Across the Arabian Sea
Published: 03:09 PM,Sep 29,2021 | EDITED : 07:09 PM,Sep 29,2021
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There are houses in Muttrah that still stand proudly, ushering the past with pride. Read through the pages of the book Oman-India Ties across Sea and Space and one can visualise how life would have been.
The book spans glimpses of 5000 years of two civilisations from the archaeological discoveries proving trade links with the Indus Valley Civilisation, to the Indian currency that was used in Oman, the early traders of India based in Muttrah, the date packaging factory, the official diplomatic relations to the community lifestyle.
The book brings into the spotlight the thousands of years of shared history; it also proves why Oman and India are considered to have one of the world’s oldest continuous relationships facilitated by trade, diplomatic and familial connections. Interestingly the book refers to how this deep root connection has resulted in rich literary, linguistic, sartorial and culinary influences, in addition to material trade which can be traced back to the prehistoric period.
The book is published by Oman Daily Observer in association with the Indian Embassy coinciding with the 50th National Day of Oman and 75 years of Indian independence.
Reflecting on the conception of the book, Senior Editor at the Oman Daily Observer and co-author of the book, Samuel Kutty, said, “The Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Munu Mahawar, has been a pillar of strength in supporting and fulfilling the concept of the book. There are rare archival pictures that are a real treat. Our editor-in-chief, Abdullah Shueili, has been a guiding force and so has the team. The Secretary-General of the National Museum gave us an insight into the history of the two nations through the exhibits of the museum, which is a great national treasure.”
The intriguing aspect is that all of this occurred across the two sides of the Arabian Sea throwing light on the maritime past. The mercantile presence is not just recent, the book states, “This presence only reinforces the continuity of ancient links between these two regions across the Arabian Sea. Historical studies of trade trace the early spice route through India to Egypt and conclude that ‘it clearly reveals extensive trade ties between India and Egypt as Roman and Indian ships sailed to coasts along Oman, Yemen and to the Red Sea — and the Horn of Africa.’ There is also evidence of markets being regularly held in places like Dibba, Sohar and Dama as they were considered to be important commercial centres.
Reflecting on trade and ports of Oman, the book states, “The ports of Oman have always been historically at the centre of trade, facilitating the movement of regular and luxury goods including rice and cotton, gold, silk, porcelain and horses.” It goes on to say, “While the Muscat Port can be dated back to the third millennium BCE, there are travel accounts in the 9th and 10th centuries which locate Muscat as the last freshwater source for ships going from the Gulf to India, East Africa and further to East Asia.” Equally important were the ports of Sohar, Sur, Qalhat and Salalah playing crucial roles at different points in history.
A sizable part of the book brings in the interesting stories of families who were traders but the generations carried on to continue with the family business.
Dr Sandhya Rao Mehta, Associate Professor at Sultan Qaboos University and co-author of the book, said, “We took about a year to complete it and it was very challenging because my part was to interview members of the historical families who have been here for generations. I have learnt so much from their stories and they had lived in Muttrah, Muscat and Sur and documenting all of that was challenging because I wanted to do justice to all their stories.”
Professionally, this has also been her research area, “When I first came to Muscat I was looking at migration and Diaspora literature and later I began to specialise on Oman and India and have been publishing materials on it as well.”
As for Samuel Kutty, it was the hardship families took in travelling that left a mark, “If you look back 200 years ago, the families sailed from 20 to 30 days and that too with families including infants and when we spoke to them it was amazing to hear their stories.”
The book spans glimpses of 5000 years of two civilisations from the archaeological discoveries proving trade links with the Indus Valley Civilisation, to the Indian currency that was used in Oman, the early traders of India based in Muttrah, the date packaging factory, the official diplomatic relations to the community lifestyle.
The book brings into the spotlight the thousands of years of shared history; it also proves why Oman and India are considered to have one of the world’s oldest continuous relationships facilitated by trade, diplomatic and familial connections. Interestingly the book refers to how this deep root connection has resulted in rich literary, linguistic, sartorial and culinary influences, in addition to material trade which can be traced back to the prehistoric period.
The book is published by Oman Daily Observer in association with the Indian Embassy coinciding with the 50th National Day of Oman and 75 years of Indian independence.
Reflecting on the conception of the book, Senior Editor at the Oman Daily Observer and co-author of the book, Samuel Kutty, said, “The Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Munu Mahawar, has been a pillar of strength in supporting and fulfilling the concept of the book. There are rare archival pictures that are a real treat. Our editor-in-chief, Abdullah Shueili, has been a guiding force and so has the team. The Secretary-General of the National Museum gave us an insight into the history of the two nations through the exhibits of the museum, which is a great national treasure.”
The intriguing aspect is that all of this occurred across the two sides of the Arabian Sea throwing light on the maritime past. The mercantile presence is not just recent, the book states, “This presence only reinforces the continuity of ancient links between these two regions across the Arabian Sea. Historical studies of trade trace the early spice route through India to Egypt and conclude that ‘it clearly reveals extensive trade ties between India and Egypt as Roman and Indian ships sailed to coasts along Oman, Yemen and to the Red Sea — and the Horn of Africa.’ There is also evidence of markets being regularly held in places like Dibba, Sohar and Dama as they were considered to be important commercial centres.
Reflecting on trade and ports of Oman, the book states, “The ports of Oman have always been historically at the centre of trade, facilitating the movement of regular and luxury goods including rice and cotton, gold, silk, porcelain and horses.” It goes on to say, “While the Muscat Port can be dated back to the third millennium BCE, there are travel accounts in the 9th and 10th centuries which locate Muscat as the last freshwater source for ships going from the Gulf to India, East Africa and further to East Asia.” Equally important were the ports of Sohar, Sur, Qalhat and Salalah playing crucial roles at different points in history.
A sizable part of the book brings in the interesting stories of families who were traders but the generations carried on to continue with the family business.
Dr Sandhya Rao Mehta, Associate Professor at Sultan Qaboos University and co-author of the book, said, “We took about a year to complete it and it was very challenging because my part was to interview members of the historical families who have been here for generations. I have learnt so much from their stories and they had lived in Muttrah, Muscat and Sur and documenting all of that was challenging because I wanted to do justice to all their stories.”
Professionally, this has also been her research area, “When I first came to Muscat I was looking at migration and Diaspora literature and later I began to specialise on Oman and India and have been publishing materials on it as well.”
As for Samuel Kutty, it was the hardship families took in travelling that left a mark, “If you look back 200 years ago, the families sailed from 20 to 30 days and that too with families including infants and when we spoke to them it was amazing to hear their stories.”