Port · Dhofar: the lords of Mirbat and Zafar · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Sumhuram

The ancient Hadrami incense port of Sumhuram on the lagoon of Khor Rori, abandoned in late antiquity; the trade moved to Zafar's own harbours.

A ruin in 1200.

Who holds it

Name
None (ruin)
Title
None
Since
-
Confidence
high

Lord in 1200

None: a ruin in the lord of Zafar's plain.

How things stand that morning

Ruined.

Charter

None known: southern Arabian towns had no charters; the lord or his deputy, the judge (qadi) and the notables answer for the town.

Council

Not recorded for 1199-1200.

Fairs and markets

No fair dates recorded for 1199-1200.

Militia

Not recorded for 1199-1200.

Walls and castle

Ruined ancient walls.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Archaeology.

Primary sources for Dhofar

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Annals of Oman, from the Kashf al-ghumma, Sirhan ibn Sa'id ibn Sirhan (compiler), from earlier Ibadi chronicles (about 1728, from earlier Ibadi sources). The Ibadi imamate of Oman has no contemporary chronicle for 1200; the later Omani compilations (the Kashf al-ghumma and al-Salimi's Tuhfat al-a'yan) preserve a list of imams and the tradition of the Nabhani maliks who ruled the interior from the 12th century, with Hormuz and Kish pressing on the coast. Read online
  • History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. 'Al-Baleed Archaeological Park', English Wikipedia (after Costa 1979 and Zarins 2007)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.