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Little is known about Oman's preislamic past but it is clear from
recent archaeological discoveries and research that erarly civilisations existed at least 5000
years ago.
Sumerian tablets refer to a country
named "Magan" as a source of copper. It
seems certain that they referred to Oman.
Evidence from excavations near Sohar
shows that the copper mining and smelting
industry was well developed by the year
2000 BC.
Frankincense from Dhofar, which was so
important in the social and religious life of
ancient peoples also provides evidence of
the existence of an early trading
community. It is also clear that there were
farming and fishing settlements from the
earliest times.
The ancestors of present day Omanis are
believed to have arrived in two waves of
migration over a number of years, the first
from the Yemen and the second from
northern Arabia at a time when various
parts of the country were occupied by the
Persians.
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The Coming of Islam and the Early Imamate
The call of the Prophet Mohammed to
the Omanis to become Muslims altered the
course of their history. It was in about 630
AD that Amr Ibn al-As arrived in Oman
bearing a letter from the Prophet to Abd
and Jaifar, the two sons of al-Julanda, who
ruled Oman jointly. Having embraced
Islam, they were instrumental in defeating
the Persians.
The early Imamate in Oman arose out of
a vision to create the true and ideal Muslim
In the early 16th century after the
Portuguese under Vasco da Gama had
discovered the sea route round the Cape of
Good Hope to India, they occupied Muscat
for a century and a half in order to
dominate the trade which had until then
been an Arab monopoly. The Portuguese
were expelled from Muscat in 1650 by
Sultan bin Saif al-Yarubi.
Since the expulsion of the Portuguese no
other foreign power has ever occupied
Oman, apart from a brief period when the
Persians made a partial occupation. The
Ya'aruba Imams introduced a period of
renaissance in Omani fortunes both at home
and abroad, uniting the country and bringing prosperity. It was under the
Ya'aruba dynasty that many of the
imposing castles and beautiful buildings
that have been restored recently, such as the
fort at Nizwa and the Palace at Jabrin, were
built.
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Civil War
Unfortunately, on the death in 1718 of
the Imam, Sultan bin Saif II, civil war broke
out over the election of his successor.
Persian troops occupied Muttrah and
Muscat but failed to take Sohar which was
defended by Ahmad bin Said, who
continued to fight the Persians and drive
them from Oman after the civil war had
ended.
In 1744 Ahmad bin Said, who was a man
of outstanding personality and courage,
was elected Imam. He faced a number of
difficulties in reconciling the rival factions
after the civil war, but he managed to build
up the Omani navy into a power to be
reckoned with, personally leading
expeditions against pirates and driving the
Persians out of Basra. When he died in
1783, his son Said was elected Imam but he
was not popular, being replaced by his son
Hamad, who had been de facto ruler in
Muscat while his father remained in Rostaq.
Hamad died suddenly in 1792 and his uncle, Sayyid Sultan bin Ahmed, assumed
power until his death in 1804. He had
exercised such tight control over Oman and
trade in the Gulf that European powers
dealt with him as the effective ruler of the
country.
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