period of economic hardship, which came to an end in 1908 when oil was discovered in Omani territory.