The Path Toward the Modern Omani State During the Reign of Sultan Said bin Taimur
Keywords:
Said bin Taimur,, modern Omani state,, British influenceAbstract
This paper targets to deconstruct the Western historical myth of Sultan Said bin Taimur (1932–1970) as one of full stagnation and isolation. Providing an analytical reading that is detached from the stereotypes surrounding them, the study challenges such stereotypes and shows how committed the Sultan was to establishing an administrative and financial apparatus for building a modern Omani state at a time which proved immensely complex locally and internationally as well.
This shift is studied in three critical stages: the early push for economic and institutional independence (1932-1952); the growing geopolitical entanglements associated with oil exploration and the Buraimi dispute (1952-1958), and finally, rising internal discontent alongside British consolidation of hegemony (1958-1970).
The findings show that this era was not a time of absolute political standstill but did and could have seen real attempts at modernizing state structures within the structures of administration, juristic and education. Intellectual isolationism was not the main cause of early reforms faltering, this study concludes; real lack of financing and foreign interventions more to be blamed. In essence, these initial initiatives were the cornerstones of Oman's Renaissance of 1970.
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