Muscat, Oman

Muscat (Arabic ???? Masqa?), population 880,200 (2005) can mean:

History

Muscat is one of the older cities in the Middle East. It has been known since the second century A.D.. Some 3,000 pounds of frankincense was transported each year by ship from southern Arabia to Greece, Rome and the Mediterranean. The center of this trade was in a place called Khour Rouri, which the Greeks called "Muscat".

Related Topics:
Second century - A.D. - Pounds - Frankincense - Arabia - Greece - Rome - Mediterranean - Greeks

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The first foreign presence in Muscat was in the form of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who landed in Oman on his way to India. The Portuguese returned in 1507 to sack and capture Muscat. In 1649, the Imam Sultan bin Saif defeated the Portuguese and drove them away east to Goa, India.

Related Topics:
Portuguese - Vasco da Gama - Oman - India - 1507 - 1649 - Imam - Goa

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With the superior, captured warships of the Portuguese navy, the Imam established an empire that spanned from Zanzibar in the south to Guadar in Pakistan in the east. Slaves were brought in from Zanzibar and Balochistan to work in Oman and traded elsewhere. This was a period of relative stability and prosparity in Muscat and Oman.

Related Topics:
Zanzibar - Guadar - Pakistan - Balochistan

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The country was torn apart by strife and unrest upon the death of the Imam in 1679. Muscat was then invaded by the Persians in 1737, albeit briefly, since Admad bin Said defeated them and was subsequently elected Imam.

Related Topics:
1679 - Persians

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In 1803, the Wahabbis of Saudi Arabia attacked Oman, but were repulsed by Sayyid Said bin Sultan. The sultan then set up a colony in the fertile areas of Zanzibar and essentially ruled Oman from a foreign island. Later, in 1853, the Sultan transferred the title of "capital" of Oman to Zanzibar. Thus began to decline of the fortunes of Muscat and Oman.

Related Topics:
Wahabbis - Said bin Sultan - Muscat and Oman

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In 1913, Sultan Taimur bin Faisal became Sultan and the territory was renamed "Muscat and Oman" with the Sultan ruling Muscat and the Imam ruling Oman. After Indian independence in 1947, the Sultan, with the help of the British, defeated the Imam, unified most of Oman taking command of the Buraimi oasis.

Related Topics:
Taimur bin Faisal - Indian independence - 1947 - British - Buraimi

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The Dofar War began in 1964 which sought the expulsion of the British from Oman. Six years later, Prince Qaboos bin Said, son of Sultan Taimur staged a palace coup and claimed the throne. The old Sultan was flown to London by the British Royal Air Force. The coup, staged by Prince Qaboos, with his close friend and confidant Tim Landon at his side, was the beginning of a new consolidated, modern sultanate.

Related Topics:
1964 - British - Qaboos bin Said - Coup - London - Royal Air Force

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Sultan Qaboos bin Said instituted land and social reforms, and though autocratic, ruled Oman with a liberal vision that saw the an overall improvement in educational standards of its citizenary, cultural and economic development and overall consolidation of the Sultanate.

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