SOAR - Muscat Chapter

Muscat (Oman) joined the SOAR family in June 2019.  Oman has a rich history dating back 100,000 years, the oldest independent state in the Arab world. Until the coming of Islam in the 7th century, Oman was dominated by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. Portugal dominated the region around Muscat between 1507 and 1650, due to Oman’s strategically important position on trade routes to the east. By the mid-17th century, Omani tribes under the Imam’s leadership drove the Portuguese out of Muscat.  In the late 17th century, the Imam of Oman, Saif bin Sultan, began a process of expansion down the east coast of Africa. In 1783, the Omani Empire expanded to Gwadar in present day Pakistan. Oman became a powerful regional trading power based on maritime trade. Sultan Qaboos ascended to the throne on July 23,1970. Since then, Oman has emerged as a prosperous and modern nation. Sultan Qaboos has balanced tribal, regional and ethnic division and improved his people’s quality of living. In 1996, Sultan Qaboos introduced the “Basic Statutes of the States,” Oman’s first written constitution, which guarantees rights within the framework of Qur’anic and customary law.