Said bin Taimur

Accession

Upon his return from Baghdad, Said participated in the Omani government and became the president of the Council of Ministers in August 1929. Sultan Feisal's inability to govern the state affairs of Oman created an opportunity for a new leader. The British were very fond of Said and during February 1932, at the age of 21, Said became the new crowned Sultan.^[3] Sultan Said inherited a country that was heavily in debt to Britain and British India. In order to break away from Britain and maintain autonomy, his country needed to regain economic independence. Therefore, beginning in 1933, he controlled the budget of the state until being overthrown in 1970.^[3]

On his accession, he inherited the remains of the Omani Empire, which included the neighbouring provinces of Oman and Dhofar, as well as the last remnants of an overseas empire, including Gwadar in the Arabian Sea. Nevertheless, his petroleum-rich country also had long established ties with the United Kingdom, based on a 1798 Treaty of Friendship, and had been a British protectorate since 1891.^{[citation needed]}

Foreign affairs

Once he became Sultan, Said maintained a friendly relationship with the United States. In 1938, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt invited Said and his father to visit the United States. Said landed in San Francisco and began a tour from California to Washington, D.C. During his visit to the White House, Roosevelt presented him with two books he had written. Said toured the FBI Headquarters, and laid a wreath upon George Washington’s tomb, at Mount Vernon.^[2]

During World War II, the Sultan cooperated readily with the British; several Royal Air Force landing fields were constructed between Salalah in Dhofar and Muscat. This allowed the channels of supply to remain open between Britain and the Allies.^[2]

Leadership

Said secured British recognition of Oman's independence in 1951.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless, he also faced serious internal opposition, from Imam Ghalib bin Ali, a religious leader of Oman, who claimed power in the sultanate for himself. The Imam's revolt in Jebel Akhdar was suppressed in 1955, with British help, but this in turn earned Said the animosity of Saudi Arabia, which supported the Imam, and of Egypt, which regarded British involvement in suppressing the revolt as not conducive to the cause of Arab nationalism.^{[citation needed]} In 1957, these two countries supported a renewed revolt by the Imam, which was similarly suppressed by 1959. In 1958, Said sold Gwadar to Pakistan for $1 million.^{[citation needed]}

In 1965, Said made concessions to export oil to Iraq, Iran and Britain. The same year, the province of Dhofar revolted, with support from the People's Republic of China and some of the nationalist Arab states states, followed by an assassination attempt in 1966.^[4] It had a marked effect on Said, causing him to become even more erratic in governing the country. It was forbidden to smoke in public, to play football, to wear sunglasses or to speak to anyone for more than 15 minutes.^[5] No one was safe from the Sultan's paranoia, not even his own son, Qaboos, who was kept under virtual house arrest at Al Hosn Palace in Salalah.^{[citation needed]} In 1967 Britain returned the Khuriya Muriya Islands to Oman.^{[citation needed]}

During his reign, Oman had an under 5 mortality rate of around 25%.^[6] Trachoma, venereal disease and malnutrition were widespread. There were only three schools, the literacy rate was 5%, and there were only 10 kilometres (6 mi) of paved roads.^[7]