Prehistoric connections

The relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of India are embedded in history with millennia old commercial, cultural, religious and economic linkages owing to geographical proximity and personal ties. Archaeological excavations indicate that Oman-India relations stretch back to thousands of years, to the earliest period of the Bronze Age. Linked by the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, these coasts have interacted continually, creating cross fertilisation of ideas, cultures, religions and ways of life which continue until today. Far from common perceptions that these ties are modern, the Gulf littoral and the shores of Indian coasts have engaged in frequent contact, as the ports along the northern coast of present day Oman have been an entrêport for goods going to the desert interior, as well as further to Africa and the Mediterranean.

Prehistoric connections

Emerging archeological evidence in Oman dates its maritime tradition to the sixth millennium BCE, with establishment of links with the Greeks in the Erythraean Sea1. The links with the Harappan civilization, part of the Indus Valley, has also found much evidence in Northern Oman, as far back as the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age began around 3000 BCE on the Indian subcontinent, leading to the beginning of the Indus Valley civilization2. Owing to their location along the Arabian Sea, the inhabitants of Harappa are known to have traded all along the Red Sea. By 3000 BCE, travelers in canoes and rafts moved between towns and trading ports in the western coast of India and along the Gulf of Oman. Archeological findings from ancient Harappa have been found in the upper Gulf area, including Qalhat and Dilmun. These include pottery and inscribed coins, shards with engravings in the Indus Valley script, carnelian beads3 and a Harappan jar dated 2400-2000 BCE4. These confirm continuing trade relations in the Harappan outposts on the Makran coast in the later Bronze Age. Historian Vogt states that “Harappan impact on the Oman peninsula possibly started as early as the middle of the third millennium BC”5 .

1 Bhacker, R. (2009). ‘The cultural unity of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean: A longue duree historical perspective’. 2 The possible dates for the Indus Valley civilization go back to 7000 BCE, based on continuing archeological findings. 3 Vogt states that “the technique of etching carnelian was for long regarded as an extremely valuable marker of the Indus civilization”, p. 112. 4 The National Museum, Oman. 5 Vogt, B. (1996). ‘Bronze Age maritime trade in the Indian Ocean: Harappan traits on the

Oman peninsula’. p.127.

Continuing excavations and discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries provide important archaeological data regarding the Indus Valley civilization’s technology, art, trade, transportation, writing, and religion. Oman’s links with Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have also been confirmed by archeologists from Sultan Qaboos University, along with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, with their discovery of ancient pottery comprising of jars from one of the settlements in Dahwa, located 24 km. west of the Wilayat of Saham on the edge of the Hajar mountain range. These jars, which were made either in Harappa or Mohenjo-Daro, the twin cities of the Indus Valley, date back to the early Bronze Age (2500-2000 BCE)6. Archaeologists believe that these jars were used to transport products from the Indus Valley by small boats across the Indus River to the shores of the Arabian Sea. They were transported by larger boats to a port near Saham and then carried on shoulders for 24 km inwards through the edges of the Hajar Mountains to the Dahwa area7. The presence of Sindh pottery in Dahwa indicates the extent of trade activity that prevailed between Oman and Sindh during the early Bronze Age8. This archaeological site is the oldest settlement to date to have been discovered in the north of the Batinah plain. Jamal al Moosawi, Secretary General of The National Museum, Oman elaborates:

The Oman-India relations have roots in the Bronze Age. At that time, Oman’s first recorded civilization, Majan, had established sea borne trade with the Indus Valley civilization. Archeological evidence in the eastern province of Oman, such as Ras al Jinz and Ras al Hadd found archeological items such as Harappan pottery, shards, objects associated with ornamentation, besides stamp seals with iconography that is, no doubt, associated with the ancient Harappan civilization. In addition, there are archeological indications that Indian settlements had presence in eastern provinces of Oman as far back as the Bronze Age.9

6 Times of Oman, (2018, January 25). 7 Oman Daily Observer. (2017, December 12). ‘Ancient Oman had trade links with Indus

Valley’. 8 Possehl, G. L. (2013). ‘Bronze Age maritime trade in the Indian Ocean: Harappan traits on the Oman peninsula’. 9 Al Moosawi, personal interview. He also states that there are items not yet on public display. These include a Harappan jar which was excavated a few years ago and is presently being restored. It was found broken into hundreds of shards and once restoration is done (which will take years), it will be a complete jar on display.