Oman forts  and castles

A fort : A military stronghold overlooks a strategically location such as mountains,hills,rocky hillocks or beach coasts that is used for defensive and surveillance purposes. Usually, it consists of watchtowers, apertures for shooting arrows and canons along with other military structures. The inhabitants of the fort are always soldiers or military people only. A castle may contain a fort or more but a fort is a separate unit that might within or outside the castle.

A castle : A building surrounds an area of land to protect and defense it from enemy attacks. It is the biggest military stronghold but not the strongest. Thus, city walls were known as castles in the middle ages. What distinguishes them from normal wall is they have parts which are designed especially for surveillance  and  protection such as towers, and lookouts stations.In Oman, most of the castles were used as residency for Imams, Sultans,princes and Walis till the early 20th century. They were the center of the century. They were the center of the traditional ruling system. Citizenry lived within their walls.