Oman
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Oman (Hindi:ओमान , Arabic: عمان ʻUmān) is an Arab state in Western Asia.
Variants
Location
It is located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It has a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest and also shares a marine border with Iran. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.
The population
Omani people are ethnically diverse, the native Omani population consists of many different ethnic groups, including Arabs, ethnic Balochis, Swahilis, ethnic Lurs, Persians, Hindus and Mehri people. The largest non-Arab Omani community are Balochi people, who are an Iranian people following the Sunni faith.
History
At Aybut Al Auwal in the Dhofar region 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.[1]
Dereaze, located in the city of Ibri, is the oldest known human settlement in the area, dating back as many as 8,000 years to the late Stone Age.[2] Archaeological remains have been discovered here from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age; findings have included stone implements, animal bones, shells and fire hearths, with the later dating back to 7615 BC as the oldest signs of human settlement in the area. Other discoveries include hand-molded pottery bearing distinguishing pre-Bronze Age marks, heavy flint implements, pointed tools and scrapers.
On a mountain rock-face in the same district, animal drawings have been discovered. Similar drawings have also been found in the Wadi Sahtan and Wadi Bani Kharus areas of Rustaq, consisting of human figures carrying weapons and being confronted by wild animals. Siwan in Haima is another Stone Age location and some of the archaeologists have found arrowheads, knives, chisels and circular stones which may have been used to hunt animals.
Sumerian tablets refer to a country called Magan[3][4] or Makan,[5][6] a name believed to refer to Oman's ancient copper mines. Mazoon, another name used for the region, is derived from the word muzn, which means heavy clouds which carry abundant water. The present-day name of the country, Oman, is believed to originate from the Arab tribes who migrated to its territory from the Uman region of Yemen; many such tribes settled in Oman, making a living by fishing, herding or stock breeding, and many present day Omani families are able to trace their ancestral roots to other parts of Arabia.
From the 6th century BC to the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Oman was controlled and/or influenced by three Persian dynasties, the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanids. A few scholars believe that in the 6th century BC, the Achaemenids exerted a strong degree of control over the Omani peninsula, most likely ruling from a coastal center such as Sohar. Central Oman has its own indigenous so-called Late Iron Age cultural assemblage Samad al-Shan. By about 250 BC, the Parthian dynasty had brought the Persian Gulf under their control and extended their influence as far as Oman, establishing garrisons in Oman to help control the trade routes in the Persian Gulf. In the 3rd century AD, the Sassanids succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later.[7]
Arrival of Islam: Omanis were among the first people to come in contact with and accept Islam.[8] The conversion of the Omanis is usually ascribed to Amr ibn al-As, who was sent by Muhammad around 630 AD to invite Jayfar and 'Abd, the joint rulers of Oman at that time, to accept the faith. In submitting to Islam, Oman became an Ibadhi state, ruled by an elected leader, the Imam.
During the early years of the Islamic mission, Oman played a major role in the Wars of Apostasy that occurred after the death of Muhammad, and also took part in the great Islamic conquests by land and sea in Iraq, Persia (Iran) and beyond. Oman's most prominent role in this respect was through its extensive trading and seafaring activities in East Africa and the Far East, particularly during the 19th century, when it propagated Islam to many of East Africa's coastal regions, certain areas of Central Africa, India, Southeast Asia and China.
After its submission to Islam, Oman was ruled by
- Umayyads between 661–750,
- Abbasids between 750–931, 932–933 and 934–967,
- Qarmatians between 931–932 and 933–934,
- Buyids between 967–1053, and the
- Seljuks of Kirman between 1053–1154.
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[9] mentions Arabia....Next after them are the Nabatæi, who have a city called Petra10, which lies in a deep valley, somewhat less than two miles in width, and surrounded by inaccessible mountains, between which a river flows: it is distant from the city of Gaza, on our shores, six hundred miles, and from the Persian Gulf one hundred and thirty-five. At this place two roads meet, the one leading from Syria to Palmyra, and the other from Gaza.
On leaving Petra we come to the Omani11, who dwell as far as Charax, with their once famous cities which were built by Semiramis, Besannisa and Soractia by name; at the present day they are wildernesses.
10 Mentioned in B. v. c. 21, if, indeed, that is the same Petra.
11 Omana or Omanum was their chief place, a port on the north-east coast of Arabia Felix, a little above the promontory of Syagros, now Ras el Had, on a large gulf of the same name. The name is still preserved in the modern name Oman.
Mention by Pliny
Pliny [10] mentions Arabia.....Beyond this (Catharrei = Qatar), the navigation is impracticable on that side,21 according to Juba, on account of the rocks; and he has omitted all mention of Batrasave22, a town of the Omani, and of the city of Omana23, which former writers have made out to be a famous port of Carmania24; as also of Homna and Attana, towns which at the present day, our merchants say, are by far the most famous ones in the Persian Sea.
22 Considered by modern geographers to be identical in situation with the Black Mountains and the Cape of Asabi, and still marked by a town and district named Sabee, close to Cape Mussendom.
23 In the modern district still called Oman.
24 On the opposite coast.
External links
- Official web portal of the Government of Oman
- Official website of the Embassy of India in Muscat (Oman)
References
- ↑ The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: An African Middle Stone Age Industry in Southern Arabia
- ↑ About Oman
- ↑ Digging in the Land of Magan
- ↑ Oman The Lost Land
- ↑ Oman A History Written by Paul Lunde
- ↑ The Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India - Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak, David Frawley - Google Books
- ↑ History of Oman
- ↑ U.S. Relations With Oman
- ↑ Natural History by Pliny Book VI/Chapter 32
- ↑ Pliny.vi.32