The Omani sultanate's fortunes reverse with the…

The Omani sultanate's fortunes reverse with the British abolition of the slave trade.

The economy collapses, and many Omani families migrate to Zanzibar.

The population of Muscat falls from fifty-five thousand to eight thousand between the 1850s and 1870s.

Wahhabi attacks and tribal unrest in the mountains continue to threaten the equilibrium of the Omani sultanate, but Sa'id keeps them in check with British aid.

In 1854, out of gratitude for such support, Sa'id gives Great Britain the five Khuriya Muriya Islands of the Arabian Sea, forty kilometers off the southeastern coast of the Omani sultanate.