Muscat History

Muscat is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. It has been known since the second century AD. Some 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of frankincense was transported each year by ship from southern Arabia to Greece, Rome and the Mediterranean. The centre of this trade was in a place called Khour Rouri, which the Greeks called "Muscat". (Note that Khour Rouri is now recognized as an archaeological site in the Dhofar region of the country, more than 500 miles south of present-day Muscat, far closer to the present-day city of Salalah).

The first European 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 under André Pereira dos Reis and drove them away east to Goa, India.

With the superior, captured warships of the Portuguese navy, the Imam established an empire that spanned from Zanzibar in the south to Gwadar in what is now 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 prosperity in Muscat and Oman.

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.

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.

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.

The Dhofar War began in 1964 which was a communist insurrection staged from the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen against the Sultan of Oman. The insurrection was opposed by Omani, British and Iranian forces and was successfully put down. Six years later, Prince Qaboos bin Said, son of Sultan Said bin 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

source: wikipidia.com