Oman

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman's coastline faces the Arabian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The exclaves of Madha and Musandam are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, while Musandam's coastal boundaries are formed by the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. It has a population of approximately 5.46 million and an area of 315,331 km² (121,750 sq mi). Muscat is the capital and largest city.

Oman is the oldest independent state in the Arab world, and has been continuously ruled by the Al Bu Said dynasty since 1744. Beginning in the 17th century, Oman became a regional power with an empire that competed with the Portuguese Empire and British Empire for influence in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence and control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to present-day Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar. In the 20th century, Oman had come under the influence of the British Empire while de jure remaining sovereign.

Oman's oil reserves are ranked as the 22nd largest globally. In 2010, the United Nations Development Programme recognised Oman as the most improved country in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. Less reliant on fossil fuels than other Persian Gulf states, a significant portion of Oman's economy involves tourism, as well as the trade of fish, dates and other agricultural produce. The World Bank classifies Oman as a high-income economy. As of 2024, Oman ranks as the 42nd most peaceful country in the world in the Global Peace Index, and the most peaceful Arab state after Qatar and Kuwait.

Oman is an absolute monarchy ruled by a Sultan, with power passed down through the male line. Qaboos bin Said served as sultan from 1970 until his death in 2020. His reign saw a rise in the country's living standards, the abolition of slavery, the end of the Dhofar Rebellion, and the promulgation of Oman's constitution. In 2020, Haitham bin Tariq succeeded Qaboos as the Sultan of Oman. Oman is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Etymology

The oldest known written mention of "Oman" is found on a tomb in the Mleiha Archeological Center in the United Arab Emirates. The name "Oman" is believed to predate Pliny the Elder's reference to "Omana" and Ptolemy's reference to "Omanon". (Ὄμανον ἐμπόριον in Greek). Both of these references likely pertain to the ancient city of Sohar.

The city or region is commonly etymologised in Arabic as deriving from ʿāmin or ʿamūn, meaning 'settled' people, in contrast to the nomadic Bedouins. While some theories propose an eponymous founder—such as Oman bin Ibrahim al-Khalil, Oman bin Siba' bin Yaghthan bin Ibrahim, and Oman bin Qahtan—others suggest that "Oman" originates from a valley in Ma'rib, Yemen. This valley is presumed to be the ancestral homeland of the Azd, an ancient Bedouin tribe mentioned in pre-Islamic inscriptions, particularly in Sabaic inscriptions from the reign of Sha'r Awtar (210–230 CE).

Oman has been known by other names. The ancient Sumerians and the Mesopotamians called it Magan, a reference to the Magan civilisation, while the Persians called it Mazun, derived from the word "Muzn", meaning clouds and abundant flowing water, which explains the establishment and prosperity of agriculture in Oman since ancient times and the stability and civilisation that accompanied it. The name "Oman" is mentioned in Arabic sources as an independent region. Al-Istakhri and Ibn Hawqal referred to this in their sayings: "Oman is a region with independent regions with spacious people." Ibn Khaldun was more explicit in his definition of Oman. He mentioned it among the Arab regions that emerged as independent states in the Arabian Peninsula, namely Yemen, the Hijaz, Hadhramaut, Ash Shihr, and Oman. He described its system of government, saying that it was a "sole sultanic region."

History

Prehistory

At Aybut Al Auwal, in the Dhofar Governorate of Oman, a site was discovered in 2011 containing more than 100 surface scatters of stone tools, belonging to a regionally specific African lithic industry—the late Nubian Complex—known previously only from the northeast and Horn of Africa. Two optically stimulated luminescence age estimates place the Arabian Nubian Complex at 106,000 years old. This supports the proposition that early human populations moved from Africa into Arabia during the Late Pleistocene.

In recent years surveys have uncovered Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites on the eastern coast. Main Palaeolithic sites include Saiwan-Ghunaim in the Barr al-Hikman. Archaeological remains are particularly numerous for the Bronze Age Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq periods. At the archaeological sites of Bat, Al-Janah, and Al-Ayn wheel-turned pottery, hand-made stone vessels, metals industry artifacts, and monumental architecture have been preserved.

Ancient history

Magan civilisation

Sumerian tablets referred to Oman as "Magan" and in the Akkadian language "Makan", a name that links Oman's ancient copper resources. This is a clear reference to the Magan civilisation, an ancient region in what is now modern day Oman and United Arab Emirates, which was referred to in Sumerian cuneiform texts of around 2300 BCE and existed until 550 BCE as a source of copper and diorite for Mesopotamia.

Iron Age to pre-Islamic period

There is considerable agreement in sources that frankincense was used by traders in 1500 BCE. The Land of Frankincense, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dramatically illustrates that the incense constituted testimony to South Arabian civilisations.

During the 8th century BCE, it is believed that the Yaarub, the descendant of Qahtan, ruled the entire region of Yemen, including Oman. Wathil bin Himyar bin Abd-Shams (Saba) bin Yashjub (Yaman) bin Yarub bin Qahtan later ruled Oman. It is thus believed that the Yaarubah were the first settlers in Oman from Yemen.

In the 1970s and 1980s, scholars like John C. Wilkinson believed by virtue of oral history that in the 6th century BCE, the Achaemenids exerted control over the Omani peninsula, most likely ruling from a coastal centre such as Suhar. Central Oman has its own indigenous Samad Late Iron Age cultural assemblage named eponymously from Samad al-Shan. In the northern part of the Oman Peninsula the Recent Pre-Islamic Period begins in the 3rd century BCE and extends into the 3rd century CE. Whether or not Persians brought south-eastern Arabia under their control is a moot point, since the lack of Persian archeological finds speak against this belief. Armand-Pierre Caussin de Perceval suggests that Shammir bin Wathil bin Himyar recognised the authority of Cyrus the Great over Oman in 536 BCE.

Azd tribal migration

Over centuries, tribes from western Arabia settled in Oman; they made a living by fishing, farming, herding or stock breeding. Further, many present-day Omani families trace their ancestral roots to other parts of Arabia. Arab migration to Oman started from northern-western and south-western Arabia and those who chose to settle had to compete with the indigenous population for the best arable land. When Arab tribes started to migrate to Oman, there were two distinct groups. One group, a segment of the Azd tribe migrated from Yemen in 120/200 CE following the collapse of Marib Dam, while the other group migrated a few centuries before the birth of Islam from Nejd (present-day Saudi Arabia), named Nizari. Other historians believe that the Yaarubah from Qahtan, which belong to an older branch, were the first settlers of Oman from Yemen, and then came the Azd.

The Azd settlers in Oman are descendants of Nasr bin Azd and were later known as "the Al-Azd of Oman". Seventy years after the first Azd migration, another branch of Alazdi under Malik bin Fahm, the founder of Kingdom of Tanukhites on the west of Euphrates, is believed to have settled in Oman. According to Al-Kalbi, Malik bin Fahm was the first settler of Alazd. He is said to have first settled in Qalhat. By this account, Malik, with an armed force of more than 6000 men and horses, fought against the Marzban, who served an ambiguously named Persian king in the battle of Salut in Oman and eventually defeated the Persian forces. This account is, however, semi-legendary and seems to condense multiple centuries of migration and conflict as well as an amalgamation of various traditions from not only the Arab tribes but also the region's original inhabitants.

During the 7th century CE, Omanis came in contact with and accepted Islam. The conversion of Omanis to Islam is ascribed to Amr ibn al-As, who was sent by the prophet Muhammad during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha (Hisma). Amr was dispatched to meet with Jaifer and Abd, the sons of Julanda who ruled Oman. They appear to have readily embraced Islam.