History
It was ruled by the Kathiri Sultanate, Dhofar Sultanate and Ottoman Empire (1539–1829) before Omani rule.
Dhofar was a major exporter of frankincense in ancient times, with some of it being traded as far as China. The Chinese writer and customs inspector Zhao Rugua wrote on the origin of Frankincense being traded to China:
"Ruxiang or xunluxiang comes from the three Dashi countries of Murbat (Maloba), Shihr (Shihe), and Dhofar (Nufa), from the depths of the remotest mountains. The tree which yields this drug may generally be compared to the pine tree. Its trunk is notched with a hatchet, upon which the resin flows out, and, when hardened, turns into incense, which is gathered and made into lumps. It is transported on elephants to the Dashi (on the coast), who then load it upon their ships to exchange it for other commodities in Sanfoqi. This is the reason why it is commonly collected at and known as a product of Sanfoqi."
Ruxiang was the Chinese name for frankincense, and Dashi the Chinese name for Arabia.
During World War I it was fertile enough to produce food and grain to supply a large proportion of the requirement of the British Army fighting in Mesopotamia.
A counter-insurgency campaign—the Dhofar Rebellion—was fought here by the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces in 1965–1975 against guerrilla fighters of the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Persian Gulf (PFLOAG), supported by Communist South Yemen after that territory's independence and several other socialist states including East Germany. It aimed to depose the Sultan. The Sultan's forces, assisted by the United Kingdom, Iran, and support from loaned officers and doctors from Pakistan and India, prevailed, and once the campaign was declared over in December 1975, the active remainder of PFLOAG forces surrendered.
In Mormon culture, Dhofar is the most popular traditional location of the Book of Mormon land of Bountiful, from which the nomadic family of Lehi sailed in a ship constructed by his son Nephi, to the New World. This association is not an official LDS Church doctrine, however.
Read more about this topic: Dhofar Governorate
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Social history might be defined negatively as the history of a people with the politics left out.”
—G.M. (George Macaulay)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)