195 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2018 196

MIDDEN-OOSTEN

AL SALIMI, A. and E. STAPLES (eds.) — Oman. A Mari- time History. (Studies on Ibadism and Oman, 9). Georg Olms Verlag AG, Hildesheim, 2017. (31 cm, 254). ISBN 978-3-487-15390-2. € 68,-. ‟The book follows a chronological narrative that empha- sizes Oman’s relationship with the sea, combined with a the- matic look at the discipline of maritime history, the develop- ment of boatbuilding, and the practices of navigationˮ (from the excellent Introduction). It is divided into five parts, in which the papers, apart from the thematic first and two last chapters, follow in chronological order Oman’s relationship with the sea. 197 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — MIDDEN-OOSTEN 198

Part 1: The Larger Concepts of Maritime History (pp. 17-28). that came with them, integrating Arab, Persian, East African, Edward A. Alpers, in the first chapter, ‟Maritime History, Turkish, and Indian populations within the shores of Omanˮ. World History, Global History: Some Thoughts on Past, Pre- Perhaps Oman itself runs the risk here to be drowned in this sent and Futureˮ (pp. 17-28), treats ‟understanding the field ocean of historical events in the regions surrounding the Ara- of maritime history, the issues it involves, the tensions that bian/Persian Gulf. are within the field, as it struggles to integrate itself with Willem Floor’s ‟Omani-Portuguese Maritime Activities world and global historyˮ (Introduction). For the reader who (1500-1650 CE)ˮ (pp. 117-137) provides a narrative of the is not familiar with philosophy of history, the paper provides trade emporium of Hormuz, the Omani-Persian kingdom of a forest of names of historians and opinions on what mari- Hormuz, which comprised the Batinah coast, the islands in time history is or should be and how it fits into ‟world the Gulf, including Bahrain, part of the littoral of Fars, historyˮ and ‟global historyˮ. Moghestan, and the Birunat. Then follows the arrival of the Part 2: Background: The Maritime Realm in Pre-Islamic Portuguese in the Gulf: Albuquerque took Hormuz on Octo- Oman (pp. 31-78). ber 10th, 1507 (p. 119), or 1515 (p. 121)? He gives a very Tom Vosmer, in ‟Maritime Trade in the Bronze Ageˮ detailed account of Portuguese-Ottoman rivalry in the Gulf. (pp. 31-48), discusses the development of maritime activity The influence of piracy and smugglers is discussed, how Iran from the late Paleolithic to the end of the Bronze Age (about challenged the Portuguese position, and how the Portuguese 1000 BCE). Subjects such as copper from the Oman moun- had to face the Dutch and the English. Finally, in 1649-1650 tains, the ships, navigation, ports, trade routes in the Arabian Muscat fell to the Ya῾rubids. Unfortunately, the many names Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean of boat types are not explained. routes, and pack animals: how the domestication of the Part 4: The Modern Islamic Period 1650 CE-Present camel might have influenced the building of larger ships, (pp. 141-181). currents and monsoon winds are being reviewed. The author Beatrice Nicolini, in her paper ‟Oman’s Maritime Activi- discusses the considerations of archeologists and the evi- ties throughout the Indian Ocean: 1650-1856 CEˮ (pp. 141- dence. As early as in the Bronze Age seafarers from Magan 159), outlines the rise of the Omani maritime dynasties, the (Oman) sailed between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley. Ya῾rubids and the Āl Bū Sa῾īd, and their expanding maritime Anjana Reddy’s paper is titled ‟Hinterland Trade and trade into the western Indian Ocean and East Africa. She Maritime Networks in Oman from Iron Age to Late Antiq- addresses the importance of the trade in cloves, ivory, dates uity (1000 BCE-630 CE)ˮ (pp. 49-78). In a sea of details, and firearms, as well as Anglo-French rivalry in the region. using archaeological and epigraphic material, and referring Calvin H. Allen, Jr., in his ‟Oman’s Maritime History to textual evidence, Reddy discusses subjects such as Greco- since 1856 CEˮ (pp. 161-181), treats fisheries, maritime Arabian trade in ancient Southern Arabia (Yemen) in the first trade, naval affairs, and maritime heritage. The death of millennium BCE; Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Parthian Sayyid Sa῾īd b. Sulṭān in 1856 marked the beginning of a interests in the Arabian Gulf; sea and overland trade in long decline of Oman’s maritime history that had brought Oman (the region that includes present-day UAE, al-Bāṭina prosperity, particularly to its coastal towns and regions. and al-Dākhiliyya of Oman); the aromatics trade of Southern Before the advent of oil, artisanal fishing, which lasted until Arabia; Sasanian influence in Oman; Omani seafaring in the 1970, in the rich sea waters of Oman provided the second Indian Ocean in Late Antiquity; ship building, etc. She largest livelihood in Oman after agriculture. A description of points to connections between the development of domesti- the types of the traditional fishing boats used, is given, and cated camel trade, the establishment of the aflāj irrigation of the processing of the caught fish and the export of fishing system, and the flourishing maritime trade. Archaeological products. Government interest in fishery only began after evidence and various scholastic views indicate that overland Sultan Qaboos assumed the throne in 1970. Then the devel- trade and maritime networks developed in Oman for centu- opment and modernization of the commercial fisheries sector ries during and after the collapse of the Roman Empire, prior is described, as well as its ups and downs. The course of to Roman involvement in the trade to the Red Sea giving the maritime trade from the second half of the 19th century is first impetus to trade and commerce in the Indian Ocean. sketched, the impact of the shift from sail to steam in Oman, Part 3: Oman and Maritime Networks: 632-1650 CE of the two World Wars, the improvement of ports, while at (pp. 81-137). the same time the dhow trade remained a viable commercial Eric Staples, in his paper ‟Oman and Islamic Maritime venture for several reasons. The discovery of oil in 1964 Networks (632-1507 CE)ˮ (pp. 81-115), sketches the com- accelerated the development of modern ports and shipping. plex and extremely varied history of the regions surrounding Then follows a description of the development of Omani the Arabian Gulf during almost a millennium: involvement naval affairs. The chapter concludes with a few maritime of ῾Abbasids, Qarmatians, Wajihads (sic: Wajīhids), Buyids heritage projects. and Makramids in Oman, the Second Imamate (rising in Part 5: The Maritime Sciences: Naval Construction and the mid-eleventh century), the Saljucs, the Nabhanids, the Navigation (pp. 185-252). emerging maritime states Qays (Kīsh), and Hormuz, and Tom Vosmer provides in his ‟The Development of Boat- the influence of these events on Oman’s maritime trade that building Technologies and Typologiesˮ (pp. 185-222) a expanded from Iraq to the Indo-West Pacific and China, and comprehensive discussion of the development of boatbuild- to the Indian Ocean and East Africa, to end with: ‟Oman, ing technologies from the Bronze Age to the present. He during the centuries between 630 and 1507, experienced discusses the multiple influences on boat design, the materi- major changes as it first became part of the Islamic world als -hull and sail materials- and the tools used to construct and then became increasingly connected to the wider hori- them, and he describes the various types of vessels, tradi- zons of the Indo-West Pacific. More importantly, these ships tional and current ones, with illustrations, as well as the vari- carried people and all the cultural richness and complexity ous steering devices. ‟The Indian Ocean trade networks, 199 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2018 200 which comprised by the seventh century CE the longest sea of Dhofar, nowadays locked from the Indian Ocean by a sand trading route in the world, and centuries later accepted the barrier. The region is now called Khor Rori. Reports on the intrusions of Chinese, Southeast Asian and European influ- archaeological excavations can be accessed and downloaded ences, contributed to the exchange of ideas, but also were from http://arabiantica.humnet.unipi.it. Information from the responsible for the unity of design and construction that excavations can be consulted from http://imtodb.humnet. yielded what we think of today as the dhow.ˮ unipi.it. In the last centuries BCE the port of Sumhuran, In the last chapter of the book, Eric Staples, in his ‟Navi- founded towards the end of the third century BCE, was a gation in Islamic Sourcesˮ (pp. 223-252), first gives us a junction in long-distance trade between Egypt, the Arabian short discussion of navigation in the Ancient World and in coast and India, not only by sea but also overland. It reached the Early to Middle Islamic Period (632-1462). Then he its most flourishing period between the first and third centu- focuses in particular on the navigational practices found in ries CE. Frankincense was most probably the most important the works of Aḥmad b. Mājid and Sulaymān al-Mahrī (writ- product. A factual description of the excavated town is given, ten in the period 1462-1553), such as natural navigation of the objects found in chronologically different layers, with markers (ishārāt), knowledge of the sailing seasons photographs, and how life in the city possibly was is dis- (al-mawāsim), star attitude measurements (qiyās), the stellar cussed. India seems to have been one of the main trading bearings (al-akhnān), measuring distance (zām and masāfāt), partners, but there have been also frequent relations with the diagonal sailing estimates (tirfa), knowledge of routes area of the Gulf. The city was abandoned starting from the (al-dīrāt and al-asfār), the lunar mansion system (al-manāzil), fourth century CE, but in the Middle Islamic period (1250- navigational instruments (al-ālāt), such as the compass, the 1500) the area around the city was occupied again. lodestone (al-ḥajar or al-maghnātis), star measuring instru- Juris Zarins and Lynne Newton present a study of seaports ments (qiyās and khashabāt), the sounding lead (al-buld), excavated and surveyed along the southern Omani coast etc. Towards the end of his paper, he examines more recent (Dhofar) and their relationship with the Arabian interior, pri- evidence of Arab navigational practices in the nineteenth and marily south of the Rub῾ al-Khali desert, in their article twentieth centuries. ‟Northern Indian Ocean Islamic Seaports and the Interior of This book, which by the way is well illustrated, offers a the Arabian Peninsulaˮ (pp. 57-86). They discuss the geo- variety of articles, some less, some more detailed, some with morphology and ecology of southern Arabia, monsoon, too many details. For those interested in maritime matters, frankincense and myrrh. They present evidence of coastal- archaeology, and boatbuilding, all more or less related to inland interactions prior to the Islamic period. Dhofar and the Oman, it is interesting, albeit at times a bit tedious, Yemen Mahra Governorate in the ῾Abbasid period (750-950) reading. are discussed. Descriptions of Arabian travelers and others of trade routes along wadis and water sources are given. The Maastricht, Martin Custers Rub῾ al-Khali route to the North is discussed, as well as the December 2017 oasis of Shisr/Wubar, the southern Arabian trade in aromat- ics, the horse trade. A detailed article, interesting for archae- * ologists, with extensive footnotes. * * Part 3: Ports of the Eastern Region (pp. 89-138). In their article ‟Islamic Period Maritime Trade and Travel AL SALIMI, A. and E. STAPLES (eds.) — The Ports of along the Southern Arabian Coasts of the Indian Ocean: The Oman. (Studies on Ibadism and Oman, 10). Georg Olms Case of Socotra, the Hallaniyat, Masirah and Mahut Islandsˮ Verlag AG, Hildesheim, 2017. (31 cm, 368). ISBN 978- (pp. 89-116), Juris Zarins and Lynne Newton present all 3-487-15391-9. € 68,-. kinds of information on these islands, passing from prehis- toric times to Islamic times. There is a longer discussion on In the first of this book’s five parts: The Larger Concept buoy anchors and monsoons, and the article concludes with of Ports (pp. 17-29), Michael Pearson, in ‟Ports in the Indian a few suggestions for reasons for ships to have visited these Oceanˮ (pp. 17-29), gives a general, long-term survey of the islands so close to the mainland, probably already as early as vicissitudes in the histories of ports in the larger Indian the Neolithic (c. 6000 BCE). Here also extensive footnotes. Ocean. He discusses various matters that determine their Tom Vosmer, in his article ‟Qalhat and Surˮ (pp. 117- location, explains the difference between cities with a port 138), records that political, geographic, topologic resource- and port-cities, points to the size of the ocean, to structural based, and economic factors made that Qalhat, despite its features such as the monsoon system, so-called choke points: extremely isolated position, prospered during the thirteenth narrow straits, like the Strait of Hormuz, to location such as to sixteenth centuries, and that Sur, with an extensive Jiddah, located halfway up or down the Red Sea and being a although shallow natural harbour never expanded until rela- gateway to Mecca, to the existence of river ports when ships tively recently. He presents historical developments in Qal- were smaller and artificial harbors unknown. He turns his hat, with textual and archaeological evidence. As for Sur, in thoughts to the influence of the port city in the hinterland and the eighteenth century the town became a thriving maritime vice versa, what is more important to the city, its hinterland centre. Suris came to form the mainstay of the Omani expan- or the foreland, the area overseas, which makes the place sion into the Makran coast, India, and especially East Africa. cosmopolitan. The port city also can be a pure entrepôt, The author gives all sorts of information: climate, history, which draws only food from inland, the umland. reputation, dhow trade of the Suris, shipbuilding, fishing, Part 2: Ports of Dhofar (pp. 33-86) starts with Alessandra tourism, manufacturing. Avanzini’s article “The Ancient Port of Sumhuranˮ Part 4: Ports of Muscat and the Batinah (pp. 141-211). (pp. 33-56). Sumhuran is a Pre-Islamic archaeological site Heinz Gaube begins part 4 with ‟Muscat and Mutrahˮ about 35 kilometers east of the city of Salalah on the coast (pp. 141-157). He starts with the remark that emphasis in the 201 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — MIDDEN-OOSTEN 202

Muscat section is on the period before 1900, when Muscat Part 5: Ports of Larger Oman (pp. 215-279). was far more important than Mutrah; in the Mutrah section Timothy Power gets together what is known about Julfar the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are emphasized. in his article ‟Julfar and the Ports of Northern Omanˮ Gaube presents descriptions of Muscat from Arabian sources, (pp. 215-240). Julfar port, just north of modern Ras al- ninth century to 15th century, Albuquerque’s account of the Khaima town, was for the majority of its history incorporated brutal conquest of Muscat in the first decennium of the six- into a succession of Iranian polities, only briefly and less teenth century, Oman’s revival after the Portuguese, who in assuredly absorbed into Omani states under the Nabahinids 1650 lost Muscat to the Ya῾rubi imam Sulṭān b. Sayf, Ger- and Ya῾rubids. Power points to the modest, essentially local, man traveler Engelbert Kaempfer’s description of Muscat in role of Julfar. Although, as a consequence of archaeological 1688. Also what Alexander Hamilton, 30 years later, had to excavations, historic Julfar became the best documented of say on Muscat. Then follows Carsten Niebuhr, who visited the ports of northern Oman, its precise historical develop- Muscat in 1765 in the time of Ahmad b. Sa῾īd (1753-1783). ment remains in the dark and subject to a degree of specula- Next a description of James Silk Buckingham, first quarter tion. To investigate this development, the archaeological 19th century. Eighty years after Buckingham, John Gordon evidence of the sites Kush, al-Nudud and al-Mataf (Julfar), Lorimer in his Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Cen- as well as the so-called Sheba’s palace, are analyzed in the tral Arabia (1908-1915) gives a more detailed description, course of the article. For the Umayyads and the Abbasids here given in more than two pages. For Mutrah again a long Julfar was ‟on the road to Omanˮ (c. 700-1000), a gateway extract from Lorimer’s Gazetteer is given, with a detailed to invade Oman; its role in relation to Oman during the description of the town and its mixed population. Next J.E. Umayyad and Abbasid periods is depicted, also referring to Peterson’s information (Historical Muscat, 2007) is pre- written historical sources. In the period c. 1000 to 1300 new sented, with a table of Mutrah’s quarters, with numbers of patterns of trade developed in the Gulf: hitherto states based houses and populations. Finally comes a long extract from in the major population centres of the interior had supported Ian Skeet (Muscat and Oman, the End of an Era, 1974) on coastal emporia, now new commercial centres emerged Mutrah at the end of the 1960s. In sum a factual description based on politically independent mercantile island emporia, of Muscat and Mutrah consisting mainly of sometimes long of which Kish (Qays) was the first, later followed by Hor- extracts. muz. These looked to the oases of Arabia for food supply for The following artice is titled ‟The Southern Batinah Portsˮ their growing populations, which finally may have stimu- (pp. 159-177), by Nasser Said Al-Jawhari, who highlights the lated the economy of Julfar in the thirteenth through fifteenth local and, perhaps surprisingly, also international trade centuries within a larger Hormuzi maritime network. Portu- importance of a number of smaller ports along the southern guese rule in Julfar lasted from 1515 to 1633. Julfar may Batinah coast, between Sohar and Muscat/Mutrah, such as have been abandoned towards the late sixteenth century, Seeb (old port of Dimma), Barka, Musna῾a, Suwaiq, Khabura, when settlement had gravitated to neighbouring Ras al- and Saham, and their surrounding areas. Only limited infor- Khaima. Ya῾rubi rule in Julfar, after imam Nāṣir b. Murshid mation is available on these smaller ports in historic sources. had occupied the settlement in 1633, was probably indirect Therefore the paper is based on interviews with elderly peo- and lasted until the civil war in Oman of 1742-1744, after ple who formerly engaged in overseas maritime trade, com- which a group of Hawala known as Qawasim established bined with historic data. The author gives a description of themselves in Sur or Sir, as Julfar often was named in con- geographical characteristics of the southern Batinah coast temporary sources. In the meantime events in Oman had led and its ports, as well as tables with numbers and types of to a Persian invasion via Sur by Nadir Shah in 1737. Then boats counted by a Durham University project. To end, he the entanglements between the Al Bu Said and the Qawasim gives a useful survey and conclusion of the rather limited are depicted during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, information he was able to gather. when the Qawasim became a leading naval power in the Brian Averbuch, in his article ‟Sohar: Forelands, Umland Gulf. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, Ras and Hinterland in the History of an Omani Entrepôtˮ al-Khaima had become overshadowed by Abu Dhabi. This (pp. 179-211), begins presenting Sohar’s geographical set- broad survey of Julfar’s history into the twentieth century is ting, which provides important routes into a far hinterland, concluded by a broad survey of the whole article. as well as an opening to wide overseas forelands. Then the Beatrice Nicolini, in her paper ‟The Port of Gwadar and author begins his survey of how these elements shaped the its Relationship with Omanˮ (pp. 241-254), crosses the town’s history over the last 1500 years, focusing on the city’s Gulf, to Gwadar, a port on the Makran coast of Baluchistan, flourishing overseas trade contacts, then moving on to agri- that was initially granted as a temporary land grant to the culture in Sohar’s umland and the aflāj systems that provided Al Bu Sa῾īd in the second half of the nineteenth century, the necessary water. Then Sohar’s security, its vulnerability but remained, partly due to British influence, under the con- from the hinterland as well as from the sea, and the vicissi- trol of Oman until it was sold back to Pakistan in 1958. tudes this brought along are discussed. In the sixteenth cen- Under the Al Bu Sa῾īd Gwadar became incorporated into tury the Portuguese controlled Sohar and, since 1643, the the Indian Ocean trade network. Nicolini brings us varied Ya῾rubids. Then follows a description of Sohar in the nine- detailed historical information about the port and the teenth and early twentieth centuries: population and type of Makran coast, such as entanglements as a result of the Brit- overseas trade during this period, emphasizing arms and ish telegraph line to India, international political influences slaves. Hinterland commerce is described and incursions by on British attitudes, the port’s role in arms traffic, spice and Wahhabis and bedouins. After the 1970s, Sohar transformed slave trade, interactions with the Baluch of Makran and the into a bustling maritime and industrial city in the twenty-first rulers of Oman: Sayyid Turki b. Sa῾īd, for example, used century. A broad outline, but with extensive footnotes that to spend long periods of recovery in Gwadar. Since 2007, will help more detailed reading. the seaport of Gwadar is being developed by the Chinese 203 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2018 204

People’s Republic, which eventually will allow the port to Arab travellers’ accounts, regularly falls back on J.C. Wilkin- triple its trade flow. son’s 2010 publication Ibāḍism. In part 3 Hormuz’ historical With Mark Horton’s ‟East Africa and Oman, c. 600-1856 apex in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as the centre of CEˮ (pp. 255-279) we cross the Indian Ocean southwest- a political and economic network that extended throughout wards to a part of the world with a longstanding relationship the Indian Ocean is depicted. From Hormuz on terra firma with Oman and Eastern Arabia thanks to the monsoon winds. the port moved to Hormuz-i Jadid on the island of Jarun. The After an excellent short introduction, Horton presents archae- royal court of Hormuz is described, and how the balance ological evidence and some textual indications concerning tilted in favour of Oman (Qalhat) under Salghur Shah (1475- trade with East Africa in the periods 50-600 CE and 600-900 1505). However, by the time the Portuguese arrived in 1507, CE. For the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries Ibadi influ- the royal dynasty was already in decline, and in 1515 the ences in remnants of East African mosques are visible. Dur- town capitulated. The Portuguese now controlled the entry to ing the tenth century trade between the Gulf and East Africa the Gulf, but nevertheless ‟Muslim merchants and their fleet shifted from slaves to luxury goods; the first half of this continued to control an impressive volume of trade and century was the most prosperous period for Sohar. Next, businessˮ. Throughout the article the historical events that developments in Western Indian Ocean trade with East accompanied and brought about all the developments influ- Africa during the eleventh through fifteenth centuries and the encing Hormuz’ history -Qarmatians, Buyids, Saljuqs, Timu- influence of international events on it are described. The rids etc. etc. – are reproduced extensively and with many arrival of the Portuguese in 1498 again brought changes in details, perhaps a bit too many? East Africa during the next centuries. In the second half of Finally, in the Conclusion of the book, Eric Staples, in the seventeenth century the Ya῾rubids, who had evicted the ‟The Ports of Oman Todayˮ (pp. 357-366), offers a quick Portuguese from Muscat in 1650, spread their influence into survey of the enormous developments Oman’s ports under- East Africa, challenging the Portuguese there, especially in went since 1970. Mombasa. Around 1735 the Mazrui governor of Mombasa The articles in this volume are broad surveys, collections declared himself independent from Oman. The Mazrui con- of data from secondary literature (travellers’ reports, archae- trol in East Africa was soon challenged by the Al Bu Sa῾īd. ological evidence), yet at the same time with many details. The eighteenth century saw a revival of the Swahili towns, It is beautifully illustrated. Interesting reading for those who while also slave trade saw a revival. This broad survey of are not yet intimately familiar with the subjects treated, while East Africa’s trading history ends with the reign of Sa῾īd b. the often extensive footnotes offer ample opportunities for Sulṭān in Zanzibar (1837-1856). further reading on particular subsections. Part 6: Hormuz-Qalhat-Kij: A New Maritime and Mer- cantile System (pp. 283-355). Maastricht, Martin Custers The last part of the volume is taken up by Valeria Fiorani January 2018 Piacentini’s long article ‟Hormuz: Bandar and Mulk (Port and Dominion): Eleventh to Early Sixteenth Century CE. When Hormuz Was the Hinge of a New Land and Maritime System, and Oman was its Pivot: the Hormuz - Oman - Kij Mercantile Dominionˮ (pp. 283-355). The article is divided into three parts: Part 1: Hormuz on Terra Firma: from Bandar to Nahiya under an Autonomous Ruler (Tenth - Elev- enth Centuries); part 2: The Political and Economic Inherit- ance of Siraf: Qays and Hormuz - Two Different Patterns of Mercantile Power (End Eleventh to Thirteenth Century); part 3: New Hormuz and its Maritime Dimension (Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century). In part 1 the development of Hormuz from a stage on the searoute from Ubulla and Basra in the second half of the ninth century to main outlet of Kirman to the sea under the Buyids by the end of the tenth century, and then to a prosperous region (nāḥiya) under an autonomous native ruler under the Saljuqs by the end of the eleventh century, when also Oman, at least the coastal regions, came under Saljuq control, is depicted. A trade axis Hormuz-­ Qalhat came into being. Part 2 chronicles Hormuz’ rise dur- ing the Saljuq period. By the thirteenth century it was com- peting with the port of Qays to the west, that had developed as the outlet of Fars and had become a dominant power in the trade with India, East Africa and China. In 1230 it was attacked, but it regained strength and at the turn of the thir- teenth century it was the most important emporium in the Gulf. In Hormuz, towards the second half of the thirteenth century, Mahmud Qalhati became mālik of Hormuz (1242- 1277-8); he made it an autonomous defensive system and the Hormuz-Qalhat-Kij triangle became a reality. For the rela- tions of all these events with Oman, the author, apart from