Arab tribes arrive in present-day Oman in the second century BC. In 661 the state of Oman is founded. Oman becomes part of the Caliphate in 697, but already in 748 Oman becomes an independent Arab state. The Caliphate rules again between 893 and 897 and between 943 and 951. Oman is the only country in the Islamic world with a majority Ibadhi population. Ibadhism is known for its "moderate conservatism". Between 1053 and 1154 Oman is ruled by the Saljuq Turks. In 1508 Portugal conquers parts of Oman's coastal region. But in 1650 Omanite control over this area is restored.

During this period, political leadership shift from the Ibadhi imams, who are elected religious leaders, to hereditary sultans who establish their capital in Muscat. The state is renamed in 1744 Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and from 1784 the functions of Sultan and Iman are separated. The iman remains in important factor in the country. Muscat and Oman extends its conquests to Zanzibar, other parts of the eastern coast of Africa and portions of the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Muscat rulers establish trading posts on the Persian coast and also exercise a measure of control over the Makran coast (now Pakistan). By the early 19th century, Muscat and Oman is the most powerful state in Arabia and on the East African coast. When sultan Sa'id bin Sultan Al-Busaid dies in 1856, his sons quarrel over his succession. As a result of this struggle, the empire is divided in 1861 into two separate principalities, Zanzibar, with its East African dependencies, and Muscat and Oman. Zanzibar pays an annual subsidy to Muscat and Oman until its independence in early 1964. Oman, usually in opposition to the sultan's rule. In 1955 the new iman leads a sporadic 5-year rebellion against the sultan's efforts to extend government control into the interior. The insurgents are defeated in 1959 with British help. The sultan eliminates the office of the imam. In 1964, a separatist revolt begins in Dhofar Province. The rebels form the Dhofar Liberation Front, which later merges with the Marxist-dominated Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf (PFLOAG). The PFLOAG's declared intention was to overthrow all traditional Arab Gulf regimes.

Sultan Qaboos bin Sa'id assumed power in 1970, in a palace coup directed against his father, Sa'id bin Taymur. He abolishes many of his father's harsh restrictions, which had caused thousands of Omanis to leave the country, and offers amnesty to opponents of the previous regime, many of whom returned to Oman. The country becomes a constitutional monarchy, named Sultane of Oman, in which he retains all real power. He establishes a modern government structure and launched a major development program to upgrade educational and health facilities, build a modern infrastructure and develop the country's natural resources. The rebels are defeated in 1975. Qaboos establishes a Consultative Council, with limited suffrage. He introduces universal suffrage for the 2003 Shura elections. Two women were elected to sit with 81 male colleagues in those elections, which are observed to be free and fair.