Oman » History

Recent History

Oman’s has a diverse history of invasion and economic fortune because of its position on one of the significant trade routes of the ancient world. After the death of Sultan Faisal Bin Turki in 1913, the interior tribes did not accept his son as imam, which led to the split of coastal area ruled by the Sultan and the interior. As a result, this area was later on came under the control of separate line of imams.

In 1938 Sultan Bin Taimur, got the control of coastal area but it took him until 1959 to take the full control of the interior. In 1970, Said was deposed by his single son in a palace accompanied by the British. Said spent rest of his life in calm banish, in London hotel. After that Sultan Qaboos bin Said immediately started modernizing Oman’s semi-feudal economy and abolished his father’s tyrannical social restrictions.

In 1987 he opened the country for the tourism and to support peace initiatives, Qaboos welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Oman in 1990s. In 1998, Oman was considered one of the several oil producing countries which declared slight cuts in output touching off a rise in oil and petrol prices.
In 1997, Omani women were given the right to vote and to stand for the election to Majlis al-Shura. This right was extended right after five years, to all voters above the age of 21.