oman history

Oman - History
Oman´s history goes back to the very dawn of civilization. The coastal area fronting on the Gulf of Oman is believed to have been the land known to the Sumerians as Magan, from which as early as 3,000 B.C. they were importing copper.Remains of settlements and distinctive beehive tombs are the legacy of this earliest known culture. The Arab history of the country begins in the 2nd century B.C., with the migration of tribal groups from the region of modern-day Yemen. The Oman is were among the first of the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula to embrace Islam, doing so during the lifetime of the Prophet in the 7th century A.D. The centuries that followed were a golden age, with Omani sailors and traders ranging from India to Africa.In 1507 the Portuguese seized and fortified Muscat harbor, establishing a string of coastal strong points to proted their trade route to India. They were not finally expelled until 1650.The Oman is then proceeded to build their own empire on the Arabian Peninsula and along the coasts of Persia, India and Africa, becoming the dominant maritime power in the area. In 1741 the founder of the present Al-Said dynasty, Imam Ahmad bin Said, took power, moving the capital from the interior to the former Portuguese stronghold of Muscat. The country thereafter was known as Muscat and Oman. Winning a contest with France for influence, Britain established a treaty relationship with the sultanate in 1798. Oman was recognized as fully independent in 1951,but the close relationship continued

Bahla Fort

Bahla Fort and Threats to Its Survival

Oman is the ancient land of frankincense, the aromatic gum which was once considered more precious than gold. The Omani civilization dates back thousands of years—in biblical times the country was the hub of the rich frankincense trade. Known for their seafaring tradition, the Sultans of Oman ruled over a wealthy trading empire that stretched from the coast of East Africa to the tip of the Indian subcontinent from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Not far from the capital of Oman rests the Oasis of Bahla, which owes its prominence to the Banu Nebhan tribe that dominated the region from the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth century. The ruins of the immense Bahla Fort, with walls and towers of earthen brick and foundations of stone, loom 165 feet above the village. Having never been restored, the fort has retained much of its authenticity as a remarkable example of this style of fortification. In the absence of conservation measures, however, large sections of the outer walls collapse each year following the area's rainy season. Both Bahla Fort and the oasis village are evidence of an ancient civilization.

Oman and Zanzibar: AD 1698-1856
In the 1690s Saif bin Sultan, the imam of Oman, is pressing down the east African coast. A major obstacle is Fort Jesus, housing the garrison of a Portuguese settlement at Mombasa. After a two-year siege, it falls to Saif in 1698. Thereafter the Omanis easily eject the Portuguese from Zanzibar and from all other coastal regions north of Mozambique.Zanzibar, a valuable property as the main slave market of the east African coast, becomes an increasingly important part of the Omani empire - a fact reflected by the decision of the greatest 19th-century sultan of Oman, Sa'id ibn Sultan, to make it from 1837 his main place of residence.

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Sa'id builds impressive palaces and gardens in Zanzibar. He improves the island's economy by introducing cloves, sugar and indigo (though at the same time he accepts a financial loss in cooperating with British attempts to end Zanzibar's slave trade).The link with Oman is broken after his death in 1856. Rivalry between his two sons is resolved, with the help of forceful British diplomacy, when one of them (Majid) succeeds to Zanzibar and to the many regions claimed by the family on the east African coast. The other (Thuwaini) inherits Muscat and Oman

Oman Natural History
Did you know that Oman had once experienced varied climates and environment, and even an ice age? Or that the barren, desolate terrain of Central Oman was once a fertile place with rivers, lakes and trees? And to confound you further, there is another nugget of information that monkeys, rhinoceros, crocodiles and elephants had inhabited this land. No wild theories these, but scientific conclusions derived from fossils prised out of rocks