We are living as well as creating history. We might not be interested in the present happenings but for sure someone is going to be seeking it in the future.
Sitting at the 7th International Conference of Omani-British Relations made me realise how we are all keen to know history. It was not just about two countries, but about multiple countries.
Countries were interdependent during those days too. There were travelogues centuries ago as well. Oman’s National Records and Archives Authority (NRAA) has brought together researchers from different parts of the world to review the historical, political, economic and cultural implications of the Omani-British relations during the 17th to mid-20th centuries.
Just glancing through the Research Themes compiled for the conference was exciting because they gave another perspective to history.
For instance, it was interesting to note that the first British-Omani Treaty was signed in Suhar (Sohar) in 1646 AD — it was with the British East Indian Company. The abstract from Dr Saleh Amer al Kharousi from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says Napoleon Bonaparte’s takeover of Egypt in 1798 raised concerns in Britain about the direct threat to its interests in India, especially as relations between France, Oman and some local powers in India grew.
“The importance of Muscat to the British administration in India was not only to prevent the French from reaching it, but also to extend it to the commercial and strategic benefits it enjoyed. It succeeded in reaching an agreement with the Governor of Oman, Sayyid Sultan, on October 12, 1798. It included seven items focusing on the commitment of Oman not to allow France and the Netherlands to establish an agency or a representative of them as long as they were at war with the English Company,” stated the publication.
After 220 years in the month of October in the year of 2018, here we are reflecting.
More treaties and agreements were related to other countries. Treaties reflect international competition between nations. According to Jeremy Jones, Adviser, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, “Recent scholarship has presented a far more dynamic and complex picture, in which the logics of capital and imperial expansion are not the only drivers of change. Instead, multiple regional actors are revealed playing key roles in the process of change across the Indian Ocean world.”
There were roles played by the Hormuz, Portuguese, Dutch, French, America and the list goes on. The arrival of four Dutch ships loaded with precious goods of spices, copper and tin coming from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies and Japan to the Gulf with the aim of flooding the markets and confronting the British company brought in the proposal in 1659 from Britain of establishing an agency in Muscat.
According to Dr Juma bin Khalifa al Busaidi, DG at NRAA, Britain started to emerge in Oman and the Arab Gulf region as a colonial rivalry after Portuguese, Dutch and French existence.
In other words, a close look at the history from various perspectives conveys how it is also related to the understanding of international markets and trade. Maybe the products have changed but the competition for access to markets and safeguard has always existed.
During this period there were diplomatic relations as in the case of diplomatic and commercial relations with Muscat and Mysore in South of India, which faced British influence.
According to Dr Eman Ragab Zaki Tammam of Beni Sueif University, Bonaparte tried to exploit the friendly relations between Muscat and Mysore by forming an anti-British alliance, which also included Mauritius. Britain watched this attempt and declared war against Mysore, which ended with the victory of Britain in 1799.
Had learnt about a part of the story in school’s history class but hearing it from all of the researchers seem to have the same feeling of solving a puzzle and looking at the big picture.
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