BIOGRAPHY OF HIS MAJESTY SULTAN QABOOS BIN SAID

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos was born in Salalah, the most southerly city of the state then known as Muscat and Oman, on 18th November 1940. He was the only son of the late Sultan Said bin Taimur and the eighth direct descendant of the royal Al Busaidi line founded in 1744 by Imam Ahmad bin Said. Sultan Qaboos spent his childhood in Salalah. When he reached the age of 16, his father sent him to a private school in England, and in 1960 he entered The Royal Military Academy SandHurst as an officer cadet.

Educational life of the sultan

After passing out of SandHurst, he spent a year with a British infantry battalion on duty in Germany and then held a staff appointment with the British army. Later, speaking to young officers at a passing out parade, Sultan Qaboos recalled his own military training. "The values that I absorbed have remained with me forever afterwards," he said. "I learned that discipline is not just something one imposes on others; it is something that one has, above all, to apply to oneself, if one is to be a worthy leader of men. I also learned the true meaning of service: that is, to give, and not to expect to receive, and that it is the team, and not oneself, that matters. I learned that with responsibility comes obligation."

Having finished his military service, His Majesty studied local government in England and then embarked on a tour of the world. When he returned to Oman, he spent six years studying Islam and Omani history in Salalah. On the abdication of his father and his subsequent accession on 23rd July 1970, Sultan Qaboos moved to Muscat to implement his vision for the country's development.