Winner of the Society for Arabian Studies Grant in 2003. This study examines a view 'from outside' of the three terminals: Makran, Muscat and Zanzibar which is a partial one in the history of the western Indian Ocean. Such themes are, however, essential when viewed against the background of Anglo-French rivalry in the Gulf and Indian Ocean during the first half of the nineteenth century, and are central to numerous debates. The methodological perspective, therefore, whilst concerned with oriental figures and events, is still largely based on sources in western languages precisely because it concentrates on the relations between Sa? id bin Sultan Al Bu Sa? idi (r. 1806-1856), the Arab-Omani sovereign of Muscat and Zanzibar, and Europe, and on Baluch presence in Oman and in East Africa.