Dhofar

Dhofar was a frankincense-producing coastal region of southern Arabia, centred on Zafar near Salalah. In 1337 a branch of Yemen’s Rasulid dynasty ruled this distant province.

The Kathiri sultanate of Hadhramaut seized Dhofar in 1414. Around 1480 Mahri tribesmen established themselves on Socotra; a Portuguese fleet stormed the island in 1507 but abandoned it in 1511. Dhofar itself remained under Kathiri rule until Omani power rose in later centuries.