Taqah () is a
wilayat
A wilayah ( or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu, Pashto and ; ) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic root "''w-l-y''", "to govern": a ''wāli''—"g ...
(province) and coastal town of the
Dhofar Governorate
The Dhofar Governorate () is the largest of the 11 Governorates of Oman, governorates in the Oman, Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Governorate and the southern border wi ...
, in southwestern
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
. It is located at about . The nature of the Taqah wilayat is diverse, as it is a coastal province with beaches, plains, and mountains. It is also known for the presence of caves, such as the caves of Taqah and the caves of Wadi Darbat. Additionally, Taqah has two inlets, Khawr Taqah and Khawr Rawri, both declared as protected areas within the Alkhawr Coastal Nature Reserves by virtue of Royal Decree No. 49/97. The wilayat also features the springs of Ain Khawr Taqah and Ain Darbat, known for their waterfalls.
History
In 1908,
J.G. Lorimer recorded Rakhyut in his ''
Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf
The ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia'' (nicknamed ''Lorimer'') is a two-volume encyclopedia compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The ''Gazetteer'' was published in secret by the British government in India in 1908 and 1915 a ...
'', noting its location as the easternmost village in the Dhufar Proper two miles west of
Khor Rori
Khor Rori () is a bar-built estuary at the mouth of Wādī Darbāt in the Dhofar Governorate, Oman, near Taqah. It is an intermittently closed/open lake/lagoon, with an inlet from Arabian Sea that is usually disconnected. It is a major breedi ...
and 20 miles west of
Mirbat
Mirbat () is a coastal town in the Dhofar governorate, in southwestern Oman. In 2020, the town had a population of 9,886, while the wilayat as a whole had a population of 16,364. It was the site of the 1972 Battle of Mirbat between Communist g ...
. He wrote:
Places of interest
* Approx. 2 km after the western entrance to the town there is a mosque named Shaikh Al-Afeef (Arabic: الشيخ العفيف). In its cemetery
Mazoon bint Ahmad Al Mashani, the mother of
Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, is buried. Under identical marble gravestones an uncle and a grandfather of the Sultans are buried.
[Cf. ''Plekhanov, Sergey'': A Reformer on the Thrones: Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, London: Trident press, 2004, p. 279.]
* Taqah and its surrounding areas offer natural attractions, such as beaches and coastal scenery.
* Tourists often visit historical sites like Taqah Castle to learn about the region's history and architecture.
See also
*
Dhofar Rebellion
References
External links
Oman Observer
Populated places in the Dhofar Governorate
Populated places in Oman
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