ヤアーリバ朝における通商活動とイマーム

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The Portuguese tenure of Muscat came to an end in 1650 by the assult of Arabs. After the expulsion of the Portuguese from Muscat, the acute hostility between the Omanis and the Portuguese continued. The Portuguese fleets came to Muscat to destroy the Omani navy. The Omani fleets were dispatched many times by the Imams to attack the Portuguese vessels and to raid on the Portuguese settlements in India, the Persian Gulf and East Africa. Thus the frequent conflicts between them lasted approximately till 1739 when the Portuguese had lost their power in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
The main reason why the Omanis maintained or even increased their enmity against the Portuguese was that the commercial operations of the Omanis were being harassed by the Portuguese. After the capture of Muscat by the Imam Sultan b. Sayf I, the Omanis embarked in maritime trade and then Muscat became main entrepot for the Persian Gulf trade. But untill the first half of the 18th century, the Portuguese were attempting to maintain their control on the native maritime trade in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Since the Portuguese considered the growth of the Omani commercial operations as a serious threat to the Portuguese control on the native trade, they tried to prevent the Omani trade.
The Imam Sultan b. Sayf I and his successors organized the naval expeditions to remove the Portuguese pressure on their trade and to discourage the Yemeni and Persian trade activities, which gave the Imams the leading role in the Omani maritime operations. In the beginning of the 18th century, the Imams had nearly 30 naval vessels which they employed as merchant ships in time of peace. Thus the Imams established themselves as the leading mercantile power in Oman.