Page 22 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

■MBI

Muscat’s history during the whole of the 16th century was
a most unhappy one. Twice taken by the Turks, in 1550 and in 1581
and being constantly sacked and burned, its inhabitants must have
longed for a more settled existence. Deliverance was to come
eventually, and directly, as a result of the grant of a Royal Charter to
the East India Company in 1600. The desire of the company to
establish their trade in the Gulf inevitably led to a clash with their
rivals, the Portuguese, and it was the activities of the English in
alliance with the Persians that finally toppled the Portuguese
dominion; though they also gave opportunity to the Dutch to make
their influence felt.
The Portuguese were finally expelled from Muscat in 1650
by the Sultan of Oman; and by 1720 Muscat had become powerful
enough to seize certain islands off the Persian coast and to found the
State of Zanzibar. However, in 1737 the tables were turned and Muscat
was occupied by the Persians until 1744, when they were expelled and
the A1 bu-Said dynasty - the bicentenary of which was commemorated
in 1944 by the issue of special stamps - was established.

In 1793 Sayyid Sultan revolted against the Imam, made him­
self master of the Muscat coast, and became sufficiently powerful to be
able to take possession of several towns on the Persian and Mekran
coasts, including Guadur, which remained a dependency of Muscat
until as late as 1958. The treaty made between this powerful ruler and
the East India Company in October 1798 - a “Deed of Agreement from
the State of Omanian Asylum under the approbation of the Imam, the
Director Sayyid Sultan whose grandeur be eternal! To the High and
Potent English Company, whose greatness be perpetuated!” - finally
denied facilities in Muscat to the Dutch and to the French who had
followed them. An addition to the agreement was made in 1800
whereby the Company was permitted to establish a Political Agent in
Muscat. This laid the foundations of the friendly relations that have
been maintained with Britain ever since - in accordance with the pre­
amble to the agreement “that the friendship of the two States may
remain unshook till the end of time, and till the sun and moon have
finished their revolving career”.

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