History of Oman Timeline

Muscat and Oman was the object of Franco-British rivalry throughout the 18th century, as both European powers sought influence over the strategically located sultanate.

The Al Busaid dynasty was founded in 1744, beginning a more cosmopolitan political culture centered on Muscat that has been the ascending power since, though imamate traditions found intermittent expression.

Image source: Al Bu Said dynasty

The leader of the revolt, Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi, took advantage of the assassination of Persian king Nader Shah in Khurasan in 1747 and the resulting chaos in the Persian Empire by expelling the dwindling Persian forces from Oman.

Image source: Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi

This period included a revolt in Oman's colony of Zanzibar in 1784, challenging Omani authority over its overseas possessions.

Image source: Zanzibar

As a regional commercial power in the 19th century, Oman held Zanzibar on the Swahili Coast, the Zanj region of the Southeast African coast including Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, and Gwadar on the Arabian Sea coast of present-day Pakistan.

During the 19th century, Muscat and Oman concluded several treaties of commerce with the United Kingdom, benefitting mostly the British.

During the reign of Sultan Said ibn Sultan (1806–1856), Oman built up its overseas colonies, profiting substantially from the slave trade.

Image source: Said bin Sultan

When Great Britain prohibited slavery in the mid-19th century, the sultanate's fortunes reversed, undermining the economic foundations of its maritime empire.

The death of Sa'id bin Sultan prompted a division: Thuwaini ibn Said Al-Busaid ruled Muscat and Oman (1856–1866) while Mayid ibn Said Al-Busaid ruled Zanzibar (1856–1870), with the Qais branch intermittently allied with the ulama to restore imamate legitimacy.

Image source: Thuwaini bin Said

When Sultan Sa'id bin Sultan Al-Busaid died in 1856, his sons quarrelled over the succession, prompting a struggle resolved through British mediation.

Zanzibar paid an annual subsidy to Muscat and Oman following the 1861 division, continuing until Zanzibar's independence in early 1964.

As a result of the succession struggle, the empire — through the mediation of Britain — was divided in 1861 into two separate principalities: the Sultanate of Zanzibar and the area of 'Muscat and Oman'.

Image source: Muscat and Oman

In 1868, Azzan bin Qais Al-Busaid emerged as self-declared imam, attempting to unify Muscat and Oman under religious leadership.

Imam Azzan's resort to military means to unify Muscat and Oman alienated members of the Ghafiri tribes, who revolted during the 1870–1871 period.

At the Battle of Dhank, Turki bin Said defeated the forces of Imam Azzan, who was killed in battle outside Muttrah in January 1871, ending his attempt to restore the imamate.

Image source: Battle of Dhank

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries there were recurring tensions between the sultan in Muscat and the Ibadi Imam based in Nizwa, foreshadowing later conflict.

Britain seized most of Oman's overseas possessions, and by 1900 Oman had become a very different country than before, reduced largely to its Arabian heartland.

In 1908 the British entered into an agreement with Oman based on imperialistic plans to control the area, tightening their grip on the sultanate's affairs.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, the sultan of Oman declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, aligning the sultanate with the Allies.

Image source: World War II

In 1943, the Royal Air Force established stations on Masirah Island (RAF Masirah) and at Ras al Hadd, turning Oman into an Allied air base during World War II.

Image source: RAF Masirah

On October 16, 1943, the German U-Boat U-533 was sunk in the Gulf of Oman after being struck by depth charges dropped by a Bristol Blenheim bomber of the Royal Air Force.

Their traditional association was confirmed in 1951 through a new treaty of commerce, based on oil reserves and navigation, by which the United Kingdom recognized the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman as a fully independent state under British supervision and neo-colonial interest.

In 1954, the conflict between the sultan and the imamate flared up again when the Treaty of Seeb was broken by the sultan after oil was discovered in the lands of the Imam.

Image source: Jebel Akhdar War

In 1964, a separatist revolt began in Dhofar province, escalating into a prolonged insurgency supported by communist South Yemen.

Image source: Dhofar War

1970 also brought the abolition of slavery in Oman, marking a major social reform under the new sultan Qaboos bin Said.

In the 1970 Omani coup d'état, Qaboos bin Said al Said ousted his father, Sa'id bin Taimur, who later died in exile in London, launching Oman's modern renaissance.

Image source: 1970 Omani coup d'état

In mid-1974, the Bahrain branch of the PFLOAG was established as a separate organisation and the Omani branch changed its name to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO), continuing the Dhofar Rebellion.

Image source: Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman

By early 1975, the Dhofar guerrillas were confined to a 50-square-kilometre area near the Yemeni border and shortly thereafter were defeated, ending the rebellion.

The PFLO threat diminished further with the establishment of diplomatic relations in October 1983 between South Yemen and Oman, and South Yemen subsequently lessened propaganda and subversive activities against Oman.

Image source: South Yemen

In late 1987 Oman opened an embassy in Aden, South Yemen, and appointed its first resident ambassador to the country, further cementing bilateral relations.

Image source: Aden

In November 1996, Sultan Qaboos presented his people with the Basic Statute of Oman, the country's first written constitution.

In September 2000, about 100,000 Omani men and women elected 83 candidates, including two women, to seats in the Majlis Al-Shura, expanding popular participation.

Image source: Consultative Assembly (Oman)

In December 2000, Sultan Qaboos appointed the 48-member Majlis Al Dowla, or State Council, including five women, which acts as the upper chamber in Oman's bicameral representative body.

Qaboos, the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, died on 10 January 2020 after nearly 50 years in power, ending an era of modernization and diplomacy.

Image source: Qaboos bin Said

On 11 January 2020, Qaboos's cousin Haitham bin Tariq was sworn in as Oman's new sultan, continuing the Al Busaid dynasty's leadership of the nation.

Image source: Haitham bin Tariq