Word: sultanate
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...stop when a tall, bearded figure hops out, one hand holding his bright ima-ma, or turban, against the airstream, the other fingering the silver kunjar, or dagger, at his waist. Brown-eyed, gentle Qabus bin Said, 30, absolute monarch of Oman, has arrived on another tour of his sultanate (see color pages). Through such visits the Sultan hopes to strengthen the loyalty of local sheiks and villagers who have never seen their ruler. Equally important, the trips are designed to help Qabus learn about the country he took over last July. At that time Qabus told...
Under the despotic reign of his father, Sultan Said bin Taimur, Muscat and Oman* as the country was known before Qabus shortened the name-was not far removed from the 15th century. Fearful that social and economic development would corrupt traditional Islamic values, Said turned his land, perched on the southeastern hump of Arabia near the gates of the Persian Gulf, into a 112,000-sq.-mi. jail...
Muscat and Oman had only six miles of paved roadway, and the Sultan's red 1955 Chrysler Imperial rusted in the palace courtyard for lack of any place to go. Music and dancing were forbidden and women were compelled to wear mid-calf skirts despite summer temperatures of 130° F. Electricity and running water were unknown to most people. The xenophobic Said permitted few foreigners in and fewer Omanis out, but an estimated 200,000 subjects managed to flee during the past ten years. Cannons sounded curfew after sundown. With only three schools in the entire sultanate...
...Sent to England at 16, he attended Sandhurst and spent six months as a lieutenant with the British army on the Rhine. When Qabus returned home, he spent four years under virtual house arrest. He sometimes went a full year without seeing his father, yet had to obtain the Sultan's permission even to leave the palace...
Double Sessions. As the 14th Sultan in the Al Bu Said dynasty, Qabus is dedicated to a crash program in modernization, using $98 million in annual oil revenues from fields at Fahud to finance it. Qabus has approved contracts for 242 more miles of paved road, begun deepening Muscat harbor and building docks to handle large ships. An 18-room hotel is going up to house visiting businessmen in Muscat. Radio stations have been opened in Muscat and Salala. A weekly newspaper will soon be published, but it will be printed in Beirut for the time being because there...