The Ya'ruba imams expel the Portuguese and build Oman's maritime empire

Portugal had held Muscat and Oman's coast since 1507. The Ya'ruba imams reunited the country from the interior, took Muscat in 1650 and built a navy that drove the Portuguese from the Gulf and much of the Swahili coast, capturing Mombasa in 1698. Oman became an Indian Ocean power whose reach later extended to Zanzibar. The round tower of Nizwa Fort and Jabrin Castle date from this age.