Monsoon Revolution

Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976

Abdel Razzaq Takriti

Oxford Historical Monographs

Provides a timely historical examination of the Arab revolutionary tradition
The first comprehensive English language study of revolutionary history in the Arab Gulf region
Offers a revisionist contribution to the history of the Omani state in the post World War II period
Draws extensively on archival and oral sources as well as rare personal collections, providing a wealth of new empirical information
The author was winner of the prestigious Middle East Studies Association of North America 2011 Malcolm Kerr Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in the Humanities, and joint winner of the BRISMES (British Society of Middle Eastern Studies) 2011 Leigh Douglas Memorial Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in the Humanities or Social Sciences

Monsoon Revolution

Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976

Abdel Razzaq Takriti

Description

At a time when Arab revolutionary movements are once again dominating the headlines, Monsoon Revolution offers a fresh reading of the Arab revolutionary tradition, examining one of its foremost illustrations.

The Dhufar revolution in Oman (1965-1976) was the longest running major armed struggle in the history of the Arabian Peninsula - Britain's last classic colonial war in the region - and one of the highlights of the Cold War in the Middle East. Monsoon Revolution retrieves the political, social, and cultural history of that remarkable process. It analyses its causes, course, and outcomes, while uncovering the networks, ideologies, personalities, as well as the regional and global actors that sustained it. Relying upon a wide range of untapped Arab and British archival and oral sources, it revises the modern political history of Oman by revealing the centrality of popular movements in shaping events and outcomes. Monsoon Revolution further examines colonial dynamics, narrating the ways through which Sultanic absolutism was constructed by Britain in order to suppress the persistent local revolutionary challenge. A series of landmark mysteries are also solved, including the details of the 1970 coup bringing the current ruler onto the throne.

Contextualising Omani revolution and absolutism, Abdel Razzaq Takriti illustrates how the events that unfolded in Oman during the years 1965-1976 were embedded in broader Arab and international currents. The Sultanate's dependence on global networks of imperial and monarchical solidarity is examined and the fundamental importance of these networks for its own survival is highlighted. On the other side, the ties that bound transnational anti-colonial movements and revolutionary networks are explored, and Dhufar is revealed to be an ideal vantage point from which to demonstrate the centrality of South-South connections in modern Arab history.

Monsoon Revolution

Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976

Abdel Razzaq Takriti

Oxford Historical Monographs

Introduction
1. Imperial Sovereignty in Omani History
2. Dhufari Politics, Society, and Economy
3. A Struggle for Sovereignty
4. Crises and Constellational Shifts, 1966-1968
5. Relocating the Revolutionary Subject: From DLF to PFLOAG
6. Last Stand of the Raj
7. The Sultan is Deposed, Long Reign the Sultan!
8. Constructing the Absolutist State
9. Revolutionary Culture
10. From Citizenship to Subjecthood: Episodes From 1971-1976
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography
Index

Monsoon Revolution

Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976

Abdel Razzaq Takriti

Oxford Historical Monographs

Author Information

Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti is a Lecturer in International History at the University of Sheffield. He holds a DPhil from St Antony's College, Oxford and was a Junior Research Fellow in Political History at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

Monsoon Revolution

Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976

Abdel Razzaq Takriti

Oxford Historical Monographs

Reviews and Awards

Honourable Mention for the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize in Middle Eastern Studies

"Beautifully written, Monsoon Revolution's narrative has an intense propulsive force, its sources are rich and varied, and the history it outlines rightly spills over national boundaries and properly situates Oman in the multiple and overlapping geographies of empire, anticolonial mobilization, and a range of different Arab nationalities....This important, substantively rich, readable, and persuasive work should be required reading for any student of revolutions, empires, uprisings, and geopolitics in the Middle East."--Review of Middle Eastern Studies

"A well-written, extensively documented, in-depth analysis of the Dhufar revolutionary movement of 1965-76. An important book. Highly recommended."--CHOICE

"For an understanding of the contemporary Arabian peninsula, Takriti's analysis will now become the key reference. His analysis of the connections between the internal dynamics of the Dhufari revolution and the ideological and political cross-currents that defined anti-imperialist politics in the Arab world sets an example for how to examine political movements."--Capital and Class

"The reader encounters an array of interesting characters and vignettes which alone ought to inspire future researchers...Monsoon Revolution breaks much new ground and provides a baseline for future research...Any subsequent histories of Oman will have to refer to this book."--Arabian Humanities

"At last we have an outstanding English language study of the Dhufari revolution...Takriti's purpose is easily stated...and the task is superbly accomplished...Altogether, this is an invaluable book that deserves a wide readership."--Race and Class