Treaty of Seeb
The Treaty of Seeb (variously Sib or As Sib) was an agreement reached between the Sultan of Muscat, Taimur bin Feisal (1886–1965), and the Imamate of Oman in 1920. It recognised Omani autonomy within the interior regions of Muscat and Oman, which was a British protectorate at the time. The treaty was named after As Sib, a coastal town in present-day Oman.
Prior to the treaty, Salim ibn Rashid al-Kharusi instigated an anti-Muscat rebellion among the conservative Ibadhi sects in the interior mountainous areas of Oman and founded the Islamic Imamate of Oman in opposition to Muscat. With British assistance, the Treaty of As Sib went into effect in 1920. The capital of the Imamate was created in the town of Nizwa.
Relationships between Muscat and Oman were relatively peaceful until 1954 when a rebellion in Jebel Akhdar was ignited by Imam Ghalib bin Ali Al Hinai. This was in reaction to Sultan Said bin Taimur's (1910-1972) attempts to expand his authority into the interior. The sultan tore up the Treaty of As Sib and eliminated the office of the Imam. In the early 1960s the imam was forced into exile in Saudi Arabia.
External links
- Husain M. Al-Baharna. The Legal Status of the Arabian Gulf States: A Study of Their Treaty Relations and International Problems. Manchester University Press, 1968.
