Page 17 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XVIII*

sively reliable source of information for all those who are
interested in the past of the Arabian peninsula, be it from
personal/private or from scholarly motivations.

Political and educational significance

In the preceding sections, the reasons put forward to justify
a reprinting of Wellsted’s “Travels in Arabia” are perhaps of
general interest. In conclusion, an aspect needs to be dealt
with which is mainly of importance from the point of view
of the Sultanate of Oman.
The Sultanate of Oman, which was called the “Sul­
tanate of Muscat and Oman” up until 1970, had been al­
most completely isolated and had remained untouched by
developmental changes up to that time. This was due both
to the policies of Sultan Said binTaimur (1932 — 1970) and
to external influence. Even though the commonly ex­
pressed notion that Oman was still in the Middle Ages is
exaggerated, it must be borne in mind that, except in
Muscat and Matrah, there were, up until 1970, no public
schools, no hospitals, no system of communication (e. g.
telephone or radio), no asphalt roads, no internationally
recognized airport and no harbour suitable for large ships.
Nobody was allowed to leave the country, and the Sultan’s
permission was needed for even the smallest foreign trading
activity. The Sultan ran a one-man government, making all
decisions affecting the country, while living in a peaceful
retreat, isolated from the Omani people. Although Oman
began to export oil in 1967, so joining the ranks of her
neighbouring oil-producing countries, nearly all of the eco­
nomic and infrastructural innovations which were rapidly
instituted in these countries were forestalled in Oman. The
tribal divisions of the population of Oman were generally
accepted and were the ultimate cause of several domestic