OMAN-INDIA TIES, ACROSS SEA AND SPACE

the Muslim community in Kerala. The regular interactions between Arabs and Indians throughout this period culminated in influencing each other’s language and culture as well, given their regular journeys across the seas.

Maritime tradition India and Oman share a rich history of maritime trade which embraces a transoceanic network of ports and inland routes. Trade relations between India and Oman are deep rooted in history by virtue of Omani ships becoming an intermediary in the transfer of goods and commodities, to and from, the Arabian Peninsula and India. After the Islamic era, the trade of spices, perfumes and scarce woods thrived between the two regions. The ports of Qalhat, Sur and Muscat were all significant points of stop on onward journeys as they were the last ports to fill up on fresh water before the longer journeys across the Indian Ocean.

While India has been one of the most important points of sea trade in the entire South Asian region since the beginning of maritime trade, the ports of Oman, thanks to their strategic location at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, played a major role in trade including the ancient silk road and spice routes, and they served as a gateway for all ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. The maritime tradition of ancient India began with the Indus Valley civilization which saw long-distance voyages by 3000 BCE. Long before the development of the silk road, the ships belonging to Indian traders travelled thousands of miles crossing the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea to find their markets in West Asia, East Asia, South East Asia and East Africa.

Omanis have been traditionally sea faring people. Oman was a rich source of copper for developing civilizations in the entire region and Omani sailors were pioneering the development of maritime skills and technology. Because of the difficulties of crossing the mountains and sands, the sea was the easiest way of connecting Omanis with the outside world, and India was one of the main destinations for Omani adventurers. Oman was a hub for trade and commerce before the first century CE, and it is this history as a bastion of trade by land, but especially by sea, that has shaped the culture of the Sultanate, and its trade partners, from the Far East to Europe. Early accounts by Ibn Majid and the Portuguese Duarte Barbosa talk about the various sea routes taken from the coast of Oman which would go to Kutch or Malabar using the south-west winds (the monsoon or ‘mausam’ winds which sailors got to know very early on). Subsequently, these ships would go as far as Canton in China, passing 42