Oman, US look back on nearly two centuries of friendship
Ahmed bin Naaman arrived in New York on April 30, 1840 and became the first Arab envoy from any Arab country to visit the US
MUSCAT: Ahmed bin Naaman, the Special Envoy of Seyyid Said bin Sultan, the Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar, arrived in New York 182 years ago to hand over his credentials and gifts to the President of the United States, Martin van Buren in a historical visit that has
endured today.
Ahmed bin Naaman, together with a crew of 40 men, arrived in New York on April 30, 1840 and became the first Arab Envoy from any Arab country to visit the United States. He sailed onboard the Sultanah, a tall masts ship built in 1833 in Bombay by Seyyid Said bin Sultan.
The Sultanah left Oman on February 8, 1840 and docked first in
Zanzibar with Ahmed bin Naaman onboard, where Seyyid Said bin Sultan was in the East African archipelago island. Before he left Zanzibar, Ibn Naaman received a letter from the Sultan to establish diplomatic ties and maritime trade between the United States, Oman and its East African dominions, to be delivered to van Buren.
The Sultanah left Zanzibar two weeks later sailing around the Cape
of Good Hope to New York. While in New York, ibn Naaman met politicians and important trade leaders to cement both political and commerce links between Oman and the United States.
He aroused a considerable interest in the United States and his visit was widely publicised by the New York Daily News and the New York Herald. Ibn Naaman visit was the second milestone between the two countries. Seven years earlier, Edmund Roberts was dispatched to Muscat by US President Andrew Jackson to sign a Bilateral Trade Treaty with Seyyid Said bin Sultan on September 21, 1833. That was the first bilateral trade agreement the United States signed with a Gulf Arab country.
Hermann Frederick Eilts, in his book, A friendship two centuries old: The United States and the Sultanate of Oman, wrote “few Arab rulers of any time period were as well-known to and respected by Americans as was Seyyid Said during his long reign.”
He also referred Seyyid Said bin Sultan as “a visionary leader” who was looking beyond the years of his leadership to pave the way for the future relationship between Oman and the United States.
When the United States established its Embassy in Muscat in 1972, it was the highlight of years of endurance friendship.
Omanis say they are proud of the fact that their country was the first friend from the Arab world to the United States.
“This is the time we look back, both Omanis and Americans, to mark that historical visit of Ahmed bin Naaman to New York. It was a diplomatic nostalgia that cement an enduring friendship between our two countries. When I was a student in Florida, I visited New York to look at the portrait of Ibn Naaman which hangs at Peabody Essex Museum,” Mohammed Al Shehi, an Omani who graduated in the United States, told Times of Oman. Ibn Naamani’s portrait was painted by an American artist, Edward Mooney at the time when Ibn Naamani was in New York on the official visit. Jack Gardner, a retired American living in Oman said he was “immensely proud” of the link between his country and the country he now resides.
“I am immensely proud to the fact that our two countries are linked for many, many years and our friendship is still going strong.” Jack Gardner said.