Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hostilities: the Portuguese
Frequent civil wars during the Bani Nabhan dynasty, between the sultan's forces and tribal
factions, left the country vulnerable to outside hostilities that eventually came in the form
of the Portuguese.
Alarmed by Oman's naval strength and anxious to secure Indian Ocean trade routes, the
Portuguese launched a succession of attacks against Omani ports; by 1507 they managed
to occupy the major coastal cities of Qalhat (near Sur, and mentioned in the journals of
Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo), Muscat and Sohar. Ironically, it was a talented sailor from
Sohar, Ahmed bin Majid, who unwittingly helped Vasco da Gama navigate the Cape of
Good Hope in 1498, leading to the Portuguese invasion a few years later.
Over the next 150 years Oman struggled to oust the occupying forces. Eventually, un-
der the guidance of the enlightened Ya'aruba dynasty (1624-1743), Oman was able to
build up a big enough fleet to succeed. The Portuguese were interested in Oman only as a
sentry post for their maritime adventures and had barely ventured into the country's interi-
or. They were therefore easy to rout, given Oman's newly established naval might. Other
than Al-Jalali Fort, Al-Mirani Fort and Mutrah Fort, all of which dominate the centre of
Muscat, the Portuguese left little behind, although their legacy of military architecture
shaped fort construction in Oman.
Unified & Wealthy
By 1650 Oman became a settled, unified state of considerable wealth and cultural accom-
plishment, with influence extending as far as Asia and Africa. Many of Oman's other
great forts were built during this period, including the impressive, round-towered Nizwa
Fort.
By the 19th century, under Sultan Said bin Sultan (r 1804-56), Oman had built up a
sizeable empire controlling strategic parts of the African coast, including Mombasa and
Zanzibar, and parts of what are now India and Pakistan. Today it is easy to see the influen-
ce that Oman had on the coastal areas of those countries, and even more tangibly the ex-
tent to which its own culture and population was enriched by the contact. The Batinah
coast, for example, is home to the Baluchi people originally from Pakistan; as a result,
mosque design along the highway between Barka and Sohar bears more resemblance to
the florid architecture across the neck of the Gulf than it does to the more austere Ibadi
tradition of Oman's interior.
When Sultan Said died, the empire was divided between two of his sons. One became
the Sultan of Zanzibar and ruled the African colonies, while the other became the Sultan
of Muscat and ruled Oman. The division of the empire cut Muscat off from its most luc-
