Sur is a coastal town in the Sultanate of Oman. It is as well an ancient town but in the past was surpassed by neighboring Qalhat. After the decline of that port, however, it came into its own as the main centre for trade with Oman's expanding empire in East Africa. Merchant families there, and in the towns directly inland, made their fortunes on the trade in slaves and cloves. Houses with fine carved doors, and decorative panels above the windows, were built among the palm groves of Sur, where many still stand today. But trade with East Africa declined after the middle of the last century, and Sur's fortunes declined too. In its heyday Sur had been one of the greatest of Oman's shipyards and even today, with only a dozen dhows under construction, it is still in the lead. Here it was that in 1980 Tim Severin chose to construct his traditional dhow with sewn planks for his epic voyage to China. But he named the dhow Sohar after that chief port of the China trade. Beside Sur's dhow yard a ferry carries passengers across the creek to the still unchanged village of Ayga, built directly on the beach opposite. Ayga is the port of the Beni Bu Ali tribe whose centre lies inland at Bilad Beni Bu Ali, on the edge of the Wahiba sands. A murder here in 1820 brought down the wrath of the British Empire.