On the 18th of November 1995 Oman celebrated the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The past twenty-five years have seen outstanding achievements in progress and development in all parts of the Sultanate. Thesechanges were possible due to the inspiration and dedicated leadership of HisMajesty, without which such a fundamental transformation would not have been possible. In 1970 nobody could have imagined that so much would be accomplished in so short a space of time.
His Majesty was born in Salalah in Dhofar, the southern region of Oman, on the 18th of November 1940. He is the only son of the late Sultan Said bin Taimur and is eighth in the direct line of the AlBusaidi dynasty, which was founded in 1744 by Imam Ahmad bin Said, who was a leader of outstanding ability and came to power after a period of civil war, bringing peace and stability to the land.
Like his famous ancestor Sultan Qaboos took over a country in stagnation and conflict; but his early life gave no hint of what was to come. His Majesty spent his youth in Salalah where he was educated. At the age of 16, his father sent him to a private education al establishment in England. In 1960 he entered the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst as an officer cadet. Having passed out of Sandhurst he joined a British infantry battalion on operational duty in Germany for one year and also held a staff appointment with the British Army.
After his military service His Majesty studied local government in England and went on a world tour before returning home. The next six years were spent in Salalah studying Islam and the history of his country and people.
On the abdication of his father and his own accession on 23rd July 1970, His Majesty arrived in Muscat to begin the task for which he had been destined. On the 9th August Sultan Qaboos made the first of many speeches setting out his vision for the people and the country. He declared that the country would have a new flag and that it would no longer be called 'Muscat and Oman' but unified with Dhofar as the Sultanate of Oman. Restrictions on freedom of movement were lifted and Omanis who had left the country were invited to return to take part in the challenge that lay ahead. |
