No one can fully identify, document and compile data on the shipwrecks that happened along the Oman coast people. Tracing the history of shipwreck is considered to be the province of archeologists and according to them the cargo narrates a lot about the history of the sailors, the voyagers and the time of the shipwreck. Modern excavations into the remnants of ships are aimed at exploring its past and the tradition of the people who sailed in them (Chirakure, Sinamai, Goagoses, Mubusisi and Ndoro 3). Much of the excavations into the shipwrecks have been done by the Red Sea Wreck Academy and it has undertaken all the discovery, identification and survey of several shipwrecks.
Shipwreck is considered as a ship which has wrecked, sunk or breached in the waters which can be a sea, lake or an ocean. There are several arguments presented to explain the causes of shipwrecks. The most conventional causes are: poor design of the ship, cargo that has not been properly weighed leading to overloading, sailing errors resulting from poor navigation and human errors which might often result into collisions with other ships. Shipwreck can also be caused by bad weather and many other causes that might lead to unintentional sinking. Shipwrecks happened in several coasts in the world and the prominent ones are along coasts of Australia and Oman. Though several factors regarding ship wrecks are similar, the hospitality of the Oman people makes the study of shipwrecks along the coast of Oman fascinating.
The story of Amstelveen is not the only in the history of shipwrecks in the coast of Oman but there are several other European shipwrecks which happened along the coasts of Oman during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Amstelveen ship wrecked off in the sultanate of Oman more than 250 years ago and it is one of the conspicuous and prominent stories of describing shipwrecks along the coast of Oman. The availability of the Dutch log book makes studying the story of shipwrecks in general and Amstelveen in particular a fascinating one. The wreckage happened along Ras madrakah on the coast of Wusta in the year 1763. The review of the Dutch log book of the 18th century which was available in one of the French bookshops indicates that there were thirty crew members who survived from the wrecks but they made grueling journey along one of the coast of Muscat. There have been several shipwrecks along the coast of Oman, but in the entire history of wrecks, the Amstelveen mishap was considered an extraordinary one.
The Dutch logbook that was found in France contained crucial information that that had all the accounts of the Amstelveen shipwreck at the cape Madrakah which was several miles south of Muscat. The Dutch logbook was published by one of the surviving crew but it was forgotten. The Amstelveen wreck is a perfect representation of how the Dutch and the Oman share similar heritage. The log book documented all the encounters, experiences and the hardships of the Dutch castaways during the 18th century Oman; it also indicated their meetings and their moments with the Oman people in the desert. It is thought that some of the crew like Sur and Al Hadd died along the way due to the extremely harsh environment which characterized the journey from the Oman coast to Muscat and other areas inhabited by the Oman people. The log book presented accounts in details of the skills of the surviving crew, the cultural misunderstanding that existed and other aspects of cultural artifacts and how they were treated by the Oman people (Khaleej Times 1).
Amstelveen ship belonged to the Dutch East India Company. During the wreck, there was a crew of 105 people of whom 30 survived whereas 75 died from the stranding. The events that were recorded by one of the surviving members and found in a book shop in France had earlier been forgotten.
Probably, besides the story of the Amstelveen, which was a Dutch-based ship and perhaps the most conspicuous one, the English ship the Merchants Delight, courtesy of Captain Edward Say, run ashore at the Mecira Island in 1684 and is considered to be the oldest in the history of the shipwrecks which happened along the coast of Oman. The Merchants Delight was unlucky to have run ashore on the Island along the coast of Oman in the Night and due to the darkness and despite the fact that the ship kept their under the sea lead going every half hour; they were unlucky to have run the ship between two sea rocks which were very close to the shore, unfortunately due to this the ship was damaged and fully loaded with water after some few minutes and being dry on the upper decks, the crew comfortably survived till the following morning, it was in that morning that they discovered several people which they approximated to be close to four or five hundred Arabs who had pitched tent some few distance from their location. The Arabs, due to the perception and by look of things demonstrated some willingness to come to the aid of the distressed people of any origin.
Arabs were excellent swimmers and once they noticed the stranded crew, they began swimming towards that direction even without being commanded to doing so and in the end brought a rope ashore. The mission was accomplished with ease due to the fact that there was one crew on board, who, prior to that had sailed some years back in India and he had acquired some knowledge of the Hindu and had also learned the Hindustan language and had knowledge of the Arabic; his knowledge proved instrumental and enabled him to serve as an interpreter during this occasion. The Arabs did all they could to pull the ship to the shore. Due to the robbery cases which were associated with the sea, the Arabs assured the English crew on the board that they had not came to rob them neither were they there to capitalize on the unfortunate situation that had befell them but that they came to assist them only at a reasonable fee; and they would make a fair and an acceptable contract with them under which they would discharge their duties and roles based on the terms and conditions of the contract and that they were going further operate under the terms of the agreement. The crew on board accepted the proposal made by the Arabs. Key in the contract and the agreement between the English crew and the Arab rescuers was that, all the treasure, cargo and the ship’s furniture was to be divided on 50-50 basis. Furthermore, the English were to be given options to choose concerning the direction they would want while it was agreed that the Arabs had to transport the English crew to Muscat.
Immediately the contract was completed, the Arabs took to work with enthusiasm and determination and after some days, slightly more than a week they had gotten every thing which was portable offshore. After accomplishing the primary task of offloading, they began executing the terms of the agreement; they started dividing the whole lot into two equal shares, and gave the English their part of the treasure and they took theirs, they aided the English people in shipping what belonged to them to Muscat. All the while they were getting the goods ashore; after the completion of the rescue task, the hospitality of the Oman came into fore; while in Muscat, the Englishmen were provided with food, drinks and accommodation; they particularly treated the English with excellent mutton, both of sheep and goat, and laid in provision for their passage to Muscat, free of charge to the supercargo which was considered one of the exceptional favors along the coast. After the interpreter aforesaid was grown familiar with those Arabs, that were so kind and benevolent, he asked them why so many of them had assembled on that barren Island. They answered, that about eight days before the Ship was lost, a Fakeeh, or religious scholar, prophesied, that near such a time, a ship would be lost there, and pressed them to go to the assistance of the ship-wrecked people, who would be glad to come under contract with them, to have one half of what was gotten out of the wreck; and conjured his auditory to perform their part faithfully, which accordingly they did.
Another ship wreck to have happened along the coast of Oman was the Boston-based ship called the Commerce which was destined for Bombay. It shipwrecked on the eastern coasts of Oman around the area of Ra’s Al Sharbithat which was several kilometers east of Salalah. There were 16 survivors of the shipwreck who made a trek into Muscat, though not all of them arrived at Muscat since half died along the way due to the seriously harsh climate of the desert. Upon their arrival at the Muscat, they got a warm reception from Sultan Hamad Bin Said who provided them with food and accommodation till they fully recovered (Ochs 115). It was an historical shipwreck to have been witnessed in the coast of southern Oman and took place on 10 July 1792, when the American ship Commerce was grounded on a reef off the Dofar coast. The shipwreck happened due to a combination of bad weather and poor navigation; it was an unprecedented tragedy. There were several crew members aboard the ship but only twenty seven of them survived, which comprised of nineteen blacks and eight Europeans who succeeded in getting ashore and commenced a very arduous overland journey to Muscat. The journey took 51 days, and when the group arrived in Muscat on 12 August 1792, there were only eight survivors while others had died along the way due to the harsh climatic conditions of the desert; the long and tedious journey and more so lack of food and water made it very hard to survive. One of them, Daniel Sounders, wrote an account of the ordeal (Saunders 97). His book A Journal of the Travels and Sufferings of Daniel Saunders was published in 1794.
On the hospitality of the Oman; the people of Oman were friendly to the victims of the shipwreck. They treated them with courtesy by providing accommodation, food and water. The journey from the coast to the capital Muscat was long, tedious and dangerous one and as such, members of the voyages died along the way due to the harsh climatic condition of the desert, the journey involved travelling through scorching lands, uncovered mountains and naked rocks but this was neutralized by the people of the desert or rather the Oman who were insusceptible of pity and treated the voyagers well (Vosmer 11). Some of the travelers only relied on the dates which was the stable food of the desert but often could not satisfy their demands and they often relied on the hospitality of the Oman Arabs for their additional food and water demands. The perfect and commendable hospitality of the Oman Arabs was evidenced by the event where the travelers met a young girl in the desert who asked them in her mother tongue as to where they ware from and where they were going to. The young girl offered to take the voyagers to her village to procure them something for their refreshments. Upon arriving at the village, they were introduced to a man who had been abandoned at the coast after a shipwreck. The man, who they considered, being of moor tribe confessed to have found the Oman people who inhabited the place to be courteous and hospitable hence he desired to continuously stay with them, the man remained and comfortably settled there as long as the people were willing to admit. The voyagers gave the little girl an account of all what had happened and afterwards the girl went ahead to procure them what to eat. The voyagers were given large quantities of rice, dates and onions and bread which were made of oatmeal. This meal combination was rare since they had never consumed it since their journey from the shore or the coast. The people of Oman offered the voyagers a place to sleep and they were promised some piece of clothing which they could cover themselves all along their journey to their destination (Saunders 90).
The history of Abbas, the prominent sheep merchant was captured in the book of Saunders, Daniel, A Journal of the Travels and Sufferings of Daniel Saunders who played a host to several shipwreck victims in his large house made of wood and thatch but was well furnished and cheerful. He provided the voyagers with lavish hospitality. The visitors were treated with visits, dinners and supper and this enabled the voyagers to experience and confirm the truth of what they had heard about the sociability of the Oman Arabs.
Francois Pyrard was an accomplished sailor (Flecker 4). In his sailing voyages he met different people. He kept a diary on which he recorded the events which took place. This recording by Francois has offered huge evidence pointing out to the supremacy of the hospitality of the Oman Arabs. Francois in his diary directly compared the Maldives and the Oman Arabs on reception aspects and pointed out with a finality that the Oman Arabs were good people and very hospitable unlike the Maldives (Anon 1). Records such as those of Francois help us to have a clear understanding of the hospitality of the Oman Arabs. Francois complained of bad and small amounts of foods that they were given by the Maldives after seeking refuge from them after their ship had been wrecked. It had happened that Francois has early sought refuge among the Oman Arabs after a similar event occurred to their ship. The fact that Francois was heaping much praises on the Oman Arabs cannot be taken lightly because this was a man whole travelled wide and far; he had interacted with different people around the world and probably he saw it fit to record the hospitality of the Arabs in his diary. Logically arguing, it is only those issues that stand out clearly that one gets to record down and, therefore, to Francois the Oman Arabs’ hospitality has stood out clearly.
The Omani people are considered to be gentle, peace loving and warm hearted people. They embraced and impressed visitors because of their charm and their good English command. The people of Oman derived pleasure and pride in their hospitality towards strangers as well as friends and serving dates created a perfect environment of encounter with strangers and the voyagers and survivors of shipwrecks were not exceptional (Al Musanna College of Technology 1). This is supported by the following expression of accounts from the book Shipwreck and survival in Oman
They indicated that we should go with them. We did so, and soon arrived at their huts. Their women felt sorry for us and promised to give us something to eat. They gave us fried fish, tamr and water, as much as we wanted. They even enjoyed watching us eat, because we ate with such gusto. It was a great boon that they were so generous in giving us food. That evening, we again found compassionate people. They welcomed us in the same way. (p 70)
There is further explanation which brings out the hospitality of the people they met:
We kept going until about 7 o’clock. We then saw fires burning, which struck us as unusual. We went there and came upon a cage that had been woven from tamr sticks. A man and a woman were setting in the cage, and a camel lay in front of it. When people saw us, they gestured that we should come and sit down. They gave us some boiled fish and a drink of water, and showed us the way to some date farmers. (p 74)
Still more accounts of the hospitality of the Arabs during that time are recorded:
On Sunday, 26 August 1764, we had the junior seaman, Barend Bronkhorst, on board. He was one of my former crew on the ship that was lost on 5 August 1763, the Amstelveen. On 11 December 1763, I had recorded that he had been found by Steven Hillekens, lying almost dead, near the lifeless body of Jan Drevens. Barend Bronkhorst told me that the Arabs had picked him up and carried him along, and cared for him with food and drink, and that was how he had managed to stay alive. He had arrived in Muscat only seven days ago. (p 97)
William Gifford Palgrave, a British missionary, In March 1863, took a local boat from Sohar which was bound for Muscat, but was shipwrecked near Sawady Island in the Batinah coast, Palgrave survived by swimming along the shore. The adventures of his journey are captured in his book Narrative of a Year’s Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia, which was published in London, 1865.
After a careful review and analysis of all the experiences and narratives of early voyagers and explorers, it can be concluded that the Omani people, in general, are hospitable, basing this argument on the way they treated the survivors of the shipwrecks courteously, warmly and kindly, though there were exceptional cases where the survivors were robbed of their belongings; the 1693 assertion by English traveler John Ovington, confirmed this fact that he was charmed by Omani manners and custom; he asserted as follows:
These Arabians are very courteous in their deportment, and extreme civil to all strangers; they offer neither violence nor affront to any; and though’ they are very tenacious of their own principles, and admirers of their religion, yet do they never impose it upon any, nor are their morals leven’d with such furious zeal, as to divest them of humanity, and a tender respect; A man may travel hundreds of miles in this country, and never meet with any abusive language or any behavior that looks rude. (Ovington, 1929, p. 251)
In order to support and proof his assertion, Ovington related the testimony of Captain Edward Say, who, he argued lived with the Omanis for several years and during his stay he travelled from one part of the country to another reaching to all corners of the region, without even being bothered or questioned by any person, though he at times and on several occasions slept in the streets and countryside; he never got robbed or hurt by anyone. Ovington also related the story of the Omanis’ kindnesses to Captain Say after his shipwreck on the Island of Macira on the Omani coast Palgrave 112).
The Amstelveen’s story, despite the unfortunate situations that befell the crew, bears evidence to the numerous occasions that the Oman people demonstrated hospitality and kindness during that time. Cornelis Eyks related in different pages of this work that the ‘Arabs’ took them to their huts and gave them “fried fish, tamr, and water” (Ovington 237).
There were however some exceptional circumstances were the visitors were treated with cruelty especially in the period of Amstelveen as captured in the book Shipwreck & survival in Oman which was found in a France Bookshop,
The people who lived here again asked us the usual questions, and searched us. They even pulled the cloth buttons off my trousers to see if money was concealed in them. More and more men and women came, and they asked us if we were circumcised. We did not understand why they came to us and opened our trousers. They used sticks to search our bodies to see if we were circumcised. They did this several times and spat in our faces. (p 69)
It is evident that in most cases the survivors were readily welcomed and assisted by the Arabs.
Works Cited
Al Musanna College of Technology. Omani people. Al Musanna College of Technology, 2008. Web.
Anon. Shipwrecks of the Maldives. Images Divers’ Warehouse, n.d. Web.
Chirakure Shadrack, Sinamai Ashton, Goagoses Esther, Mabusisi Marina, and Ndoro William. Maritime Archeology and trans-Oceanic Trade: a case study of the Oranjemund Shipwreck Cargo in Namibia. Deakin Academia, 2010. Web.
Flecker Michael. A Ninth-Century Arab Shipwreck in Indonesia. Asia Shipwreck, n.d. Web.
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Ochs, Peter. Maverick Guide to Oman (2nd Ed). New York, NY: Pelican Publishing, 1999. Print.
Ovington, John. A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1929. Print.
Palgrave, William. Personal narrative of a journey through Central and Eastern Arabia. London: Macmillan, 1868. Print.
Saunders, Daniel. A Journal of the Travels and Sufferings of Daniel Saunders. New York, NY: Prentice Hall, 1974. Print.
Vosmer, Tom. As Jewels epic voyage draws to a close Dr Tom Vosmer, Construction Director looks back over the project. Jewels of Muscat, 2010. Web.