Timeline of Muscat explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Muscat, Oman.

Prior to 20th century

• 550 BCE - Achaemenids in power (approximate date).
• 100s CE - Migration of Arab tribes from Yemen.
• 633 CE - Regional Islamization.
• 696 CE - Umayyad army attempting to seize Muscat was defeated.
• 865 CE - Flood destroy a portion of the city.
• 1507 - City taken by Portuguese forces under command of Afonso de Albuquerque.
• 1522 - Uprising against Portuguese rule.
• 1546 - City bombarded by Ottoman ships without landing.
• 1552 - Capture of Muscat (1552) by Ottoman forces under Piri Reis for a brief period.
• 1581 - City pillaged by Ottomans under command of Piri Reis before withdrawing.
• 1586-1588 - Fort al-Jalali and Fort al-Mirani completed.
• 1624 - Construction begins of "earthen land wall" around city.
• 1640 - City attacked by forces of Nasir bin Murshid.
• 1648 - City besieged by Nasir ibn Murshid but Portuguese sued for peace.
• 1650 - City taken by forces of Sultan bin Saif; Portuguese ousted.^[1]
• 1670 - Dutch East India Company factory established.
• 1738 - Muscat occupied by forces of Muhammad Taqi Khan of Fars.
• 1740s - Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi in power.^{[2] [3]}
• 1792 - Albusaidi monarch Hamad ibn Said relocates the capital of Oman from Rustaq to Muscat.
• 1800 - British representative of the British East India Company takes residence in Muscat.
• 1806 - Said bin Sultan in power.^[4]
• 1832 - Capital of the Omani empire relocated from Muscat to colonial Zanzibar by Said bin Sultan.
• 1845 - Bait al-Falaj Fort built.^[5]
• 1856 - Thuwaini bin Said becomes sultan of the newly formed Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and his capital is Muscat.
• 1879 - The United States consulate is established in Muscat.
• 1890 - Cyclonic storm flooding kills 700 people.
• 1893 - Hospital established.
• 1894 - French consulate established.
• 1899 - Bubonic plague strikes at Muscat.

20th century

• 1928 - Al-Sa'idiyah School established.
• 1929 - Vehicular road into city built "by the hacking out of a one-lane track through the mountains."
• 1932 - Said bin Taimur becomes sultan.
• 1939 - Municipal council established.^[6]
• 1943 - Bombing of ship in harbor by Japanese forces.
• 1948 - British Bank of the Middle East branch in business.
• 1949 - Municipal Law for the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman issued.
• 1951 - Indian consulate established.
• 1952 - Population: 4,200 in town (approximate estimate).
• 1960 - Population: 5,080 in town; 6,208 urban agglomeration (approximate estimate).^[7]
• 1962 - Muttrah-Muscat road paved.
• 1963 - Slavery abolished.

• 1967 - Petroleum Development Oman headquartered in Muscat.
• 1968 - Electric power plant commissioned in Riyam.
• 1970 - Qaboos bin Said al Said in power.
• 1972
  • June: Muttrah and Muscat merge to form the Muscat Municipality.
  • Al Alam Palace built.
• 1973
  • Seeb Airport opens.
  • British School – Muscat established.
• 1974
  • Port Sultan Qaboos built in Muttrah.
  • Museum of Omani Heritage opens.
• 1975
  • Office of municipality president established.
  • Times of Oman newspaper begins publication.
• 1981
  • Oman Daily Observer newspaper begins publication.
  • Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and Ministry of Petroleum built.
• 1984 - Muscat Governorate established.
• 1985
  • Gulf Cooperation Council meets in Muscat.^[8]
  • Al-Bustan Palace Hotel in business.
  • Oman Natural History Museum opens.
• 1986 - Sultan Qaboos University opens.
• 1987 - Royal Hospital built.
• 1988
  • Muscat Securities Market established.
  • Alwatan newspaper in publication.^[9]
  • French embassy built.
• 1990 - Oman Children's Museum established.
• 1992 - Omani French Museum established.
• 1993
  • 40,856 in city.
  • Dam and Oman International Bank built.
  • Oman Society for Fine Arts established.
• 1995 - Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre established.
• 1996 - National Hospitality Institute headquartered in city.
• 1998 - Bait al Zubair museum opens.

21st century

• 2001
  • Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque built.
  • Muscat Gate Museum opens.
  • Population: 685,676 in governorate.^[10]
• 2006 - Bait Al Baranda (house museum) opened.http://www.omantourism.gov.om/wps/portal/mot/tourism/oman/home/experiences/culture/museums/http://muscat.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/activities/area-activities/museums-in-muscat.html
• 2010 - Al-Musannah Sports City opened.^[11]
• 2011
  • • • Royal Opera House Muscat opened in Shati Al-Qurm.
• 2012 - Muscat Expressway built.^[12]
• 2013 - Fish souk rebuilt.
• 2018
  • Swedish EDM producer Avicii died by suicide in Muscat.^[13]
  • Population: 315,443 (estimate).
• 2020
  • in January 2020, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said became the new successor of Oman after the sad demise of the then His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
  • NOC (No Objection Certificate) abolished amidst COVID-19.

See also

• Muscat history
• List of cities in Oman (also by population, in German)
• Old Muscat

Bibliography

Published in 18th-19th centuries

• Book: Travels through Arabia . Carsten Niebuhr . Carsten Niebuhr . Robert Heron . Robert Heron (writer) . Edinburgh . R. Morison and Son . 1792 . Of the Province of Oman . Maskat . 2027/mdp.39015004297621 .
  • • Book: James Horsburgh. James Horsburgh. India Directory: Or, Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the Interjacent Ports of Africa and South America. 1852 . 6th . William H. Allen & Co. . London . Google Books . https://books.google.com/books?id=gCk6YV5AslIC&pg=PA377 . Arabia, N.E. Coast: Muscat .

Published in 20th century

• • Book: Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf . 1908 . Calcutta . John Gordon Lorimer . 1364–1425 . 2027/uc1.l0061307658 .
  • Book: Fred Scholz .

    de:Fred Scholz

    . Muscat, Sultanat Oman: geographische Skizze einer einmaligen arabischen Stadt . Muscat, Sultanate of Oman: geographical sketch of a unique Arabian city . 1990 . . Berlin . 978-3-923446-58-2 . de .
• Book: Routledge . 1884964036 . International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa . 1996 . Noelle Watson . UK . Muscat . 529 . .
• Book: Abdelhamid Mahmoud Hussein Nasr . Musqat asimat Oman . . 1997 . ar .

Published in 21st century

• Book: Historic Cities of the Islamic World . Clifford Edmund Bosworth . Clifford Edmund Bosworth . 2007 . . Leiden . Muscat . 417–419 . . 978-9004153882 .
• Book: J.E. Peterson. Historical Muscat . 2007. Brill . 978-90-04-15266-3 . Chronology . 117+ . .
  • Book: Lawrence G. Potter. The Persian Gulf in Modern Times: People, Ports, and History. 2014 . Palgrave Macmillan. 978-1-137-48577-9 . Muscat as a Port City . J.E. Peterson . https://books.google.com/books?id=tr-YBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA153 . 153+ .

External links

• Map of Muscat, 1985
• Web site: (Muscat) . Qatar Digital Library . .
• Europeana. Items related to Muscat, various dates.

Notes and References

1. News: Oman Profile: Timeline . BBC News . BBC News . 24 August 2011 . 30 April 2015 .
2. Book: Statesman's Year-Book . 1921 . London . Macmillan and Co.. Oman . 2027/njp.32101072368440 . Statesman's Year-Book .
3. Encyclopedia: Sea of Oman . . Willem Floor . Columbia University, Center for Iranian Studies . New York . 30 April 2015.
4. Book: Malcolm C. Peck. Historical Dictionary of the Gulf Arab States. 2007. . USA . 978-0-8108-6416-0 .
5. Book: Oman. 2007. . fr . 978-2-7469-1641-8 . Mascate . https://books.google.com/books?id=SmKZ06rH0-AC&pg=PA81 . 81+ .
6. Web site: About the Municipality: Brief History . Muscat Municipality . 30 April 2015 .
7. Book: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/1980_round.htm . 1985 Demographic Yearbook . 1987 . United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office . New York . Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants . 247–289 .
8. Web site: GCC Most Prominent Decisions (timeline) . . 30 April 2015 .
9. Web site: About Us . Alwatan.com . 30 April 2015 .
10. Book: Europa World Year Book . 2004. Europa Publications . 978-1-85743-255-8 . Oman . https://books.google.com/books?id=gP_-8rXzQs8C&pg=PA3253 .
11. Book: The Report . Oman 2010. 2010. . London . 978-1-907065-13-2.
12. Book: Oman. 2013 . 3rd . Bradt Travel Guides. 978-1-84162-471-6 . Muscat . https://books.google.com/books?id=_rnxAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA71 . 71+ .
13. News: Agerholm. Harriet. 26 April 2018. Avicii death: Family reveals he 'could not go on any longer' and 'wanted to find peace'. The Independent. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/avicii-cause-death-tim-bergling-family-a8323966.html . 2022-05-07 . subscription. live. 2 February 2021.