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Articles 50 MAGAZINE ISSUE 06 legal rights for English merchants in Oman. In exchange, the merchants brought in goods that the Omanis wanted, including cast-iron guns made in the Weald. The earliest surviving cast-iron cannons date from this period. There is a mid-17th century piece, part of the collection at Al Hazm, probably cast by the Browne family. It is unmarked except for the weight, 18-1-21, rudely engraved on it. There is another early gun on the ramparts of Nikhal Fort and a third at Jabreen Castle. Finally, there is a rose and crown gun, cast for the British government in the 1600s, on display in Nikhal Fort. Within a few years, Oman’s Ruler Sultan Bin Saif retook Muscat, expelling the Portuguese from their forts. The Ya’ruba then went on build up a formidable navy, which succeeded in defeating and capturing Portuguese ships and going on to take the former Portuguese colonies of Zanzibar and Pemba, on the East African coast, and Gwadar, in modern Pakistan. This is suggests another channel through which the cannons could have reached Oman. There are still a number of bronze Portuguese guns, taken from captured ships or forts on display there. Arms merchants, then as now, were happy to sell guns to
oth sides of a war. Britain and Portugal had been allies since she had regained her independence from Hapsburg Spain, and for much of the time in the later 17th century the two countries worked together, against their then common enemy, the Dutch. Relations had become even closer following the marriage of Charles II to the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza. In the 1660s English merchants exported hundreds of castiron guns to Lisbon for the service of the King of Portugal, guns which could later have been captured and used by the Omanis. Sultan died in 1679 and was succeeded by his son, the first in a hereditary succession. The Ya’ruba dynasty continued to build new ships which were known to be heavily armed, enabling them to seize Portuguese shipping and colonies. The captain of the French warship Legier reported he had been attacked by two Omani ships of 60 and 80 guns. In addition, guns were also needed for the many fortifications built round the country and coast. The British officer Alexander Hamilton described Muscat on his visit in 1715: ‘the Wall of the Town that faces the harbour , has a Battery of large Cannon, about 60 in Number, and there are 8 or 10 small Forts built on the adjacent Rocks or Mountains…’ There are still a number of bronze Portuguese guns, taken from captured ships or forts on display there. Arms merchants, then as now, were happy to sell guns to both sides of a war Articles There also survive in Oman, a large number of pieces cast for export in the years around 1700, similar to the rose and crown guns made for British service at that time. These cannon were often of small calibre, light enough to be easily transported from ship or battery and cheap in price, usually plain, perhaps just with an engraved P or weight. They could be used on land and at sea. Such cannons can be found the length and breadth of Oman. There is a pair of 17th century examples guarding the entrance to the Frankincense Museum at Dhofar in the south of the country. Another, dating from around 1700, engraved with its weight, 5-1-10, the centre keel marked across the ISSUE 06 MAGAZINE 51
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 06 APRIL 2011 MAGAZINE 26 Uni
Page 3 and 4: Welcome to the sixth edition of MAG
Page 5 and 6: congress in Rio de Janeiro in 2008
Page 7 and 8: In 2011, the Universalmuseum Joanne
Page 9 and 10: Friday, 23rd September 2011 09:00-1
Page 11 and 12: century. We encouraged our colleagu
Page 13 and 14: Camouflage takes centre stage F rom
Page 15 and 16: National Treasures From arms and ar
Page 17 and 18: Upcoming conferences The Wars of th
Page 19 and 20: News from the National Museum of th
Page 21 and 22: the mame of soldiers wives, that I
Page 23 and 24: http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/sp
Page 25 and 26: ‘The Unknown Warrior’ Royal Eng
Page 27 and 28: US milk. These were found in Poland
Page 29 and 30: Publications Arms and Armour of Kni
Page 31 and 32: Martin Roemers Kabul, Dutch troops
Page 33 and 34: dimension to the Web that allows fo
Page 35 and 36: Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham,
Page 37 and 38: The project brings together and ope
Page 39 and 40: The database of the Armoury of the
Page 41 and 42: The Basiliscoe Mercury Ruth Rhynas
Page 43 and 44: active presences on Twitter and Fli
Page 45 and 46: Articles Art of the possible: Trans
Page 47 and 48: Early Engineers Showcased The Herit
Page 49: Pieces of the Weald in Oman Ruth Rh
Page 53 and 54: Another, in poorer condition intend
Page 55 and 56: The ‘secret’ Shuvalov howitzer
Page 57 and 58: A secret weapon in the collection o

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