With the political isolation that separated it from other countries, there seemed to be no future. Sultan Qaboos began the production of oil and used its revenues to modernize Oman.
He laid a modern infrastructure, built schools, universities, hotels, hospitals, banks, ports and airports. He also established the Omani Rial as the national currency of the country, abolished slavery and changed the political system to an absolute monarchy. Omanis were also united and welcoming of a diverse society that included descendants from India, Pakistan and East Africa.
These different nationalities moved to Oman during different periods of history, through which Oman had strong relations with their countries. With this in mind, Sultan Qaboos made sure to form a national identity that brought all Omanis together. He also embraced the Omani heritage, norms and traditions, and celebrated the unique culture of the country, as he urged the Omanis to hold on to their identity and to be proud of it.
Despite the dark times that the country has been through, the pride of Sultan Qaboos in the history and great achievements of his country has always been evident in his speeches since day one. He believed in the power and abilities of the Omani people, and encouraged them to work hard to build their country, which made him work harder to facilitate their education and provide them with work opportunities and equal rights.
For the dignity, constant developments, promising future, stability, safety and decent living they have, Omanis love and feel grateful for their great leader, leading to their reputation as one of the kindest and the friendliest people in the Middle East. A family council had three days to choose a successor as Qaboos had no heir or publicly designated successor. Instead they opted for opening the sealed envelope in which Qaboos had secretly left his own choice.
The sultan is the paramount decision-maker in Oman. He also holds the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance and minister of foreign affairs.
Last month Qaboos spent a week in Belgium for medical treatment, and there were reports he was suffering from cancer. Images showed a crowd of men gathered outside the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the capital, Muscat, where the coffin had been placed before he was buried in a family cemetery. In a televised speech after being sworn in, Sultan Haitham - a former culture and heritage minister who studied at Oxford - pledged to continue his predecessor's policies of friendly relations with all nations while further developing the country.
This is a day that had long been dreaded in Oman where the elegant, beturbaned and white bearded figure of Sultan Qaboos had for five decades embodied the identity of a country that he had brought into the modern world. There were concerns that his death might bring instability to Oman, which has largely avoided the unrest elsewhere in the region. For now at least, the process of finding a successor has moved swiftly and smoothly.
And Haitham bin Tariq Al Said - born in - was swift to reassure his people and the wider world that he would follow the same path as his predecessor.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said was born on November 19, in a place called Salalah. He attended a private university in England at the age of 16, and he joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst at the age of After his father abdicated the throne, Qaboos bin Said became the fourteenth descendent to become the sultan. He is known to have had three major passions — reading, music and yachting.
He created a symphony orchestra and opened a royal opera house in Muscat in Qaboos was briefly married to a first cousin. They had no children and divorced in Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman: Leader who modernised his Arabian sultanate while balancing diplomatic links between Iran and US. Oman readies baroque succession process as sultan's health worsens.
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