Mazoon al-Mashani

Sheikha Mazoon bint Ahmad Ali Al-Mashani^[1] (Arabic: ميزون بنت أحمد‎‎; also spelled Maizoon or Mayzoon) (1920 – 12 August 1992) was the second wife of Sultan Said bin Taimur and the mother of Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman.^[2] His first wife, Sheikha Fatima Al-Mashani, was her cousin.

Biography

Sheikha Mazoon was born in the 1920s in Eastern Dhofar, the southern province of Oman. She was the daughter of Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali Al-Mashani, a leader of the Al-Mashani tribe, a branch of the powerful Al-Hakli tribe. She was a "Jebbali", thus a member of a mountain tribe.

In 1936, she became the second wife of Sultan Said.^[3] She was from the same tribe and a cousin of his first wife, Fatima.^[4] The wedding ceremony was not without complications. The wedding was interrupted because the Al-Mashani tribe was of the opinion that the bride price was not high enough. Therefore they kidnapped the fiancée of the Sultans and carried her back into the mountains. Thereupon the Tabook tribe, another tribe belonging to Al-Hakli located around the mountains of Salalah, mounted a pursuit. They succeeded in stopping the kidnappers and forcing them to return to Salalah. The wedding was celebrated with the usual rejoicing and on 18 November 1940, Mazoon gave birth to the Sultan's only son Qaboos, the later Sultan and successor of her husband.^[5] Of her life little is known, except that Sultan Qaboos was cordially connected with his mother throughout his life.

She died in 1992 from her long lasting diabetes. Sultan Qaboos had her buried in her homeland region in Taqah. She was not only popular in her home province, but throughout the Oman. On the occasion of her death a three-day-long state mourning was declared.

References

1. Their first name "Mazoon" is an old Persian name for the Sultanate of Oman. The way of writing of the name varies in many publications. One finds also: "Mazun" (in German), "Mazwun bint Ahamed al-Maashani", "Mizoon" or "Miyzun".
2. See Plekhanov, Sergey: A Reformer on the Throne: Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, London: Trident Press, 2004, p. 279.
3. This detail were confirmed personally by the Sultan to the then "Political aAgent" T. Hickinbotham (see telegram from the "Political Agent" in Muscat to the "Political Resident" in Kuwait on 10 December 1940; reprinted in: Lacy Rush, Alan de: Ruling Families of Arabia. Sultanate of Oman. The Royal Family of Al Bu Sa'id. Vol. 2, Archive Editions, London 1991, p. 675.
4. Royal Ark
5. See Jeapes, Tony: SAS Secret war: Operation Storm in The Middle East, London/Pennsylvania: Grennhill Books/Stakpole Books, 2005 (ISBN 1-85367-567-9), p. 19.