Muscat and Oman - Expansionist Era

Expansionist Era

Historical differences always existed between the more secular, rich, seafaring coastal Sultanate of Muscat and the tribes of the interior. Though the inland territories were under nominal control of the Sultans of Muscat, they were in practice run by tribal leaders and the conservative Imams of Oman, practitioners of the Ibadi sect of Islam.

The Sultanate of Muscat possessed a powerful naval force, which enabled the creation of a short-lived empire, encompassing modern Oman, the United Arab Emirates, southern Baluchistan, and Zanzibar and the adjacent coasts of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. The Sultanate of Muscat also engaged in a very lucrative slave trade across east Africa. Recently, a claim was made by an Omani minister, suggesting that the Sultanate controlled the distant Mascarene Islands as early as the 15th century.