Sultanate of Muscat and Oman سلطنة مسقط وعمان | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1856–1970 | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
 The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman around the middle of the 19th century | |||||||||
| Status | Sovereign state | ||||||||
| Capital | Muscat | ||||||||
| Official languages | Arabic | ||||||||
| Common languages | Omani Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, English | ||||||||
| Religion | Ibadi Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Partition from Zanzibar | 1856 | ||||||||
| 25 September 1920 | |||||||||
| 1954 | |||||||||
| 1962 | |||||||||
| 23 July 1970 | |||||||||
• Qaboos declares the Sultanate of Oman | 9 August 1970 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1965 est. | 212,000 km2 (82,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1965 est. | 550,000[citation needed] | ||||||||
| Currency | Indian rupee before 1959, Gulf rupee since 1959 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman (Arabic: سلطنة مسقط وعمان Salṭanat Masqaṭ wa-‘Umān) also known briefly as the State of Muscat and Oman (دولة مسقط وعمان) under the rule of Timur ibn Faisal. A sovereign state that encompassed the present-day Sultanate of Oman and parts of present-day United Arab Emirates and Gwadar, Pakistan, in the second half of the 19th century and 20th century. Ruled by the Al Busaid monarchs, it was established as a result of the partition of the Omani empire upon the death of its last ruler Said ibn Sultan of the Al Busaid dynasty. The Sultanate transitioned into a new form of government after the palace coup of 23 July 1970 in which the sultan Said ibn Timur was immediately deposed in favor of his son Qaboos ibn Said, whom changed the official name to Sultanate of Oman.
Background edit
During the 9th century Oman managed to unite under the Ibadi Imamate of Oman. The fleet of the Imamate controlled the Gulf's trade at a time when trade flourished between the Abbasids and East Asia.[1] In the subsequent centuries the region entered a long period of decline following a series of civil unrest and foreign invasions. However, in the 17th century Oman was reunited again by the Ya'rubids dynasty after expelling the Portuguese from Arabia and the East African coast initiating a mercantile maritime empire.[1] The Ya'rubids Imams are generally viewed as one of the most important dynasty in Oman's history.[2] Following the decline of the Ya'rubids,
History edit
The discovery of oil in the Persian Gulf exacerbated the dispute between the Sultan in Muscat and the Imams of Oman. Oil exploration had begun in the early 1920s by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.[3] The course of the Second World War severely disrupted such activities. Further, the Sultanate of Muscat during that time was experiencing terrible social, economic and political conditions. The Sultunate was underdeveloped with no infrastructure or telephones, and Sultan Said bin Taimur prohibited anything that he considered "decadent", including radios.[4][5] The British government continued to have vast political control over the Sultanate as the chief adviser to the Sultan, defense secretary and all ministers of the Sultanate except for one were British.[4] The British government, Iraq Petroleum Company and the Sultan were keen to search for oil and made early plans (1946) to establish an army that could occupy the Imamate of Oman.[6][7]
The last Imam of Oman, Ghalib Bin Ali, started an uprising in 1954 when the Sultan granted licenses to the Iraq Petroleum Company despite the fact that the largest oil fields lay inside the Imamate. The hostilities were put down in 1955, but the longer conflict would evolve into the Jebel Akhdar rebellion, where Sultan Said bin Taimur relied heavily on continued British military support. Iraq Petroleum, along with its operator of oil exploration, Petroleum Development Oman, was owned by European oil giants including Anglo-Iranian Oil's successor British Petroleum which encouraged the British government to extend their support to the Sultan.
The insurgency erupted again in 1957, when Saudi Arabia began supporting the Omani rebels, but eventually the Sultan was able to establish pre-eminence over most of the inland. The same year, British forces bombarded the town of Nizwa, the capital of the Imamate, and toppled the Ibadi theocracy. Ghalib Bin Ali went into exile in Saudi Arabia and the last rebel forces were defeated two years later, in 1959. The Treaty of Seeb was terminated and the autonomous Imamate of Oman abolished.[8]
The frequency of uprisings such as the Dhofar Rebellion, supported by the communist government of South Yemen,[8] motivated the British to supplant the Sultan. The British chose the Western-educated son of the Sultan, Qaboos bin Said who was locked up in the palace, because his paranoid father feared a coup. On his release, Qaboos bin Said, with the help of British military forces, staged a successful palace coup and was proclaimed Sultan of Muscat and Oman in 1970. The newly consolidated territories along with Muscat were reorganized into the present-day unified Sultanate of Oman by August 1970.[9]
In 1976, again with British aid, the Sultan secured his hold over the entire interior and suppressed the Dhofar rebellion.
List of Rulers edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b Wilkinson 1971, p. 368.
- ^ Thomas 2011, p. 221.
- ^ "Overview". Omani Ministry of Information. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
- ^ a b The Guardian: Britain’s secret wars
- ^ British National Archive: Muscat and Oman Internal Affairs History
- ^ The Foreign Office London: File 8/62 Muscat State Affairs: Principal Shaikhs and Tribes of Oman [146r] (291/296).
- ^ Peterson, J. E. (2 January 2013). Oman's Insurgencies: The Sultanate's Struggle for Supremacy. Saqi. ISBN 9780863567025. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Background Note: Oman". U.S Department of State – Diplomacy in Action.
- ^ "Tribute to His Majesty". Omani Ministry of Information. Archived from the original on 18 January 2006.