Oman - An Occasionally Successful Empire

Malik - 1419 - 1443

This tale of the Sultan-Emperors of Oman begins in 1419 for no arbitrary reason. The tradition of electing the Sultan-Emperors from among the noble houses of Muscat and Zanzibar dates back to that year. In this year, the patriarchs of the great houses had met in Zanzibar to discuss the future of Oman. They decided that it was foolish to submit to a Nabhani ruler simply because their father had also been ruler. Allah gave men wisdom, and their wisdom they must use. Power would rest in the hands of the man most qualified for the role. Upon Malik's death, the Nabhani dynasty would rule no longer. The Sultan-Emperors of Oman would be selected by their peers in the great houses.

Malik would be the last of the Sultans of Muscat and Zanzibar. During Malik's reign, as new lands were conquered and added to what would soon become an empire, the nobles would choose from among the great houses a leader with a fine balance of, in order of importance, financial astuteness, military prowess and bravery, and diplomatic poise. These nobles were perhaps the greatest of their generation, praised by their subjects, but perhaps even more by their peers. These were the Sultan-Emperors of Oman, and they began with the conquests of Malik, and thus why we begin at this point, for there is no better.

In 1419, 7050 Omani families would be taxed. Half of those lived in the two great cities, the rest in the Arabian countryside.


There too were several colonies: two on the Persian Gulf at Hasa and Qatar and one more just off Zanzibar.

Oman was as large as it ever had been, but not as large as it soon would be. About 2/3 were Shi'ite, and therefore allowed to be citizens. The others, due to their religion, were not granted those rights. But to put things in perspective:


Egypt - impressively large and green.

The nearby nation of Egypt had cities with tenfold the population of all of Oman. Oman had potential and may someday be able to combat nations like mighty Egypt, but that day was far off.

Malik's goals of his reign would be to spread Islam, specifically the Shi'ite variety, to the lands of Africa. He would begin with Socotra:



...and then Bahrein:



1421 brought news that the other adherent to the Shi'a faith had been conquered and humbled by the Timurids. This ruled out any chance of a Shi'ite alliance, for now they were under foreign rule. Oman would have to bear it all alone.



In 1424 Malik looked upon his neighbors to the south and decided to expand at their expense. Zanj was quite large, but sparsely populated, consisting mostly of colonies and trading posts.


Zanj looks big and scary - but it has only 3 cities and the rest are just natives - and Adal is too far away to help and has no ships anyway.

Malik - 1419 - 1443 (continued)


The naval invasion of the Zanj.


Most provinces were unfortified - even Oman's tiny army stands a chance.

Due to Oman's poor military prowess and lack of manpower (3 per year I believe), the war progressed very slowly. It took 6 years for Oman to capture the wanted territories, and a beneficial peace was met.


An acceptable offer from the Zanj - especially since that is all that remains of the Omani army.


Post-war Zanj. Do not let the blueness of it fool you - it is mostly colonies and trading posts.

Malik's realm now contained an additional 4700 Swahili Sunnis, almost doubling the population.


A new neighbor.

Isolated and friendless, Malik looked for solace in an alliance with remote and even more isolated and friendless Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe did not even know of any other nations besides Oman. But still, it was better than nothing, but only barely.

Malik would spend the next several years colonizing



...and converting



...while building up enough troops for another war.

By 1440, enough settlers had been sent to Mombasa for it to reach city status, instantly adding its native population of about 5000, making it the largest population center in Oman. This represented a significant shift in Oman toward an African-based nation. Malik had only chosen Zanj because they were the weakest target available. But perhaps he had chosen wisely and there was indeed a future for Oman in Africa.


Things to come.

From 1441 to 1444, Oman would enter a second war with Zanj to capture their remaining colonies and their final city. Again, Oman's military potential was fairly disappointing, and capturing Zanj took almost 4 years.


100% of the military might of Oman and Zanj. Oman loses this one, but tragically is not surprised.

The only event of any note was the death of Sultan Malik and the passing of the throne. Malik would be the last Sultan of Oman. The next would be an Emperor.

Fingal said:

Nice start. Going into Africa looks like a good move looking at the size of your immediate neighbours. Aren't there any little Arabian Peninsula Sunni states to bully with your new found African wealth?

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Aden, as crappy as it is, has a military 3 times the size of mine and has spent most of the time allied with the Egyptians. Najd apparently exists as well, somewhere under all the terra incognita, but I didn't realize that for 150 years.

As for "wealth", 3/4 of it comes from my 2 centers of trade. Oman's size is deceptive, as it is all colonies and trading posts. I still only had 3 manpower at this point.

What does it say about a country when I tremble in fear before the might of Aden?

'Umer - 1443 - 1452



The first Sultan-Emperor of Oman.

In the middle of the Second Zanj War, as the Omani forces closed in on the capital, Sultan Malik died. The gold throne, which he had held since 1406, was filled not by his son, but by the young 'Umer. Elected from among the great houses of Muscat, he was one of the brightest of his generation and would be an able ruler. But as far as the war, it continued according to Malik's plans, and was over before 'Umer could even get unpacked.


The new blue African coast.

The war brought into the realm an additional 6500 Swahili Sunnis and brought the national population to approximately 23000 families, over 3 times what it had been just 25 years earlier. It was upon capturing the Zanj throne for himself that 'Umer declared himself no longer merely a sultan, but the Sultan-Emperor, leader of the Greater Omani Empire.

'Umer's goal in his reign would be to reach further southward, into the realms of Zimbabwe. They appeared to have no religion at all, rather to worship the sky and the earth and animals. Oman had brought religion to Zanzibar, and they would bring it to the people of Zimbabwe in time.


Bad news.

In 1445, Zimbabwe declared war on Oman. One would think this was an excellent opportunity for 'Umer, but one would would also overestimate Oman's military.


Reinforcements to the front.

Promptly Zimbabwe, led by their warrior-chief Nyatsimha, defeated the local forces and destroyed the 30-strong trading post in Zambezia, leaving no border between the two realms. And once reinforcements arrived, the constant fighting in Nampuia destroyed the 200-strong colony, leaving a buffer of 2 empty territories between Zimbabwe and Oman.


Nyatsimha killing another couple thousands brave Oman warriors.

By 1449 'Umer realized his forces were unable to penetrate the jungles of Zimbabwe. After losing 20,000 brave men, realizing none of their cities can feed even 4 or 5000 men, he in his wisdom decided Zimbabwe could keep their jungles. He paid 50 gold for peace, and now with no land border Zimbabwe would probably not try another war for now.

In 1451 'Umer died peacefully, but he was not missed by his subjects. He kept the empire together, but it did not thrive, and its only gains were due to the actions of his predecessor, not his own. The war with Zimbabwe was especially disappointing to the Omani people.


Note: This was sort of a low point in Omani history. Oman would not have the ability to siege for another 100 years and thus could not pour enough men into the jungle to defeat this puny pagan minor. Truly depressing. But here I started to look to Aden, which was much more doable - or so it seemed. I've still only got 3 manpower and can only produce troops in the Arabian peninsula and Zanzibar. Everywhere else is pretty worthless.

stnylan said:

Yes, the MP situation for Oman has to be kinda cruel.

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Don't you have to have a land connection to the captial for manpower? Including the capital, I believe I only have two provinces with land connection, which sucks. I'm almost all the way towards Quantity, and it's still pathetic. What I need is grain provinces I guess.

And BB is like 8 since I have CB on all Sunnis and all the colonies and trading posts don't give me any BB. I only captured maybe 3 cities. I look so large and blue, but it's all for show. Only big BB hit was from annexing Zanj.

And no more foreshadowing! I'll keep my mouth shut.

PS I played another 30 years last night. Oman has such great ambitions, but playing with them can be so frustrating. But I guess if it was a cakewalk then it wouldn't be any fun.