A school boy in 1860 A.D. (painting in Bait Al Zubair Museum)
An old Omani classroom from 1971. (Al Saidiyah)
Sultan Qaboos when he was a young boy
Sultan Qaboos and his father, Sultan Said Bin Taimur. Very little is spoken in the sultanate about how Sultan Qaboos took power from his father on July 23, 1970.
Sultan Said Bin Taimur ruled Oman from 1932 to 1970. After coming to power at the age of 22, he became more and more isolated, closing Oman’s borders and tried to shield his country from outside influences. Apparently, there were many restrictions under his rule and this kept Oman in a dark period that has been compared to the middle ages. It has been written that he became even more unpredictable after an assassination attempt in 1966 and he even forbad football, music and spectacles! He even punished people who appeared in his dreams. When Sultan Qaboos came to power, his father was exiled to London until his death in 1972 (the year I was born). I often wonder if they kept in touch at all after the “coup d’etat”.
Here is a nice diagram showing the different years of rule of Oman’s leaders. May there be many more for Sultan Qaboos!
Service in the Royal Palace, 1875 A.D.
Muscat in 1890 AD
Muscat in a Portuguese drawing which illustrates the wall surrounding the city of Muscat and the major buildings enclosed within it. It is assumed that this drawing was made after 1622 AD as that is when the city walls were built. The drawing also shows farms and wells outside the Muscat walls as well as the 2 gulfs of Kalbooh and Muttrah.
The 2 pictures above are of ancient doors displayed in Bait Al Zubair Museum.
These 2 doors are from the Bait Al Adam Museum.
I hope you enjoyed that short trip through a bit of Oman’s history. Here’s a quote to leave you with from the Englishman, John Ovington, who was chaplain to King James II. He visited Muscat in 1633 AD and wrote, “These Arabians are very courteous and extremely civil to all strangers; they offer neither violence or affront in any way; and tho’ they are very tenacious of their own principles, and admirers of their own religion, yet do they never impose it on any; nor are their morals evened with such furious zeal, as to divert them of humanity and a tender respect…In fine, these are a people naturally temperate and just, and endued with those excellent qualities which Grecian philosophers and Roman moralists endeavoured to inspire into their subjects, tho’ they missed their aim.”
