Bringing his Middle Eastern country into the 21st century has taken the ruler of the Sultanate of Oman considerable time and money.

Ever since 1970, when he acceded to the throne of the Sultanate of Oman, His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, has trod a fine line between maintaining the culture and traditions of his country and bringing his people into the modern era.

His Majesty was born in Salalah in Dhofar on November 18, 1940, the only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur, then ruler of the country. After an early education at Salalah, his father sent him to England for further studies. When he was 20, he entered Sandhurst Royal Military Academy as an officer cadet and then joined a British Infantry battalion in Germany for one year, followed by a staff appointment with the British Army.

After his military service, His Majesty studied local government in England and went on a world tour before returning to Oman in 1964. The following six years were spent in Salalah studying Islam and the history of his country and people. In July 1970, his father abdicated and Sultan Qaboos bin Said acceded to the throne.
At that time, Oman had changed very little for hundreds of years.

Strict curfews were in place for the entire country, healthcare was represented by only one hospital and a few admission units, and education consisted of three schools.

Located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the United Arab Emirates in the northwest, Saudi Arabia in the west and Yemen in the southwest, Oman's isolation from the rest of the world was in sharp contrast to its previous history. It had been in contact with other countries for centuries as a trading centre ruled by the Portuguese until 1650 and then by the Ottomans until 1741, when the present line of sultans was established. Oman became a British protectorate in 1891.

Among the first steps His Majesty took in the modernisation of his country was to abolish its previous name, "the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman" and rename it "the Sultanate of Oman", signifying the unification of a country that was torn by civil war.
Although it took His Majesty five years to quell the uprising of left-wing guerrillas, he nevertheless launched into the liberalisation of the government in the first year of his reign.

Helped in part by the wealth acquired from the discovery of petroleum in commercial quantities just six years before, he directed the income to the construction of roads, schools, hospitals and water and electricity generating plants.

By 1999, his sweeping reforms, which affected every aspect of his subjects' lives, had increased gross domestic product from 104 million Omani rials (about Bt10 billion) to 6 billion rials; increased per capita income from 158 to 2,581 rials, enlarged the healthcare sector to 54 hospitals and 162 health centres, with life expectancy increasing from 49.3 years to 72 years; and raised the number of pupils by more than 620 times to 566,000, with a rise in the number of schools to 1,103.

His Majesty has also been moving the government slowly towards liberalisation.
As absolute monarch, he rules without a constitution, elected legislature, or legal political parties. He relies, however, on a hand-picked cabinet and, since 1981, on a consultative assembly that he appoints.

In 1996, His Majesty issued a decree promulgating a new basic law that clarifies the royal succession, provides for a bicameral advisory council with some limited legislative powers and a prime minister, and guarantees basic civil liberties for Omani citizens.

The sultan has gradually been taking his country into a global context. By 1971, Oman, a British protectorate no longer, had joined the Arab League and the United Nations. In 1981, it became a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and in 2000 a member of the World Trade Organisation.
It is also the only oil-producing nation in the Middle East that is not a member of Opec.

Yet His Majesty has been careful to maintain the culture and traditions of his country. Over 2,000 mosques have been built entirely at his own expense, including the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Opened in 2001, after four years of construction, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque draws on the best in Islamic art and architecture and serves not only as a place of worship but also as a library and educational institute. It is the largest mosque in the world.

By Laurie Rosenthal
The Nation