The special importance of the Kitb al-ansab (The book of genealogies) from al-'Awtab -- an Omani historian who lived in the 11th century -- is that it is the first historiographic source related to Oman. Therefore, al-'Awtab presents the history of Oman from the descendants of Noah to the fall of the Umayyads (750). At this point, the narration ends abruptly. But the present study concerns the pages devoted to the age that preceded the diffusion of Islam, particularly the period when Arab tribes began to arrive in Oman. Because of the disaster of the Ma'rib dam the majority of inhabitants are forced to leave the town looking for a new home. Regarding migration, according to Arabian tradition, the Azd tribe seem to have separated into different groups of which one, guided by Mlik b. Fahm, arrived in Oman. So, with his actions and words, the brave chief of the Azd determined the first arabization of Oman. The story narrated by al-'Awtab, following a temporal order of facts, is full of suggestions and includes particularly interesting aesthetic and literary points of view. It is mainly a fictional reconstruction of the events. This narration suggests that al-'Awtab assembled the written Arabic sources with oral Omani traditions. It is a story whose function was to recount the arrival of the Azd in Oman and to highlight the origins of this territory and its inhabitants.

During the early modern period Oman held a key position in the trade routes whereby the Muslim world dominated indigenous trade in the Indian Ocean. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Oman broke free from foreign political control and became the dominant economic and naval force in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf. This was a golden age for Omanis, when their economic power and political prestige were at their height. This study, first published in 1986, presents a detailed, comprehensive history of this important period, and includes tribal politics, the role of religion, and Oman’s relations with neighbouring areas such as Persia and East Africa. The era ends with the political and maritime pressures exerted on Oman by Britain and France, and the territorial pressures exerted by the Wahhabi Arabians.

The ideal introduction to the history of modern Oman from the eighteenth century to the present, this book combines the most recent scholarship on Omani history with insights drawn from a close analysis of the politics and international relations of contemporary Oman. Jeremy Jones and Nicholas Ridout offer a distinctive new approach to Omani history, building on postcolonial thought and integrating the study of politics and culture. The book addresses key topics including Oman's historical cosmopolitanism, the distinctive role of Omani Islam in the country's social and political life, Oman's role in the global economy of the nineteenth century, insurrection and revolution in the twentieth century, the role of Sultan Qaboos in the era of oil and Oman's unique regional and diplomatic perspective on contemporary issues.

This text provides a study of the history of Oman from the advent of Islam until the fall of the second Ibadi Imamate in AH 280. In pulling together historical material, it gives an account of Oman's position under the early Islamic community.

Oman lies in the extreme south-east corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The author traces the early development of the country and its considerable empire in Africa. Shows how Oman came into its own with the founding in the mid-eighteenth century of the Albu Said dynasty, which earned for Oman the recognition by the West of its dignity and independence.