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Oman Oman -- Government and Politics
Historical Patterns of Governance
Until 1970 the political title for the Al Said rulers
was
sultan of Muscat and Oman, implying two historically
irreconcilable political cultures: the coastal tradition,
the
more cosmopolitan, secular, Muscat tradition of the coast
ruled
by the sultan; and the interior tradition of insularity,
tribal
in origin and ruled by an imam according to the
ideological
tenets of Ibadism
(see Religion
, this ch.). The more
cosmopolitan
has been the ascending political culture since the
founding of
the Al Said dynasty in 1744, although the imamate
tradition has
found intermittent expression.
Several millennia ago, Arab tribes migrated eastward to
Oman,
coinciding with the increasing presence in the region of
peoples
from present-day Iran. In the sixth century, Arabs
succeeded in
repelling encroachments of these ethnic groups; the
conversion of
Arab tribes to Islam in the seventh century resulted in
the
displacement of the settlers from Iran. The introduction
of
Ibadism vested power in the imam, the leader nominated by
tribal
shaykhs and then elected by public acclamation.
The Ibadis had five imamates before the founding of the
Al
Said dynasty. The first imamate in the ninth century
became the
example of the ideal Ibadi state. The fifth imamate, the
Yarubid
Imamate, recaptured Muscat from the Portuguese in 1650
after a
colonial presence on the northeastern coast of Oman dating
to
1508. The Yarubid dynasty expanded, acquiring former
Portuguese
colonies in East Africa and engaging in the slave trade.
By 1719
dynastic succession led to the nomination of Saif ibn
Sultan II,
who had not yet reached puberty. His candidacy prompted a
rivalry
among the ulama and a civil war between the two major
tribes, the
Hinawi and the Ghafiri, with the Ghafiri supporting Saif
ibn
Sultan II. He assumed power in 1748 after the leaders of
both
factions had been killed in battle, but the rivalry
continued,
with the factionalization working in favor of the
Iranians, who
occupied Muscat and Suhar in 1743.
The Al Said dynasty was founded when Ahmad ibn Said Al
Said
was elected imam following the expulsion of the Iranians
from
Muscat in 1744. Like its predecessors, Al Said dynastic
rule has
been characterized by a history of internecine family
struggle,
fratricide, and usurpation. Apart from threats within the
ruling
family, there was the omnipresent challenge from the
independent
tribes of the interior who rejected the authority of the
sultan,
recognizing the imam as the sole legitimate leader and
pressing,
by resort to arms, for the restoration of the imamate.
Schisms within the ruling family were apparent before
Ahmad
ibn Said's death in 1783 and were later manifest with the
division of the family into two main lines, the Sultan ibn
Ahmad
Al Said (r. 1792-1806) line controlling the maritime
state, with
nominal control over the entire country; and the Qais
branch,
with authority over the Al Batinah and Ar Rustaq areas.
During
the period of Sultan Said ibn Sultan Al Said's rule
(1806-56),
Oman cultivated its East African colonies, profiting from
the
slave trade. As a regional commercial power in the
nineteenth
century, Oman held territories on the island of Zanzibar
off the
coast of East Africa, in Mombasa along the coast of East
Africa,
and until 1958 in Gwadar (in present-day Pakistan) on the
coast
of the Arabian Sea. But when the British declared slavery
illegal
in the mid-1800s, the sultanate's fortunes reversed. The
economy
collapsed, and many Omani families migrated to Zanzibar.
The
population of Muscat fell from 55,000 to 8,000 between the
1850s
and 1870s.
The death of Sultan Said ibn Sultan in 1856 prompted a
further division: the descendants of the late sultan ruled
Oman
(Thuwaini ibn Said Al Said, r. 1856-66) and Zanzibar
(Mayid ibn
Said Al Said, r. 1856-70); the Qais branch intermittently
allied
itself with the ulama to restore imamate legitimacy. In
1868
Azzam ibn Qais Al Said (r. 1868-71) emerged as
self-declared
imam. Although a significant number of Hinawi tribes
recognized
him as imam, the public neither elected him nor acclaimed
him as
such.
Imam Azzam understood that to unify the country a
strong,
central authority had to be established with control over
the
interior tribes of Oman. His rule was jeopardized by the
British,
who interpreted his policy of bringing the interior tribes
under
the central government as a move against their established
order.
In resorting to military means to unify Oman, Imam Azzam
alienated members of the Ghafiri tribes, who revolted in
the
1870-71 period. The British gave Imam Azzam's rival, Turki
ibn
Said Al Said, financial and political support. Turki ibn
Said
succeeded in defeating the forces of Imam Azzam, who was
killed
in battle outside Matrah in January 1871.
The deteriorating economy resulting from the
suppression of
the slave trade rendered Sultan Turki ibn Said's rule
susceptible
to opposition from the interior. For a brief period, Turki
ibn
Said appeased his opposition with cash payments and
British
backing. His authority extended from the Al Batinah coast
to
Suhar, with the rest of the country operating
autonomously.
Sultan Turki ibn Said suffered a stroke in the early 1870s
and
was incapacitated. He was succeeded in 1888 by his son,
Faisal
ibn Turki Al Said, who was the first ruler of the Al Said
family
in the nineteenth century to assume power peacefully,
without
resort to arms or political subterfuge.
Four sultans of the Al Said family have ruled Oman in
the
twentieth century: Faisal ibn Turki Al Said (1888-1913),
Taimur
ibn Faisal Al Said (1913-32), Said ibn Taimur Al Said
(1932-70),
and the present sultan, Qabus ibn Said Al Said (1970- ).
In large
part, Omani political developments in the twentieth
century
followed the temperament and priorities of successive
sultans.
Each, to varying degrees, responded to threats to his
authority
from the interior; each had to balance independent action
with an
indirect role by Britain, with which Oman had treaties of
friendship.
The process of state formation in Oman and the
centralization
of political power within the ruling family followed the
same
pattern found in other gulf shaykhdoms, particularly
Kuwait,
Bahrain, and Qatar. Oil revenues and income redistribution
facilitated a pattern of continuity of political power
within the
ruling family and the traditional political elite as well
as
change with the modest creation of new institutions and
expanded
administration engaging an increasingly diverse segment of
Omani
society.
Data as of January 1993
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