Omanis in Africa: Traders,

Statesmen and Scholars

Courtesy: Saudi Aramco

 Traders

Statesmen

Scholars
 Outline
• Pre-Islamic Period (Periplus): 1st Century AD.
• Post-Islamic : 7th Century AD.
• The Nabahina and the Sultanate of Pate: 13th
Century AD.
• The Ya’aribah: the fall of Fort Jesus 17th Century
AD.
• Said bin Sultan and the Omani Empire: 1804-
1856 AD
• Barghash and the Cultural Enlightenment: 1870-
1888 AD.
• After Barghash: Early 20th Century AD.
 Periplus of the Erytrean Sea

Courtesy: Saudi Aramco

The Julandas

Oman embraces
Islam 630AD

1st wave of immigrants

post Islam c. 700 AD
Sulaiman & Said sons
of ‘Abbad ibn ‘Abd ibn
al-Julanda
The
Nabahinah
and the
Sultanate of
Pate
The Ya’aribah: The Fall of Fort Jesus the last
strong hold of the Portuguese 1698 AD.
Empire of
Cloves
Sultan Homoud bin
Mohammad 1896-
1902 AD and his
son Ali 1902-1911.
Patrons of
literature and
cultural relations
with the Arab and
Islamic world.
Wadi Mizab: the
Cultural relations
with the Ibadhis of
the Maghrib
 Social context…returnees
• Tribes exist on both sides, migrating with their wealth
and prejudices, to a lesser extent. Maintained
connections with the homeland. Reintegration was
challenging due to differing experience.
• Inter-ethnic relations: Linguistic barriers to full social
integration, self-image (education, politics, wealth,
example of Arabic culture surviving Africa), not pure
Arabic culture, etc.
• Intra-racial relations: limited influenced by colonisation
dynamics, geography (Lamu, Kilwa, Mombasa, Malindi,
Congo, etc), wealth, position in government, etc.
 Unpacking the issues further
• Cultural Integration: Returnees
had to readjust to Omani societal • Psychological Adjustment:
norms, language, and customs.
This process often involved
navigating the complexities of
identity and bridging the gap
between their East African
experiences and their Omani
original heritage.
• Economic Transition: Returnees
had to leave the wealth they had
accumulated in East Africa. On the
other hand they had professional
skills which allowed to assume
certain key positions in the new
development.
Returning to one's homeland after a
long absence can also result in
psychological challenges. The
diaspora returning to Oman might
experience feelings of
homesickness or nostalgia for East
Africa, while simultaneously trying
to adapt to their new surroundings.
The contrast between expectations
and reality can be emotionally
draining and require an adjustment
period.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
 Copyright Notice
• This lecture is based on the original research
conducted by Prof. Ibrahim Saghiroun, Dept of
History, SQU. Used by his kind permission.
• All images shown here are copyrighted
materials. For the purpose of this lecture, it is
impractical to acknowledge the source of each
since most slides are of combined images.
• Images of Omani scholars and newspapers are
from al-Kindi, Mohsin, a’ssahafa al’omaniyah
almuhajirah, Riad El-Rayyes Books , Beirut ,
2001.
• Other images were obtained from the internet
sources such as: www.gutenberg.org,
home.globalfrontiers.com,swahili.rutgers.edu.