Salim bin Thuwaini, Sultan of Muscat and Oman

Who was Salim bin Thuwaini, Sultan of Muscat and Oman?

'Sultan Salim bin Thuwaini Al Said' was the Sultan of Muscat and Oman from 11 February 1866 – October 1868. He was the eldest son of Sultan Thuwaini bin Said and acceded to the throne in succession to his father. Lewis Pelly and Henry Bartle Frere were deeply disappointed by the death of Sultan Thuwaini bin Said in their hopes for a military action against the Wahhabis and were well aware of Salim's opposing views and refusal to join the insuing war. Hence the British Political Resident General in the Gulf at Bushehr, Colonel Lewis Pelly, fiercely opposed the recognition of Salim whom he feared was to stop foreign interference and forge a peace deal with the Wahhabis.

Salim sent two envoys to Bombay, then under British rule, with a letter soliciting the renewal of relations between the British and Muscat Governments and reiterating his assertions regarding his father's death, namely, that he had died as a result of illness after three days of suffering and was quickly buried in accordance to Islamic tradition, to which the Government of India acknowledged the reigning prince as sultan on May 1866. Pelly tried to intervene and accused him of patricide through innuendo but was forestalled by the British Viceroy John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence who presented Salim with his governments official recognition.