Tehama Coast

Along the Gulf of Oman, a narrow coastal plain lies between the sea and the mountains of Arabia. Ports such as Sohar linked inland communities to merchants crossing the gulf and the Indian Ocean. In 1507 Afonso de Albuquerque's Portuguese fleet reached this coast; Sohar submitted while Muscat and Quriyat resisted and were attacked. Control of these ports became central to the struggle over the sea routes toward Hormuz.