His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said

His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos bin Said (Official Portrait)

Today's post is about one man and the country he built over the past 38 years.

The modern Sultinate of Oman was born in 1970 when the current Sultan, Qaboos bin Said, came to power . At 30 years of age, he overthrew his father, a backward-looking despot, sending him into exile in London for the remainder of his life. When Qaboos bin Saud became Sultan, Oman was little more than a medieval state.

A few statistics:

• Life expectancy in 1970 was 47, while today it is 74.

• Oman had only one hospital in 1970 and now there are 58, plus 897 clinics and dispensaries.

• There were three schools in the whole country in 1970 and now there are 1178, plus several universities. Education is co-educational, with increasing numbers of women as well as men opting for careers in the professions and high tech.

• Today 86% of the country is supplied with electricity and with water, which is mostly piped in, although in the most remote villages water is supplied through truck delivery.

• From only 6 miles of paved road in 1970, a network of highways now links all the major cities and towns within Oman and its neighboring countries, and graded roads reach deep into the interior, linking the smallest villages.

Of course we did not meet or see the Sultan during our trip, but we saw his hand everywhere we went. We saw it especially in the highways stretching across the country, with new sections under construction almost everywhere we went.


The above and next three photos are of As Sultan Qaboos Street, a 4-lane highway that runs through Muscat and out past the airport. The highway is bordered on both sides for much of it's length by esplanades planted with grass, brightly colored flowers, and trees. All are irrigated by water derived from desalination plants.


Not only are these highways beautifully engineered and constructed, but much thought and no little expense was devoted to making them aesthetically pleasing as well, as with this retaining wall for an overpass.


This decorative structure, part of the same overpass as above, was patterned after an historic Omani fort.


Highway construction is not confined to Muscat and the other larger cities. This highway to the ancient Omani capital of Niswa runs along the wadis, or valleys between ranges of mountains.

This rugged stretch of highway leads to the beautiful Shangra La Resort, several miles south of Muscat on the coast.

A highways cuts through hills outside Salalah in the south.

There are well engineered paved roads even to small fishing villages such as Haramil.


We saw the Sultan's hand in the many government-built schools across the country, even in a tiny roadside village like Sarfait, dominated by its beautiful modern school.

We saw his artistic touch in sculptures decorating nearly every roundabout like this one near the University close to Mohammed's farm,

and perhaps his whimsy in this roundabout incense burner in Ruwi,

or this pile of dolphins on the promenade along the Corniche, a harborside street in Mutwah, a popular tourist section of Muscat.

This is the Sultan's yacht in Muscat Harbor, as seen from the Corniche. We were told that he has it because he doesn't like to fly.

An Opera House is under construction in Muscat. Maybe it will be done the next time we are there.

Pictures of the Sultan are everywhere: on the sides of public buildings,


on the roofs of stores,


behind the reservation desks of hotels such as the one where we stayed in Sur,

in a display in the Fort at Niswa,

and even along the highway, as with this display celebrating a meeting of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council, which took place during our stay.

I think that His Majesty Qaboos bin Said is a genius. I can think of no one in our time who has had such a profound impact on the actual physical development his country. He single handedly brought Oman into the modern age while scrupulously preserving his country's rich heritage, culture, and traditions. Furthermore he has done it with a powerful aesthetic sensibility; former U. S. Ambassador to Oman, Frances D. Cook told me that she considers him a Michangelo. He has chosen wisely which aspects of modernism to allow, and which to discourage. (I wish he had kept American fast food franchises out of his country, but that is about the only thing I can fault him for.)

One last statistic: in the Sultinate of Oman, His Majesty Qaboos bin Said is universally loved, which in the final analysis, says it all. rpk