Forts and Cannon of Oman.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

This was a remarkable thread which offered tremendous insight into an aspect of arms and armour not often covered in collecting forums as obviously artillery is a field quite logistically improbable for most collectors.

Still, what is important is the historical perspective which very much aligns with our study of various sidearms and weaponry of the periods and locations involved. As we have seen in numerous threads on Indian arms as well as Sri Lankan and clearly the Omani, the most notable presence of the Portuguese in all of these much colonized and traded spheres was key in bringing artillery and fortifications to these areas, among others too numerous to include in the scope of this discussion.

In recent threads, it was noted that Portuguese influences in artillery and fortifications were certainly included in India, as well as Oman etc. and I thought perhaps reopening these wonderfully detailed posts and expanding the topic to all aspects of fortifications and artillery associated would be worthy of continuing.

Hopefully we will be able to move onward and leave the unfortunate remains of the woefully misplaced debate on Omani swords behind us. That debate was of course not for this thread, and as it was two years ago, I think we are much better equipped to focus on the topics originally intended here,

So gentlemen.....we have range......fire for effect! Lets get back to the guns and forts and bring India, Sri Lanka et al into the scope!!!

Hello Jim, Naturally my opinion on this entire subject is bound to be slightly biased however, as you can see by the distance traveled covering this subject and the hard work done by Forum what a shame it would be to leave this thread squandering in the dust..Al Hazm is a key marker I have hardly touched and there are other forts of note...Oman therefor was a strategic stepping stone on the way to India. Indeed it was the Omanis who showed the Portuguese the way to Hormuz which was a Fortress of great significance and wealth...The Jewel in the Crown to Portugal and a serious stepping stone to India. It goes without saying that when Muscat was recaptured by Oman in about 1650 that this signaled the downfall of Portuguese interests in India and its environs though they did rather hang on and in some cases they are still there today...and certainly their influence is still seen. Understanding the position on Forts of Oman is key to the Portuguese situation on the African Coast and in India. Linked to that is the development of gunpowder weapons in particular Cannon...thus this subject is vital to that...and an Ethnographic piece of the jigsaw puzzle regionally.

Already posted before are what turn out to be very rare pictures I took of the whitewash stripped Sohar Fort which was the first place cannon were discharged in anger in Oman... and I recall the famous story of Fort Jelali which operated as a prison where there was a lion in a cage inside the gates...to which first offenders were chained to the outside of a great cage. Second offenders were put inside the cage... Lunch to a huge Lion.
Unbeknown to many the fort had been constructed as a result of Muscat under the Portuguese being seized by Piri Reis the Turkish General later executed on return to Turkey...in a Machiavellian plot. Please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Al_Jalali for a reasonable basic picture of Jalali Fort and its history. Below you can see the large picture with Jelali in the foreground and behind it Fort Mirani; its sister Fort.