Travelling Around Britain and the World

Sunday 18 November 2018

Oman (5): Nizwa

The Former Stronghold of the Imam of Nizwa, now a Date Trading Centre

The Descent to Nizwa and a Little History

Oman

The morning was still chilly as we left Saiq, high in the Jebel Akhdar, heading down to the inland plain and the city of Nizwa where the average overnight low is warmer than Saiq’s midday high.

Until 1970 Oman was known as the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman emphasising the difference between ‘Muscat’, the cosmopolitan city and its coastal strip, and ‘Oman’ the isolated and conservative interior. Although Sultan Said (the present Sultan’s father) was the ultimate ruler, the Imamate of Oman had considerable autonomy. In the 1950s a dispute over the allocation of oil exploration rights led to an insurrection by the Imam. Much of the fighting took place in these mountains.

Descending the Jebel Akhdar

Muscat and Oman was a British Protectorate, so in 1957 with the Imam gaining the upper hand, the British felt the need to intervene. Ground troops supported by the RAF stabilized the situation and the Imam left his capital at Nizwa to seek asylum in Saudi Arabia.

Today's journey - the short green line from the Jebel Akhdar to Nizwa

We returned to Birkat Al-Mawz (see yesterday) at the foot of the mountains and continued 25km east to Nizwa.

Nizwa

Nizwa is a long thin municipality stretched out along the banks of a watercourse that looks wide and blue on Google maps, but is harder to find in reality being generally dry, at least above ground. But it was this elusive water that caused a city to be built here, and there is enough moisture for the buildings to be embowered in date palms. Europeans are used to their countryside being green and their cities less so; in Oman the countryside is arid - rocky, stony or sandy – and wherever there is sufficient water for vegetation, there is sufficient water for people, so greenery is concentrated in urban areas.

We entered the modern, prosperous city through a long commercial strip. Beyond we found an identifiable centre, not always the case in Oman, and parked outside the souk beside a well-maintained mud wall.

Central Nizwa

Nizwa Souk

The dates of Birkat Al-Mawz, Nizwa and the surrounding town and villages come to market in Nizwa. We visited the premier date shop where a dozen or so varieties are laid out for tasting and purchase. We tried most of them, some are a little sweeter, some have a denser texture - almost toffee-like – but the differences are minor and all are the same price.

Date tasting in Nizwa

We had coffee with the shop's owner and made some purchases, dates (fardh was our chosen variety), small pots of ‘date honey’, the intensely sweet and date-y liquor that oozes from piles of stored dates under their own weight, and other goodies.

Having a coffee and some dates with the shop's owner. Nizwa

We moved on to fresh produce. Perhaps because of the National Day holiday the vegetable market had few sellers or buyers. There were no women in the market - ‘Omani men do all the shopping,’ Y said as though this was some feminist triumph – in fact there were very few women out and about at all, here or elsewhere.

Vegetable market, Nizwa

We spent more time in the spice market, and indeed more money, replenishing our stock of spices and buying sundry presents including soaps scented with frankincense and myrrh (and if gold had a scent?) We also bought some frankincense to burn, a strange decision as we would be in the heart of frankincense country in a few days’ time.

Nuts, spices and other goodies, Nizwa

The craft market did not detain us long. Again, it was not busy, but it was clean, tidy and well organised, words rarely used about middle eastern souks but that is the Omani way.

Craft souk, Nizwa

Though the street decked in flags and bunting for National Day was more lively.

National Day flags and bunting, Craft Souk, Nizwa

Outside the immediate souk area there were examples of the customary abandoned and decaying mud brick buildings….

Crumbling mud brick buildings, Nizwa

….but there were many more that had been meticulously maintained…

Well maintained mud brick buildings, Nizwa

….none more so than the biggest of them all…

Nizwa Fort


The tower, Nizwa Fort

There has been a fort at Nizwa since the 12th century, but the current building largely dates from the 1650s. It was the stronghold of the Imam of Oman, the political and spiritual leader of ‘Oman Proper’ (i.e. Oman excluding Muscat and the coastal strip) from the 8th century until the failed insurrection of the 1950s.

The Imam was a leader of the Ibadi Muslims, a denomination founded in 650 only 20 year after the death of the Prophet and predating both Sunni and Shia denominations. Once widespread, the emergence of the Sunni Caliphate pushed the Ibadis into Arabia's south east corner. Today most Omanis are Ibadis - and most Ibadis are Omanis.

Ibadis are noted for their tolerance and preference for resolving disputes by reason and discussion rather than aggression - pity about the 1955-9 insurrection, then. Venom Jets of the British Royal Air Force attacked Nizwa Fort in 1957. According to Wikipedia ‘the walls are rounded and robust, designed to withstand fierce barrages of mortar fire’ but an attack by military aircraft is another matter. Fortunately mud brick buildings are relatively easily restored and the fort, now looking as it did in its prime, has become one of Oman’s most visited national monuments.

The site is large and rambling, but visitors see the courtyard, a series of rooms and the large round tower (above).

Courtyard, Nizwa Fort

The rooms are not furnished – traditionally there was no furniture, only carpets and cushions….

Standard room in Nizwa Fort
Plenty of shelves, but no furniture. The hatches on the right give access to a murder hole above the door below.

…but they do have a collection of magnificent chests.

Just one of the many chests, Nizwa Fort

….and there is a small display area.

Exhibition area, Nizwa Fort

There is little inside the tower apart from some cannons.

Cannons in the tower, Nizwa Fort

You can climb to the battlements but not along them, 17th century safety standards leave something to be desired…

On the tower battlements, Nizwa Fort

…but there is a good view over the town and its many date palms.

Nizwa from the tower of Nizwa Fort

A Turkish Lunch in Nizwa

We had already seen how Oman borrows much of its cuisine from its neighbours, and today Y selected a Turkish restaurant for our lunch. We enjoyed the kebabs - chicken, beef and kofta – rice, vegetables and flatbread, plus the inevitable salad. Lunch for three came to 5 Rials (£10), including drinks. Tired of water, I studied the long list of fresh fruit juices before choosing lemon and mint, which was clean, sharp and refreshing.

Turkish lunch (and Vimto) Nizwa

Lynne went for Vimto which was invented as a cordial in Manchester in 1908, the carbonated version came later. On its home turf Vimto limps on as a brand with, perhaps, a rather dated image, but not so in the Arabian Peninsula where Vimto cordial is the drink of choice for iftar, the sunset breaking of the Ramadan fast. Made under licence in Saudi Arabia, it has a 90% share of the local cordial concentrated drinks market. Lynne said it made a pleasant change, but it was a bit sweet for me.

Golden Tulip Hotel, Nizwa

After lunch we checked in to the Golden Tulip, a luxurious hotel so far out on the Nizwa strip it was almost in the desert. Taking advantage of a rare free afternoon we lazed around (and in) the pool.

Relaxing in the pool, Golden Tulip, Nizwa

The evening meal was a buffet, the tables set out in the garden around the pool. It was attractive, but we wanted a lighter meal and the bar was attractive too.

The hotel’s main function room was holding a National Day dinner attended by many elderly distinguished looking men each in his best white dishdash with traditional khanjar dagger. Seeing as everyone turned up for the dinner armed it is probably a good thing they are ‘noted for their tolerance and preference for resolving disputes by reason and discussion rather than aggression’.

Being good Muslims, we saw few (none?) of them in the bar, which claims to be the hottest spot in Nizwa but never had more than seven customers while we were there. Following the earlier Turkish theme we each had a glass of rakı at a very reasonable price, at least by local standards, with some Indian nibbles. Then we had feta cheese and olives and a bowl of chips washed down with £4 cans Carlsberg – a more typical Omani price for alcohol. We did not know it, but it was the last bar we would see in Oman.

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Location: Nizwa, Oman

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