Marco Polo visited Qalhat in the 13th century, referring to it as Calatu.
Ibn Battuta visited the city in the 14th century,
Zheng He visited the city in the 15th century, and his crew called it 加剌哈 (
Taihu Wu: ka-la-ha;
Hokkien: ka-lat-ha;
Cantonese: gaa-laat-haa). Qalhat served as an important stop in the wider
Indian Ocean trade network, and was also the second city of the
Kingdom of Ormus. By 1507 when it was captured by
Afonso de Albuquerque on behalf of the
Portuguese Empire, the city was already in decline as trade shifted to
Muscat. Covering more than , Qalhat was surrounded by fortified walls that contained houses and shops. Very little remains of the ancient city, save for the now dome-less
mausoleum of Bibi Maryam. Artifacts from as far away as Persia and China were found on-site. == World Heritage Site ==