Here is a tale of two Salalahs — one in the southernmost part of the Sultanate of Oman and another in the Indian state of Telangana. The Salalah in India is not just a coincidence of a name but a solid connection between the two cities that date back hundreds of years.
In Telangana’s capital city, Hyderabad, there is an Arabian colony, which resembles everything that the original Salalah has in terms of food, way of life and language. It is a beautiful example of the assimilation of cultures and the emergence of the best of both.
The history of Salalah in Hyderabad dates back to pre-independence India and the days of the Nizams, the then rulers of Hyderabad.
As history goes, the Nizams of Hyderabad had great trust in people from Yemen and kept many of them in their army. They were said to be the most trusted of the then rulers. Since they were coming to Hyderabad through the Sultanate of Oman’s Salalah, the place somehow got its name after it. The place is also known as Barkas, a distorted form of ‘barracks’ where these trusted guards were living.
Mustafa Sabeet Rabee, who lives in Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman, has a deep-rooted connection with Salalahs of both sides. His father, Sabeet Rabee Subeet was married to a girl from Hyderabad and Mustafa was born in Barkas.
“As I could understand from my forefathers, the history of people travelling to Hyderabad from Yemen dated back to hundreds of years, and then there was hardly any difference between Salalah and Yemen. People from both sides were freely visiting here and there without any restrictions,” he said.
The port of Salalah being a natural port, Mustafa assumes that the people might be using the Salalah port to go to Hyderabad via some other Indian ports, and thus the place where they settled in India got the name ‘Salalah’.
He, however, admits not to have much knowledge about the history behind it but confirms that Barkas or Salalah is very close to Arab culture.
“Yes, the people love football as we do in Salalah; they have Qahwa, Sulaimani tea, Gosht, Mandi, Kabsa and Harees. These are popular dishes in the Sultanate of Oman’s Salalah,” says Mustafa.
The assimilation of cultures reflects in people’s way of dressing and the food they eat. Apart from dishdashas of various types, Barkas people wear Hyderabadi kurta, pyjamas and other Indian dresses. Food also has variations of different kinds of biryanis, and variations exist in food items.
“Now they have a variety of Mandi (Arabic food consisting of meat and rice) like prawn Mandi, butter Mandi and fish Mandi etc. Similar is the case with sweet dishes, which got variation under the local influence,” says Mustafa.
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