Jalali Fort, Muscat, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck)
Jalali Fort, Muscat, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck)

The Portuguese Forts in Oman

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Written by Marco Ramerini. Photos by Fritz Gosselck and João Sarmento. English text revision by Dietrich Köster.

Oman is a country rich in fortifications, some of these were built along the Omani coast by the Portuguese in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, often altered from the original forms several forts built or modernized by the Portuguese are still visible today.

Two impressive fortresses are located in the capital of the Sultanate, Muscat, these are the forts of Jalali (São João) and Mirani both built by the Portuguese around 1580. A few kilometers away is the fort of Matrah also built by the Portuguese in the late sixteenth century.

On the Musandam peninsula in the far north, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, is the village of Khasab, where another fort was built by the Portuguese around 1620.

Mirani Fort, Muscat, Oman. Author and Copyright João Sarmento.

Mirani Fort, Muscat, Oman. Author and Copyright João Sarmento.

Mirani Fort, Muscat, Oman. Author and Copyright João Sarmento

Mirani Fort, Muscat, Oman. Author and Copyright João Sarmento

Mutrah Fort, Oman. Author and Copyright João Sarmento

Mutrah Fort, Oman. Author and Copyright João Sarmento

Khasab Fort, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck).

Khasab Fort, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck).

Suwayq Fort, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck).

Suwayq Fort, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck).

Mutrah Fort, Muscat, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck)

Mutrah Fort, Muscat, Oman (photo © by Fritz Gosselck)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

– Al Maamiry, Ahmed Hamoud “Omani – Portuguese history” 80 pp. illustrations, Lancers Publishers, 1982, New Delhi, India.

– Andrade, Rui Freire de “Comentários do Grande Capitão Rui Freire de Andrade” XII, 374 pp. [3] maps Ministério das Colónias, Agência Geral das Colónias 1940 Lisbon, Portugal.

– Dias Farinha, António “Os Portugueses no Golfo Pérsico 1507-1538” 266 pp., Dissertação Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, 1990, Lisbon.

– Dinteman, Walter “Forts of Oman” 128 pp., colour photographs . 1993.

– Gonçalves, Júlio “Mascate, Albuquerque e os sultanatos do Oman 1507-1659” In: “Anais” do Clube Militar Naval, pp. 421-435, 1940, Lisbon, Portugal.

– Muir, J. Reminiscências Portuguesas na Arábia Oriental” 13 pp. Separata do Boletim da Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa 1961 Lisbon, Portugal.

– Ozbaran, Salih “The Ottoman response to European Expansion. Studies on Ottoman-Portugese relations in the Indian Ocean and Ottoman administration in the Arab lands during the sixteenth Century” xv, 222 pp. black-and-white illustrations, 4 maps, Analecta Isisiana XII, The Isis Press, 1994, Istanbul, Turkey.

– Risso, Patricia “Oman and Muscat: an early modern history” xvii + 258 pp., Croom Helm, 1986, London, United Kingdom.

– Vine, Peter; Casey and Vine, Paula (editors) “Oman in history” 560 pp., Immel Publishing, 1995, London, United Kingdom.

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About Marco Ramerini

I am passionate about history, especially the history of geographical explorations and colonialism.