Ancient civilizations-2

Omani expansion

In Oman events took an independent course. The Yaʿrubid dynasty—founded about 1624 when a member of the Yaʿrub tribe was elected imam—expelled the Portuguese from Muscat and set to harrying Portuguese possessions on the Indian coast. Embarking on expansion overseas—to Mombasa in 1698, then to Pemba, Zanzibar, and Kilwa—the Omanis became the supreme power on the coastal regions of the Indian Ocean, and European merchants feared marauding Omani fleets.

Muscat, Oman, spreading inland behind a 16th-century Portuguese fort (left background).© Ronsmith/Shutterstock.com

The Persians captured Muscat in 1743. The Yaʿrubids dissolved into dynastic dispute, and a leader named Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd set to liberating Oman from the Persians. He became imam in 1749, founding the Āl Bū Saʿīd dynasty. This period in Oman is marked by the crystallization of the political alignment of the tribes of the Banū Ghāfir (Ghāfirī) against those of the Banū Hinā (Hināwī).

During the 18th century the growth of the East India Company and British paramountcy in India began to affect Arabian politics and commerce most directly in the southern coastal region, while the interior was little concerned at first. Coastal Arabia now came fully into the world economy through commerce in coffee, slaves, pearls, and dates and the continuing pilgrimage to Mecca. Oman, Iran, and Sunni Arab tribes struggled to dominate the coasts of the Persian Gulf, while a series of agreements later paved the way for British control in that area.