Page 184 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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CHAPTER 6

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MUSCAT
5
I.—General i
E
1. His Highness Saiyid Sa’id bin Taimur bin Faisal, born in 1910, succeeded
officially as Sultan of Muscat and Oman and Dependencies in February 1932 on E
the abdication of his father Saiyid Taimur. The Dependencies referred to in the =
territorial designation are Gwadur and Dhofar which are not part of Oman. The =
title 44 Highness ” is used in conversation and personal correspondence conducted
in English but the Sultan will not permit it to be used in official documents.(*) 1
Although most of his subjects give him no title other than Saiyid, it is probable :
that he would like to be addressed as 44 Majesty.” The Foreign Office have held -
that he must himself formally adopt this style, which he has never done, and that =
it is not for Her Majesty’s Government to take the initiative.^) He is entitled 5
to a salute of 21 guns. He was awarded the K.C.l.E. in 1938 and the G.C.l.E. in <- :
1945. He protested when the last award was made because the British Broadcasting r
Corporation included it amongst the honours granted to Indian Princes. In ■
accordance with a request which he made when he received the K.C.l.E. no honour .
is written after his name either in private or official correspondence.C) His
attitude in this and many other matters is no doubt due to his jealousy of his
independence and his fear of being regarded as possessing the same status as the i
Ruler of an Indian State or a Gulf shaikhdom, which was in fact the treatment in
practice accorded to his predecessors by the late British Government of India.
He has one son Saiyid Qabus who was born in December 1940, and up to 1953
had lived the whole of his life in Dhofar. The Sultan paid an official visit to India
in 1932 and again in 1937 when he stayed with the Viceroy and to England in
1938 where he was the guest of His Majesty’s Government for a fortnight and
was received in audience by The King. He also visited England privately in 1953
and was received in audience by The Queen. He spends almost half his time
away from his capital and keeps his family in Dhofar, where he often resides for
long periods. Before 1947 he also paid many visits of considerable duration to
India. He was educated in India and Iraq and has a fairly good knowledge of
English. He is a very astute Ruler, but is diffident and lacks force of character.
He endeavours to make up for these deficiencies by adopting an attitude of regal
aloofness which does not make him popular with his fellow-Arabs. He has three
brothers. The eldest Saiyid Majid in 1953 was Wali at Sur. The second Saiyid
Tariq was bom in Turkey of a Turkish mother and educated in Turkey and
Germany. During the war he was for three years under training in India with
the Police at Nasik, with the Zhob Militia and with the Baluchistan Civil
Administration. On his return to Muscat he was made Administrator of the
Muscat-Matrah Municipality. He has a stronger personality than the Sultan but
is indolent, possibly because he is not given more responsibility. The third brother
Saiyid Fahr was educated in India and received some military training in Pakistan
after which he served for a time with the Muscat Infantry. The ex-Sultan Saiyid
Taimur is living at Bombay under the name of Mr. T. F. T. A1 Saeed. It should
be noted that the twenty sons of the great Saiyid Sa’id who died in 1856 were all
by concubines and that the Muscat ruling family have slave-blood in their veins.
The ruling families of the Gulf Shaikhdoms and other pure Arabs will not,
therefore, give their daughters in marriage to the Muscat family.
2. The Sultan is an independent potentate who has commercial treaties with
the Government of the United States (1833), France (1844), and India (1953)(4) as
well as with Her Majesty’s Government. There is in addition a commercial
declaration of 1877 with the Netherlands Government.^) Under the Anglo-French
declaration of 1862, Her Majesty’s Government and the French Government

(') I.O. to F.O. P.Z. 5004/38 of July 28. 1938 (E 4487/195/91 of 1938).
(’) F.O. to P.R. E 2807/1942/91 of March 18. 1949.
(*) I.O. to F.O. P.Z. 2210/38 of June 1, 1938 (E 3246/195/91 of 1938).
(4) Nos. 1. 2 and 10 VI. T.C.
(*) No. 3 VI. T.C.