Qaboos bin Said Al Said (Arabic: قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد, romanized: Qābūs ibn Saʿīd Āl Saʿīd, IPA: [qaː.buːs bin sa.ʕiːd ʔaːl sa.ʕiːd]; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Said dynasty, he was the longest-serving leader in the Middle East and Arab world at the time of his death, having ruled for almost half a century.
The only son of Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Qaboos was educated in Suffolk, England. After graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he served briefly in the British Army. He returned to Oman in 1966 and was the subject of considerable restrictions from his father. In 1970, Qaboos ascended to the Omani throne after overthrowing his father in a coup d'état, with British support. He subsequently established the Sultanate of Oman.
As sultan, Qaboos implemented a policy of modernization and ended Oman's international isolation, becoming the architect of the Omani Renaissance, which saw a rise in the country's living standards, the abolition of slavery, the end of the Dhofar rebellion, and the promulgation of Oman's constitution. Suffering from poor health in later life, Qaboos died in 2020. He had no children, so he entailed the royal court to reach consensus on a successor upon his death. As a precaution, he hid a letter which named his successor in case an agreement was not achieved. After his death, the royal court named his intended successor, his cousin Haitham bin Tariq, as sultan.
Qaboos bin Said was born in the southern city of Salalah in Dhofar on 18 November 1940, the only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur and Sheikha Mazoon bint Ahmad Al Mashani. Qaboos spent much of his childhood in Salalah, where his father frequently resided and maintained his principal palace. His contact with members of the wider Al Said family was limited, and his social environment was largely confined to the palace. At the age of ten, he was kept in the palace's women's quarters under constant supervision and had little contact with people outside the palace.
He received his primary and secondary education in India, studying at a private institution in Pune, where one of his teachers was Shankar Dayal Sharma, who later became the ninth President of India. At the age of 16, he was sent to a private school in Bury St Edmunds, England. At 20, he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating in September 1962. He subsequently joined the British Army and served with the 1st Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), in Germany for one year. He later held a staff appointment with the British Army.
After completing his military service, Qaboos undertook further study of local government in England. He visited and spent short periods attached to civic institutions, including those in Warwick and Bedford, where he gained an understanding of British local administration. He subsequently embarked on a world tour accompanied by Major Leslie Chauncy, a former British consul-general in Muscat who later served as a personal adviser to Sultan Said bin Taimur. The tour broadened Qaboos's exposure to different political systems and societies before his return to Oman in late 1966.
Upon his return in 1966, he was placed under virtual house arrest in Al Hosn Palace in Salalah by his father and was permitted only limited contact with the outside world, receiving occasional briefings from his father's advisors. During this period, he devoted much of his time to studying Islam, Islamic law and the history of Oman. His social circle was similarly restricted, consisting principally of selected palace officials and a small number of expatriates, including his former Sandhurst acquaintance Tim Landon.
Qaboos acceded to the throne on 23 July 1970 following a successful coup against his father, with the aim of ending the country's isolation and using its oil revenue for modernization and development. He declared that the country would no longer be known as Muscat and Oman, but would change its name to "the Sultanate of Oman" in order to better reflect its political unity.
The coup was supported by the British, with Ian Cobain writing that it was "planned in London by MI6 and by civil servants at the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office" and sanctioned by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.
The first pressing problem that Qaboos bin Said faced as sultan was an armed communist insurgency from South Yemen, the Dhofar Rebellion (1962–1976). The sultanate eventually defeated the incursion with help from the Shah of Iran, Jordanian troops sent by his friend King Hussein of Jordan, British Special Forces and the Royal Air Force.
There were few rudiments of a modern state when Qaboos took power. Oman was a poorly developed country, severely lacking in infrastructure, healthcare, and education, with only 10 km (6 mi) of paved roads and a population dependent on subsistence farming and fishing. Qaboos modernized the country using oil revenues. Schools and hospitals were built, and a modern infrastructure was laid down, with hundreds of kilometres of new roads paved, a telecommunications network established, projects for a port and airport that had begun prior to his reign were completed and a second port was built, and electrification was achieved. The government also began to search for new water resources and built a desalination plant, and the government encouraged the growth of private enterprise, especially in development projects. Banks, hotels, insurance companies, and print media began to appear as the country developed economically. The Omani riyal was established as the national currency, replacing the Indian rupee and Maria Theresa thaler. Later, additional ports were built, and universities were opened. In his first year in power, Qaboos also abolished slavery in Oman.
The political system which Qaboos established was an absolute monarchy. The Sultan's birthday, 18 November, was celebrated as Oman's national holiday, but has recently been changed to 20th November. The first day of his reign, 23 July, is celebrated as Renaissance Day.
Oman has no system of checks and balances, and thus no separation of powers. All power was concentrated in the Sultan during his reign, and he served as prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, minister of defence, chief of staff of the armed forces, and chairman of the board of the Central Bank of Oman. All legislation since 1970 has been promulgated through royal decrees, including the 1996 Basic Law. The sultan appoints judges, and can grant pardons and commute sentences. The sultan's authority is inviolable.
Qaboos's closest advisors were reportedly security and intelligence professionals within the Palace Office, headed by General Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani.
The 2011 Omani protests were a series of protests in the Persian Gulf country of Oman that occurred as part of the revolutionary wave popularly known as the "Arab Spring". The protesters demanded salary increases, lower living costs, the creation of more jobs and a reduction in corruption. Protests in Sohar, Oman's fifth-largest city, centered on the Globe Roundabout. The Sultan's responses included the dismissal of a third of the governing cabinet.
According to CBS News, 19 June 2011, Several protest leaders have been detained and released in rolling waves of arrests during the Arab Spring, and dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in the country is high. While disgruntlement amongst the populace is obvious, the extreme dearth of foreign press coverage and lack of general press freedom there leaves it unclear as to whether the protesters want the sultan to leave, or simply want their government to function better. Beyond the recent protests, there is concern about succession in the country, as there is no heir apparent or any clear legislation on who may be the next Sultan.
The Sultan did give token concession to protesters, yet detained social media activists. In August 2014, The Omani writer and human rights defender Mohammed Alfazari, the founder and editor-in-chief of the e-magazine Mowatin "Citizen", disappeared after going to the police station in the Al-Qurum district of Muscat, only to be pardoned some time later.