Book Review | When Oman ruled Indian Ocean and how Dar es Salaam copied Bombay

Buy silver and cover it with gold,” goes an Omani saying. I realised the essence of it only when I landed at the Muscat international airport in 2018. In my mind, I was just expecting a desolate landing strip, but I was stunned by the cosmopolitan extravaganza that welcomed me. It shone like a 5,000-acre wide jewel manicuring the Rub al-Khali desert.

Was Oman just a mere peace mediator in West Asian politics? Or was there more to its…