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Oman Faisal ibn Turki, 1888-1913
On assuming power in 1888, Faisal ibn Turki gradually
found
his authority over the interior weakened as tribal leaders
increasingly perceived his dependence on British advisers
as an
inherent weakness. In 1895 he was forced to seek refuge at
Jalali
fort after Muscat was captured. British political agents
frustrated his efforts to recapture Muscat, compelling him
to
court the French. He granted the French coaling facilities
for
their fleet at Bandar Jissah near Muscat.
Determined to thwart any growth in French presence in
what
Britain considered its sphere of influence, Britain
presented
Faisal ibn Turki with an ultimatum in 1899 ordering the
sultan to
board the British flagship or Muscat would be bombarded.
Having
little recourse, Faisal ibn Turki capitulated. Publicly
humiliated, his authority was irreversibly damaged. In
1903 he
asked Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, viceroy of India, for
permission to abdicate, but his request was denied.
Responsibility for the capital was delegated to Said ibn
Muhammad
Al Said, while affairs of the interior fell to an
ex-slave,
Sulayman ibn Suwaylim. By 1913 control over the interior
was
completely lost, and a reconstituted imamate was again a
threat
to Muscat. In May 1913, Salim ibn Rashid al Harthi was
elected
imam at Tanuf and spearheaded a revolt against the sultan
that
combined both Hinawi and Ghafiri tribal groups.
Data as of January 1993
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