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The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman formed a rather large trading empire, with holdings deep into the Swahili coast loosely bound together in the "Zanj Empire". It was sort of like Portugal, dominating trade in the Indian Ocean. Its economy was based upon slavery, with their holdings along and deep into the Swahili coast as part of the lucrative slave trade. As a result of this, the capital of the Omani Empire was moved to Stone City, in Zanzibar.
However, their fleet was no chance to the superior European ships of the nineteenth century, and the British forced them to abandon slavery, which caused their revenues to go down substantially. And then, as a result of a succession dispute, the empire was partitioned into the Sultanate of Oman and Muscat, and the Sultanate of Zanzibar
My challenge for you is to keep the Omani Empire alive and prosperous, continuing to rule over the Swahili coast.