Dhofar (Dhufar)

[Travellers | Cities | Routes | Trade Goods | Themes]

by Sally K. Church

The name Dhofar is a transliteration of the mediaeval Arabic name ‘Zufar’ or ‘Zafar’, a town on the south coast of Arabia. The modern name, Dhufar or Dhafar, now designates a district and no longer a town.

The mediaeval town was apparently situated at Al-Balad or Al-Bilad (17° 00’ N, 54° 06’ E), about 2 miles east of Salala, the principal trading centre. The Dhufar plain extends along the coast for about 27 miles from 53°06’ E to 54° 25’ E.

Mills says, "The small independent sultanate of the fifteenth century was politically insignificant, but possessed a certain commercial importance based on the export of fine Arab steeds and of incense, the town being the centre of the frankincense trade."

- adapted from J. V. G. Mills, trans., ed., "The Country of Tsu-fa-erh [Dhufar]", Ma Huan, Ying-yai Sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores [1433], Hakluyt Society Extra Series 42 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 1970), p. 151, n. 2