The Omani Empire?

Can you explain when did they got Bandar-e-abas or Hurmoz ?
I think you mean Portuguese invasion , Is it true ?

The Slave trade made them rich. They eventually ended up controlling parts of the coastal regions of Balochistan, both Irans and Pakistan and then the E. Africa coast of course. Which is why in Makran, Pakistan today, you have an Afro-Balochi community. Descdendents of black slaves brought there by the Omanis.

Rostam_Sourena said:

Can you explain when did they got Bandar-e-abas or Hurmoz ?
I think you mean Portuguese invasion , Is it true ?

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Before 1521 the Kingdom of Hormuz was a dominant force in the Persian Gulf. The main ports of the Persian Gulf , such as "Julfar, Bahrain, Calayate (Qalhat), Mascate, Catifa (al Qatif), Corfaçao, and the islands of Queixome and Lareca" fell under the King of Hormuz. With the fall of Hormuz in 1515 and definitively in 1521 these towns and their ports came to the Portuguese. The Portuguese considered Hormuz to be one of three vital assets of their Asian empire (the other two being Malacca and Goa), but they lost it to a combined English-Persian army on May 3 1622, after provoking the Persian king by building a fort on the Persian mainland to protect water supplies to the desert island of Hormuz.

The Portuguese moved to Mascate and were gradually forced out until the Omani took Mascate in 1650.

http://www.colonialvoyage.com/eng/asia/persian_gulf/index.html

Mohammed the Persian said:

And they had a good navy , I assume ?

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No idea about their navy but it must have been decent as they were often in conflict with the Portuguese and not only prevailed but held their empire together. The last Non-Omani posession they had was Gwadar ("Jawader" on the map) i believe, which was sold to Pakistan in 1958.

Mohammed the Persian said:

I see your Arabic skills have greatly improved
مبروك

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Haha Shukran Jazeelan

I'm really interested in this empire, mostly because it's really hard to find information about it in here. Anyone knows enough to tell me some thigs? I'd like to know:
*Important leaders
*When was it born? When did it collapse?
*How was it economy?
*Did it have a powerful military?
I'd be thankful if anyone could answer.

Looks like a helen colonization

I'm not sure how accurate that map is, particularly when pertaining to Somalia. It's possible the various dynasties there were vassals of Oman but they could've been allies just the same. I haven't found a lot of information on Omani territories in Africa and how deep the conquest went or if it really was a conquest. I know the Omanis may have indirectly controlled Mogadishu and even had a governor in a sense rule over it(later sold to Italy) but I don't know how it was acquired or if it was even captured.

And there's this from wiki pertaining to the map: "A maximalist view of the "Empire of Oman" in the early 19th century; in fact effective control in Africa was concentrated in coastal cities and their immediate surroundings."

The Omanis drove the Portuguese out of the Arabian Peninsula and the Swahili coast and broke Portuguese naval power in the Indian Ocean, bringing an end to Portuguese raids, murder, and torture of civilians, and confronted European pirates with an iron fist to put an end to their reign on terror.

Somalis and Swahilis both fought against the Portuguese as well, it wasn't just the Omanis and Ottomans.

Pretty late to reply but here are the answers to most of your questions:

Q1:How did they manage to add Bandar abbas and Jawadar into their Nation?

A1:After a rivalry between the two sons of the last Sultan in the Ya'ruba dynasty the Persians managed to Invade Oman under the rule of Nadir Shah,after many rebellions one Man called Ahmad ibn Sayyid Busaidi revolted and successfully kicked the Persians out, he would go on to liberate Basra and Bahrain from Persian rule on his reign,After building a navy more successful than the Persian one he rented the Persian ports and overtime it became under Omani rule. (He also installed the Busaidi Dynasty which rules Oman to this day.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1717_Omani_invasion_of_Bahrain
more about this here: History of the Oman and Zanzibar Sultanate

Q2:How did they have colonies in East Africa?

A2:The Omanis were colonized by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, they never really kicked them out until the 17th century, at that time Portugal had Colonies all over East Africa, so their locations were known to the Omani Sultans, The Omani Navy/Army captured many forts along the African coast with the help of African tribes and thus kicked the Portuguese out of the Horn of Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Jesus
OMANI ARAB RULE IN ZANZIBAR
HISTORY OF ZANZIBAR

Q3:How strong was their Navy/Army?

A3:It was decent, in the Indian Ocean the navy was only second to the British, the Millitary was good enough to Defeat the Persians on many battles and siege/defeat the Portuguese in East Africa,in terms of actual numbers the Omani Navy in the 19th Century had about 100 Warships outfitted with 30-74 Cannons and a couple hundred small Trading Ships (for the Trade in India,Africa).

The Millitary equipment was basic,An Omani Matchlock "Abu Fathilah" and a Sword and a Rhino Shield


Omani soldier Guillain 1845

I'd say they had 12,000-20,000 Soldiers and 7,000 to 11,000 Reserves.

Q4:Any famous Sailors/Naval Leaders?

A4:Actually yes, Since the European Traders were looking for a way to get to India, They asked Arabian Sailors to guide them once they got to Africa/Arabia,One of the most famous Omani Sailors was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Mājid
Ahmad bin Majid was born on Modern Day UAE, which at the time when he was born it was Oman, the UAE never really got independence until the British came and Made it a seperate entity, before that Oman and the UAE had the same history, Same nation etc.

Q5:How were the Relations with other Nations?

A5:Nice, they formed relations with many nations such as the USA,India,Persia,U.K,France etc.

USA:American traders wanted to get in the African trade so they negotiated with Oman which after the Omani ship "Sultanah" Visited the Capital of the US, Relations were good.

France:Omani ships visited Southern France and an Embassy was formed in Oman by the French in the 19th Century.

I hope this answers most of your questions.

Almar said:

I hope this answers most of your questions.

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Very interesting.
Could you answer some more questions about Omani Empire?
What kind of ships did Omanis use, were they european style warships or classical arabian?
Did Omani sultans have feild or siege artillery?
Did they have own gunpowder or matchlock industry?
How strong were their forts in African coast?
Did Oman have encounters with other European nation except Portuguese?

foggert said:

Very interesting.
Could you answer some more questions about Omani Empire?
What kind of ships did Omanis use, were they european style warships or classical arabian?
Did Omani sultans have feild or siege artillery?
Did they have own gunpowder or matchlock industry?
How strong were their forts in African coast?
Did Oman have encounters with other European nation except Portuguese?

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1-What kind of Ships did the Omani Sailors use?

A:They weren't European Style ships they were usually created without any calculations or drawings beforehand and were dhows, At the peak of Oman's seafaring empire in the 18th and 19th centuries, the dhows were magnificent vessels as the Sultanate had an advanced expertise in ship building. They had raised poop decks with an attractive row of small windows. Even the largest, like the 200-tonne 'baghala', was famous for its beauty. A French writer described a voyage in a baghala named 'Hope of Compassion': "Her windowed stern was especially lovely. Its elliptical area of ancient teak was covered with intricate patterns of excellent carving and her curved bow swept upwards from the sea as gracefully as the ...... of a swan". These carvings were achieved with the simplest tools- and adze, a chisel, a hammer etc. The ships were built by hand and eye, without drawings or written specifications. The gaps between the boards were sealed with a mixture of gypsum and shark fat.
These large dhows were the best of the Gulf world's dhow tradition. Oman used these magnificent vessels to develop into one of the great sea-trading nations before the 20th century age of steam-powered ships. (Oman Maritime History)

And while in size they were relative to any European ship albeit a bit smaller, as i said previously they held between 30-74 cannons and looked like this
and the Arabian dhows which looked like this:

.

Q2: Did the Omanis have field or siege artillery?

A2:I'm afraid not since their isn't any documentation proving they did,however they could have used the cannons in their ships to siege Zanzibar and other coastal cities that could explain how they only settled in coastal cities and didn't go further west.

Q3: Did the Omanis have their own Gunpowder and Matchlock industries?

A3:I'm not sure about the Gunpowder industry they could've brought it from other powers near them although the matchlock industry sure was there since they had their own matchlock weaponry as i said before with the example being the Matchlock "Abu Fathilah" Antique Omani Musket / Matchlock (Abu Fathilah / Fatiyalah = Father of the match)

Q4:How strong were Omani forts in Africa?

A4:It wasn't quite fortified as they had African tribes protect them, since the Omanis heavily changed the culture of east Africa and made it more Arabic and Islamic many Africans thought themselves to be Omani and there wasn't any threat other than the European traders, and they signed many deals with other European nations so their coasts were clear, a single fort contained from 50 to 500 Soldiers although Zanzibar was heavily fortified with troops and cannons in the 19th Century.

Q5: Did Omanis encounter any people other than the Portuguese from Europe?

A5:Yes, Many many nations. in 1798-1799 they signed Deals with the English east India company so they could establish their trade in the port Bandar Abbas (which was Omani at the time) also the French signed a deal with Oman in 1840s and a French Embassy was Established in Oman, the Omani ship Caroline visited Southern France in the same decade too.

Also they encountered the Americans by the 19th century who wanted to establish a foothold in the Trade of Africa, thus the Omani ship "Sultanah" visited the American capital under the command of the Omani minister "Ahmed bin Nou'man al Ka'bi" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_bin_Na'aman_Al_Kaabi
Which held many classical Arab swords and returned with many Gold.

and they had great relations with the Ottomans because the Omanis managed to liberate Basra from Persian rule thus the Sultan Mustafa the third of the Ottomans paid a Yearly income for the Omanis.

Hope this clears things up for you

I remember as a kid in the 60's, the country was called 'Muscat and Oman' and had a solid red flag. The country name and flag changed in 1971 following the change of ruling sultans, from father to son.

David K said:

I remember as a kid in the 60's, the country was called 'Muscat and Oman' and had a solid red flag. The country name and flag changed in 1971 following the change of ruling sultans, from father to son.

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Yeah it was called the Sultanate of muscat and Oman due to many reasons that i cannot explain as they are alot but in the end the current Sultan changed it to further unify the Nation after the Dhofari Rebellion to simply "The Sultanate of Oman"

thanks a lot.

Almar said:

the Omanis heavily changed the culture of east Africa and made it more Arabic and Islamic many Africans thought themselves to be Omani

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- did the Omanis have their missionaries or missions among native tribes in Africa like Europeans had?

Almar said:

Yeah it was called the Sultanate of muscat and Oman due to many reasons that i cannot explain as they are alot but in the end the current Sultan changed it to further unify the Nation after the Dhofari Rebellion to simply "The Sultanate of Oman"

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Being one of the rare absolute monarchies in the world, as you are one who lives there I would like to ask: Does it work to everyone's satisfaction, i.e. does the sultan have happy citizens who don't desire some control of government?