THE OMANI-PORTUGUESE CONFLICT (1692-1711): A MODEL OF OMANI FOREIGN POLICY UNDER IMAM SAIF BIN SULTAN AL-YA'ARABI

Abstract

In the early modern eras, the Muslim world confronted colonialism because some European powers started an international struggle for wealth overwhelming which included the old and new continents of the world. Here, we specify the west region of the Indian Ocean which encompassed the Arabian Gulf ' coasts, the Arabian Peninsula, and the coasts of the west of India and East Africa coasts, which most of them was under Portuguese dominations for a period of more than 100 years, until Allah brought by his willingness the imams of Oman. They had the ability to face colonialism and managed to drive it away from all those coasts spreading security and peacefulness on all trade routes of this dynamic region. The aim of this paper is to highlight the efforts of the foreign policy of Oman as well as its global relationships with the great powers. It also tackles the Omani-Portuguese conflict during the reign of Imam Saif bin Sultan (1692−1711). This study depends on the analytical descriptive approach which paves the way to deal with the political situation in the Western Indian Ocean region at the beginning of modern eras and addressing the policy of Saif bin Sultan's which can be outlined in spreading security and peacefulness in all of the Western Indian Ocean region. The researcher expects that this research will provide a comprehensive picture of Oman's efforts under the reign of Imam Saif bin Sultan who managed to spread peace in the Western Indian Ocean region in the 17th century and also provided the benefits which may help in achieving peace in this region in the future.