An Arabian Utopia: The Western Discovery of Oman

It was not until the 19th century that explorers ventured beyond Muscat and the coast of Oman. This book examines the process from the earliest times up to 1970 and discusses the way in which the growing knowledge of Oman was propagated in the West.

As long as there was a powerful ruler, the travellers were protected, but by the late nineteenth century the rulers in Muscat had lost control over the interior and it was not until well into the twentieth century that explorers such as Wilfred Thesiger could investigate the south and that the oil companies could begin to chart the centre and the west. Oman was the last Arab country to be fully explored by western travellers and this book examines and discusses the ways in which the emergent knowledge of Oman was propagated in the West, from the earliest times to 1970, by explorers, missionaries, diplomats, artists, geologists and naturalists, and by those scholars who gradually uncovered the manuscripts and antiquities that allowed them to piece together the history of the area.

Introduction
1. The Land of Heat, Perfumes and Sailors from Antiquity to the Renaissance
2. The 'Good Towns' of the Coast: The Portuguese Occupation of Oman
3. The New Era: Independence and Foreign Wooers
4. An Arabian Utopia: Enlightened Impressions
5. The Growing Friendship: the British and Oman
6. 'The Wealthiest and Most Popular Prince throughout Arabia'. Sa'id, the Sultan of Muscat
7. Imperialism and Humanitarianism: the Attraction of Zanzibar
8. The Palinurus Period: the Exploration of the Omani Coast and Interior
9. The Unpenetrated Country: Exotic Muscat and its Inaccessible Hinterland
10. The 'Dearth of Information' Remedied
11. Muscat in Decline
12. Arcadia in the South. The Exploration of Dhofar
Conclusion