Timeline of Muscat

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Muscat, Oman.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 20th century

• 550 BCE – Achaemenids in power (approximate date).^[1]
• 100s CE – Migration of Arab tribes from Yemen.^[1]
• 633 CE – Regional Islamization.^[1]
• 696 CE – Umayyad army attempting to seize Muscat was defeated.^[2]
• 865 CE – Flood destroy a portion of the city.^[2]
• 1507 – City taken by Portuguese forces under command of Afonso de Albuquerque.^[1]
• 1522 – Uprising against Portuguese rule.^[1]
• 1546 – City bombarded by Ottoman ships without landing.^[1]
• 1552 – Capture of Muscat (1552) by Ottoman forces under Piri Reis for a brief period.^[2]
• 1581 – City pillaged by Ottomans under command of Piri Reis before withdrawing.^[2]
• 1586-1588 – Fort al-Jalali and Fort al-Mirani completed.^[2][3]
• 1624 – Construction begins of "earthen land wall" around city.^[2]
• 1640 – City attacked by forces of Nasir bin Murshid.^[2]
• 1648 – City besieged by Nasir ibn Murshid but Portuguese sued for peace.^[2]
• 1650 – City taken by forces of Sultan bin Saif; Portuguese ousted.^[2][4]
• 1670 – Dutch East India Company factory established.^[1]
• 1738 – Muscat occupied by forces of Muhammad Taqi Khan of Fars.^[5]
• 1740s – Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi in power.^[6][7]
• 1792 – Albusaidi monarch Hamad ibn Said relocates the capital of Oman from Rustaq to Muscat.^[1]
• 1800 – British representative of the British East India Company takes residence in Muscat.^[2]
• 1806 – Said bin Sultan in power.^[8]
• 1832 – Capital of the Omani empire relocated from Muscat to colonial Zanzibar by Said bin Sultan.^[9]
• 1845 – Bait al-Falaj Fort built.^[10]
• 1856 – Thuwaini bin Said becomes sultan of the newly formed Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and his capital is Muscat.
• 1879 – The United States consulate is established in Muscat.^[2]
• 1890 – Cyclonic storm flooding kills 700 people.^[2]
• 1893 – Hospital established.^[1]
• 1894 – French consulate established.^[2]
• 1899 – Bubonic plague strikes at Muscat.^[2]

20th century

• 1928 – Al-Sa'idiyah School established.^[2]
• 1929 – Vehicular road into city built "by the hacking out of a one-lane track through the mountains."^[3]
• 1932 – Said bin Taimur becomes sultan.^[1]
• 1939 – Municipal council established.^[11]
• 1943 – Bombing of ship in harbor by Japanese forces.^[1]
• 1948 – British Bank of the Middle East branch in business.^[2]
• 1949 – Municipal Law for the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman issued.^[11]
• 1951 – Indian consulate established.^[2]
• 1952 – Population: 4,200 in town (approximate estimate).^[12]
• 1960 – Population: 5,080 in town; 6,208 urban agglomeration (approximate estimate).^[13]
• 1962 – Muttrah-Muscat road paved.^[2]
• 1963 – Slavery abolished.^[1]
• 1967 – Petroleum Development Oman headquartered in Muscat.
• 1968 – Electric power plant commissioned in Riyam.^[2]
• 1970 – Qaboos bin Said al Said in power.^[1]
• 1972
  • June: Muttrah and Muscat merge to form the Muscat Municipality.^[11]
  • Al Alam Palace built.
• 1973
  • Seeb Airport opens.
  • British School – Muscat established.
• 1974
  • Port Sultan Qaboos built in Muttrah.^[3]
  • Museum of Omani Heritage opens.
• 1977 First oil painting exhibition by Gulshen Sleem at Al Falaj Hotel
• 1975
  • Office of municipality president established.^[11]
  • Times of Oman newspaper begins publication.^[14]
• 1981
  • Oman Daily Observer newspaper begins publication.^[14]
  • Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor^[15] and Ministry of Petroleum^[15] built.
• 1984 – Muscat Governorate established.^[11]
• 1985
  • Gulf Cooperation Council meets in Muscat.^[2][16]
  • Al-Bustan Palace Hotel in business.^[2]
  • Oman Natural History Museum opens.^[10]
• 1986 – Sultan Qaboos University opens.^[14]
• 1987 – Royal Hospital built.^[15]
• 1988
  • Muscat Securities Market established.
  • Alwatan newspaper in publication.^[17]
  • French embassy built.^[15]
• 1990 – Oman Children's Museum established.
• 1992 – Omani French Museum established.
• 1993
  • 40,856 in city.^[14]
  • Dam^[2] and Oman International Bank^[15] built.
  • Oman Society for Fine Arts established.^[10]
• 1995 – Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre established.
• 1996 – National Hospitality Institute headquartered in city.^{[citation needed]}
• 1998 – Bait al Zubair museum opens.

21st century

• 2001
  • Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque built.
  • Muscat Gate Museum opens.
  • Population: 685,676 in governorate.^[14]
• 2006 – Bait Al Baranda (house museum) opened.
• 2010 – Al-Musannah Sports City opened.^[18]
• 2011
  • Royal Opera House Muscat opened in Shati Al-Qurm.
• 2012 – Muscat Expressway built.^[3]
• 2013 – Fish souk rebuilt.^[3]
• 2018
  • Swedish EDM producer Avicii died by suicide in Muscat.^[19]
  • Population: 315,443 (estimate).^[20]
• 2020
  • in January 2020, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said became the ruler of Oman after Sultan Qaboos died.
  • NOC (No Objection Certificate) abolished amidst COVID-19.

See also

• Muscat history
• List of cities in Oman (also by population, in German)
• Old Muscat