Said ibn Taimur

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Said bin Taimur Al Said ( Arabic سعيد بن تيمور آل سعيد, DMG Sa'id ibn Taimur Āl Sa'id , Baluchi Said bin Temur; * August 13, 1910 in Muscat ; † October 19, 1972 in London ) was Sultan of Muscat and Oman from 1932 to 1970 . Muscat and Oman was a state that consisted of what is now Oman (including the capital Muscat) and parts of what is now the United Arab Emirates .

The early years

Said bin Taimur was born in Muscat in 1910 as the grandson of the then ruling Sultan Faisal ibn Turki . From February 14, 1922 to mid-1927, he attended Mayo College in Ajmer ( India ), where he learned to speak Urdu and English . In this boarding school mainly descendants of Indian ruling families and the Indian high nobility were trained; it was also known as the "Prince's College". However, his Arabic language skills could not develop properly there, so that it was the wish of his father Taimur ibn Faisal , who had ruled since 1913, to continue his son's upbringing in an Arabic-speaking country. Sultan Taimur initially preferred a school in Cairo for the upbringing of his son , but this was vehemently rejected by the British protecting power because of the strong anti-British currents in Egypt , as it was feared that these negative influences could spread to the heir to the throne. Alternatively, Sultan Taimur brought a school in Baghdad into play. The British then proposed a school in Beirut, which in turn was rejected by the Sultan. Sultan Taimur finally prevailed, and so on September 24, 1927, Said attended a school in Baghdad for a year. Then he returned to Karachi . As his health deteriorated during the year, he decided to return to Oman; he returned to Muscat on May 31, 1931. In 1932, his father had to resign in favor of his son because of the broken state finances, which had deteriorated further in the wake of the global economic crisis . On March 10, 1932, Said became the new sultan of Muscat and Oman.

Regency

By means of a strict austerity policy and import restrictions, he first tried to reorganize the state finances and reduce the large national debt in order to give the country political room for maneuver again. However, all economic development in Oman was blocked by the austerity policy and the education and health systems were severely neglected. In 1954 there were again clashes with the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia after Saudi troops had occupied the Buraimi oasis . However, under British pressure, they had to withdraw from Oman for good in 1955.

Since oil discoveries in the Gulf region had been increasing since the beginning of the 20th century, Said also tried to gain control over the interior of the country by joining forces with various tribes in order to weaken the Imamate . The Imamat was an autonomous government in the interior of Oman (with Nizwa as the capital). In 1920 the Omani government and the Imamat had agreed in the Treaty of Seeb that Oman would be represented externally by the government in Muscat, but that the Imamat could govern parts of Oman autonomously (through a head of government, the Imam ). After the death of Imam Muhammad bin Abdallah al-Khalili in 1954, the disputes intensified as the new Imam Ghalib ibn Ali al-Hina'i (1954–1955) sought complete independence from Muscat. After the imam was expelled, he returned with Egyptian support in 1957 and continued the fight. It was not until 1959 that the resistance could be broken with British support. However, as a result of these struggles, the country's debt had increased so much that in 1958 the Omani enclave of Gwadar in Balochistan had to be sold to Pakistan . For this, three million pounds of Aga Khan III. paid to Oman.

Said was a headstrong ruler. His notorious thrift, distrust of advisers, and his inability to delegate tasks increasingly hampered his ability to run the country. Rigid regulations made entry and exit difficult. With his orders, the Sultan intervened in all areas of the lives of his subjects. Sunglasses were forbidden, as was possession and use of radios. Said determined who was allowed to marry, who could get an education or who could leave the country. In the 1960s, he relied largely on British advisers to administer the country. At that time, the British major FCL Chauncy was his personal advisor and the English brigadier PRM "Pat" Waterfield his defense minister. The only minister of Omani origin was Interior Minister Ahmad bin Ibrahim. He was responsible for the administration of Inner Oman since Sultan Said had completely withdrawn to Salala in the Dhofar province in 1958. When it became apparent in 1966 that Oman would soon have oil revenues, Said initiated numerous modernization steps and awarded contracts for the expansion of the port of Matrah , for an asphalt road from Muscat to Sohar , a radio station and other development projects. He also had a national currency introduced for the first time in May 1970, which replaced the Indian golf rupee, the Maria Theresa thaler and local small coins. These steps came too late to keep Said in government, but enabled his son Qabus, after his father was overthrown on July 23, 1970, to quickly come up with development successes thanks to the projects that had been initiated.

In 1965 the Dhofar uprising broke out in the province of Dhofar, a particularly neglected part of the country , which was later supported by the communist South Yemen . The Dhofar war heralded the end of Said's rule.

Fall

The backwardness of his country was not hidden from the sultan's son, Qabus ibn Said. The military situation in Dhofar also became increasingly desolate. So he decided to act. On July 23, 1970, Sultan Said was overthrown in a coup d'état by his son Qaboos with the help of the young Sheikh Baraik bin Hamood . The whole thing was supposed to be bloodless, but the old Sultan Said was not ready to give up easily. Although abandoned by most of his followers, he made one last desperate attempt to resist. He pulled out his pistol and shot wildly. Baraik was hit in the thigh. After emptying his magazine, he tried to reload. In a state of excitement, he shot himself in the foot, ending the argument. He then submitted to his fate and signed the deed of abdication. After receiving initial medical attention, he was flown into exile in London . He lived there in seclusion until his death in a suite in The Dorchester Hotel . First he was buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking , Surrey , England , but later transferred to the "Royal Cemetery" in Muscat .

ancestry

Sultan Said was the son of Sultan Sayyid Taimur bin Faisal Al Said (1886-1965) and Princess Sayyida Fatima bint Ali Al Said (* May 4, 1891, † April 1967).

He was married to three women:

  • 1st woman: an unknown "al-Mashani" (= from the al-Mashani tribe); Married in April 1933 in Dhofar , later divorced.
  • a daughter emerged from this connection: Sayyida Umaima bint Said Al Said (* 1934 in the al-Hisn palace in ( Salala , Dhofar); † November 28, 2002 in Muscat , buried in the "Royal Cemetery Muscat").
  • 3rd woman: unknown
  • A daughter emerged from this connection: Sayyida Khadija bint Said Al Said (? –1968)

Footnotes

  1. ^ Report of the "Political Agents" Major CCJ Barrett in Muscat of March 30, 1926 to the "Political Resident" in Bushire, printed in: Alan de Lacy Rush: Ruling Families of Arabia. Sultanate of Oman. The Royal Family of Al Bu Sa'id. Volume 2, Archive Editions, London 1991, p. 262 ff.
  2. ^ Letter from the "Political Agent" in Muscat to the "Political Resident" in Bushire on June 28, 1926, printed in: Alan de Lacy Rush: Ruling Families of Arabia. Sultanate of Oman. The Royal Family of Al Bu Sa'id. Volume 2, Archive Editions, London 1991, p. 265.
  3. ^ Letter from Sultan Taimur in Karachi from July 27, 1926 to the "Political Agents" Major CCJ Barrett in Muscat, printed in: Alan de Lacy Rush: Ruling Families of Arabia. Sultanate of Oman. The Royal Family of Al Bu Sa'id. Volume 2, Archive Editions, London 1991, p. 266 ff.
  4. ^ Letter from Said to the British Consul Major TC Fowle in Muscat, printed in: Alan de Lacy Rush: Ruling Families of Arabia. Sultanate of Oman. The Royal Family of Al Bu Sa'id. Volume 2, Archive Editions, London 1991, p. 280 f.
  5. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1985/MJB.htm
  6. Sultan Qaboos of Oman dies aged 79. BBC News, January 11, 2020, accessed January 11, 2020 .
  7. See above: The Struggle for Liberation in Oman. In: MERIP Reports. No. 36, April 1975, pp. 10-16 + 27, here in particular p. 22.
  8. See Tony Jeapes : SAS Secret War. Operation Storm in the Middle East. Grennhill Books / Stakpole Books, London / Pennsylvania 2005, ISBN 1-85367-567-9 , p. 29.
  9. a b These statements were confirmed personally by the Sultan to the then "Political Agent" T. Hickinbotham (cf. telegram from the "Political Agent" in Muscat to the "Political Resident" in Kuwait on December 10, 1940, printed in: Alan de Lacy Rush: Ruling Families of Arabia. Sultanate of Oman. The Royal Family of Al Bu Sa'id. Volume 2, Archive Editions, London 1991, p. 675.)