Treaty of Seeb

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The Treaty of Seeb, or Treaty of As Sib was an agreement reached between Sultan Taimur bin Feisal (1886-1965) of Muscat and the Imam of Oman in 1920. It gave autonomy to the Imamate of Oman regarding the interior regions of the Muscat and Oman Protectorate, while the sultan would retain sovereignty over the remainder of the country. 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 rebellion was ignited by Imam Ghalib Bin Ali. 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.