The Imamate Tradition of Oman

At the core of this book is an attempt to explain a conflict in Oman in the 1950s and 1960s between two claimants to authority: the Imam of the Ibadi sect and the Sultan.

John Craven Wilkinson (Author)

9780521106146, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 April 2009

428 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.63 kg

At the core of this book is an attempt to explain a conflict in Oman in the 1950s and 1960s between two claimants to authority: the Imam of the Ibadi sect in the interior and the Sultan with his capital at Muscat on the coast. The crisis, precipitated by two rival oil companies, acquired wider dimensions because the Sultan was supported by the British, whilst the Imam was eventually backed by Saudi Arabia. In his analysis of the roots of this conflict John Wilkinson traces the themes of regional identity, tribal organization and political authority over some 1200 years of history in south-eastern Arabia. The constitution of the Imamate has periodically unified the tribes of central Oman into a form of statehood capable of creating an overseas empire. But in spite of the accruing wealth, notably from Eastern Africa in the nineteenth century, the institutions necessary for permanent government were never created.

Part I. Geopolitical Structures: 1. Regional identity
2. Regional divisions I: Muscat and Oman
3. Regional divisions II: core and periphery
Part II. Tribal Structures: 4. Clan patterns: lore or law?
5. Property, territory and shaikhs
6. Territory and tribal state formation
Part III. Imamate Structures: 7. The Imamate community
8. Laws of the community
9. Tribe, state and dynasties: a historical overview
10. The Al Bu Said and the Ibadi renaissance
Part IV. The Twentieth Century Imamate: 11. The traditional opening: the Imamate restored
12. The oil game
13. The end game: the overthrow of the Imamate
14. Conclusion: the spoilt game.

Subject Areas: Religious groups: social & cultural aspects [JFSR]