Rio de Janeiro – From 1507 to 1650, Portugal was present in Oman. Famous sailor Vasco da Gama stopped in Muscat and Ormuz, for example, before heading to India. The Portuguese built forts to protect their navigation routes and these constructions still beautify the landscape in the Arab country.
This past with a common Portuguese presence in Brazil attracted representatives of the National Records & Archives Authority of Oman to the country. This week, they will be visiting the National Archives and National Library, in Rio de Janeiro, and the Public Archives of the State of Bahia, in Salvador.
“Portugal was in Oman in the 16th and 17th Centuries, as was the case in Brazil. We hope to have common files, Omani records among the Brazilian records and in the National Library. We want to see if we can find some of these records and get copies, to have some idea of historic relations between Oman and Brazil,” explained Hamood Salim Al-Hinai, head of the institution’s private archives. He is travelling in the company of a translator, Saif Abdullah Al Kalbaini.
Hinai says that, apart from Muscat and Ormuz, the Portuguese also visited other cities in Oman, like Khasab and Salala. Portuguese explorers also had contact with the Omanis in Africa, as was the case in Zanzibar, off the coast of what is currently Tanzania, and Mombasa, in Kenya. The Arab researcher hopes to find records of these historic passages in the Brazilian archives, and also letters from Vasco da Gama speaking about the period the navigator spent in Oman.
The agenda of the Omani researchers begins on Tuesday (27), with the visit to the National Archives, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. On Wednesday (28), they should head to the National Library, also in Rio. On Thursday (30), they end their engagements with a meeting in the public archives of Bahia.
In the Public Archives of Bahia, Hinai may find some of the records he is seeking. The site has several documents in archaic Arabic, whose content is still unknown to the Brazilians who, in turn, hope that the visit by the Omani visitors may help bring out the content of the letters exchanged in the colonial period.
“We were informed that Brazil has some historic records and documents in Arabic. This is of great interest to us, as the history between Oman, Portugal and Brazil is all related. We are seeking these historic documents about Oman and want to establish partnerships with Brazil to exchange these records and documents,” said Hinai.
Apart from seeing the documents Brazil has, the Arab delegation brought in its baggage dozens of historic archives, which it intends to exhibit in the country. “They are documents about relations between Oman, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom and the United States,” said Hinai. According to him, there are 50 records, including letters, documents, maps and commercial agreements. Researchers plan to promote the exhibition in Rio and Salvador. The details will be agreed on in meetings to be promoted this week.
*Translated by Mark Ament
