Timeline of Muscat

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Muscat, Oman.

Prior to 20th century

 * 550 BCE - Achaemenids in power (approximate date).
 * 100s CE - Migration of Arab tribes from Yemen.
 * 300s CE - Arab tribes expelled the Sassanians.
 * 633 CE - Regional Islamization.
 * 696 CE - Umayyad army attempting to seize Muscat was defeated.
 * 865 CE - Flood destroy a portion of the city.
 * 1507 - City taken by Portuguese forces under command of Afonso de Albuquerque.
 * 1522 - Uprising against Portuguese rule.
 * 1546 - City bombarded by Ottoman ships without landing.
 * 1552 - Capture of Muscat (1552) by Ottoman forces under Piri Reis for a brief period.
 * 1581 - City pillaged by Ottomans under command of Piri Reis before withdrawing.
 * 1586-1588 - Fort al-Jalali and Fort al-Mirani completed.
 * 1624 - Construction begins of "earthen land wall" around city.
 * 1640 - City attacked by forces of Nasir bin Murshid.
 * 1648 - City besieged by Nasir ibn Murshid but Portuguese sued for peace.
 * 1650 - City taken by forces of Sultan bin Saif; Portuguese ousted.
 * 1670 - Dutch East India Company factory established.
 * 1738 - Muscat occupied by forces of Muhammad Taqi Khan of Fars.
 * 1740s - Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi in power.
 * 1792 - Albusaidi monarch Hamad ibn Said relocates the capital of Oman from Rustaq to Muscat.
 * 1800 - British representative of the British East India Company takes residence in Muscat.
 * 1806 - Said bin Sultan in power.
 * 1832 - Capital of the Omani empire relocated from Muscat to colonial Zanzibar by Said bin Sultan.
 * 1845 - Bait al-Falaj Fort built.
 * 1856 - Thuwaini bin Said becomes sultan of the newly formed Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and his capital is Muscat.
 * 1879 - The United States consulate is established in Muscat.
 * 1890 - Cyclonic storm flooding kills 700 people.
 * 1893 - Hospital established.
 * 1894 - French consulate established.
 * 1899 - Bubonic plague strikes at Muscat.

20th century

 * 1928 - Al-Sa'idiyah School established.
 * 1929 - Vehicular road into city built "by the hacking out of a one-lane track through the mountains."
 * 1932 - Said bin Taimur becomes sultan.
 * 1939 - Municipal council established.
 * 1943 - Bombing of ship in harbor by Japanese forces.
 * 1948 - British Bank of the Middle East branch in business.
 * 1949 - Municipal Law for the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman issued.
 * 1951 - Indian consulate established.
 * 1952 - Population: 4,200 in town (approximate estimate).
 * 1960 - Population: 5,080 in town; 6,208 urban agglomeration (approximate estimate).
 * 1962 - Muttrah-Muscat road paved.
 * 1963 - Slavery abolished.


 * 1967 - Petroleum Development Oman headquartered in Muscat.
 * 1968 - Electric power plant commissioned in Riyam.
 * 1970 - Qaboos bin Said al Said in power.
 * 1972
 * June: Muttrah and Muscat merge to form the Muscat Municipality.
 * Al Alam Palace built.
 * 1973
 * Seeb Airport opens.
 * British School – Muscat established.
 * 1974
 * Port Sultan Qaboos built in Muttrah.
 * Museum of Omani Heritage opens.
 * 1975
 * Office of municipality president established.
 * Times of Oman newspaper begins publication.
 * 1981
 * Oman Daily Observer newspaper begins publication.
 * Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and Ministry of Petroleum built.
 * 1984 - Muscat Governorate established.
 * 1985
 * Gulf Cooperation Council meets in Muscat.
 * Al-Bustan Palace Hotel in business.
 * Oman Natural History Museum opens.
 * 1986 - Sultan Qaboos University opens.
 * 1987 - Royal Hospital built.
 * 1988
 * Muscat Securities Market established.
 * Alwatan newspaper in publication.
 * French embassy built.
 * 1990 - Oman Children's Museum established.
 * 1992 - Omani French Museum established.
 * 1993
 * 40,856 in city.
 * Dam and Oman International Bank built.
 * Oman Society for Fine Arts established.
 * 1995 - Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre established.
 * 1996 - National Hospitality Institute headquartered in city.
 * 1998 - Bait al Zubair museum opens.

21st century

 * 2001
 * Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque built.
 * Muscat Gate Museum opens.
 * Population: 685,676 in governorate.
 * 2006 - Bait Al Baranda (house museum) opened.
 * 2010 - Al-Musannah Sports City opened.
 * 2011
 * Royal Opera House Muscat opened in Shati Al-Qurm.
 * 2012 - Muscat Expressway built.
 * 2013 - Fish souk rebuilt.
 * 2018
 * Swedish EDM producer Avicii died by suicide in Muscat.
 * Population: 315,443 (estimate).
 * 2020
 * in January 2020, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said became the new successor of Oman after the sad demise of the then His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
 * NOC (No Objection Certificate) abolished amidst COVID-19.
 * NOC (No Objection Certificate) abolished amidst COVID-19.