Qaboos bin Said al Said

Qaboos bin Said was educated in Suffolk and trained at Sandhurst, then served briefly in the British Army before returning home in 1966. His father, Sultan Said bin Taimur, kept him under tight restriction. In 1970, with British backing, Qaboos overthrew him and took the throne, renaming the realm the Sultanate of Oman. He opened the country to the world, raised living standards, abolished slavery, put down the Dhofar rebellion, and gave Oman a constitution. By the time he died in January 2020, he'd been the Middle East's longest-serving ruler. With no children, he'd left instructions: if the…