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.
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.”
