Oman and Muscat

Flag of Oman and Muscat

**Oman**, Officially the **Sultanate of Oman and Muscat**, is a country on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula. It is an Absolute Monarchy underneath Sultan Said Bin Tamur member of the Said Bin dynasty. Oman and Muscat did not participate in the Arab Revolution but did supply arms for it to Egypt wishing for Egypt to dominate the scene instead of Arabia. Oman and Muscat is quite rich taking advantage of the Trade routes into the oil rich Persian Gulf to get taxes for passage. This practice is supported by Iran who gets half of the shares of these tolls. Oman and Muscat is quite old in the region being founded in 1856 after Zanzibar and Oman split. Oman and Muscat would join the Cairo Pact in 1941 after the success of the Revolution to prevent the intervention of Arabia or Yemen. Thus Oman did not join the Second Weltkrieg. Oman in the aftermath of the Indian Unification War secured its old trading port witch it now uses as a smuggling post into India for spices like Cumin and Turmeric.

## History

In 1936 Oman was not unstable internally but rather in its external situation. It was on a slippery slope with the Ottomans desperately trying to get Oman into the fold and with border disputed with Nejd it looked like Muscat may have to go to war. However the Black Monday Crisis didn't just shake up the European world with the Islamic world impacted quire severely. This event shattered any Ottoman power over the peninsula aside from the north of Arabia, while this gave Oman more freedom it also was a threat incase war broke out. This would be the worries of 1937 after Arabia reunified into one nation centered on Riyadh. However with Egyptian mediation and other factors war was avoided but Oman kept this generosity in mind for later. They would not have to wait long to repay Egypt with the outbreak of the Arabian Revolution against the Ottoman Empire. Oman and Muscat quickly decided that it did not have the military capacity to fight a war with the Ottoman Empire but it would supply arms and volunteers to the cause. This was appreciated but wasn't decisive and talks of forcing Oman into the war were discussed in Cairo. Oman meanwhile looked at the ongoing war in India and seized the port of Gwadar through military force and the Dominion government decided to let it go in return for some money to fund the war in India. While Oman didn't have much it did supply enough to pay for the port but it nearly bankrupted the Sultan. But it was well worth it as money began pouring in from the only port to be able to supply the spices of northern India that wasn't controlled by the socialist government. This injection of money into the state of Oman was in fact nearly fatal with the inflation caused nearly destroying the economy. However this quickly was remedied in 1940. The Cairo Pact looked at the rich Oman and decided to try and cater it towards the Cairo Pact citing Egypts protection of Omani Independence. Oman accepted in return for help with modernizing its navy to support Gwadar in case of attack. For the next few years Oman would continue making money and would also begin shipping out the massive amounts of materials coming from the Islamic world to places like Australasia witch were cut off from their normal food supply. In 1947 however Australasia would be connected to the world once again and while this did partially hurt Omani trade it did not effect much in the grand scheme of things. In 1948 however there was a scare when Indian forces bunched up at the borders of the Gwadar port, However the arrival of Cairo Pact reinforcements along with threats from the Persian border would cause India to back down from the fight. Oman has restored its influence over the Indian Ocean and it may be a crucial token for the Reichspakt and Cairo Pact to secure full power over the Indian Ocean.

## Military

Oman's Military serves the purpose it was built for, and is modernized and powerful among the ranks of the Cairo Pact. While its army was given the least amount of attention it is still impressive for its population. The Omani Army is mostly made for defensive operations and for urban warfare, perfect for the type of war Oman envisions it getting itself into. Oman's navy however is another story with it being overly sized for the country and containing several heavy cruisers and an in construction aircraft Carrier. Oman's air force is small but still significant. Its main bases are in Muscat and Gwadar.