On assuming power in 1888, Faisal ibn Turki gradually found his authority over the interior weakened as tribal leaders increasingly perceived his dependence on
British advisers as an inherent weakness. In 1895 he was forced to seek refuge at
Jalali Fort after
Muscat was captured. British political agents frustrated his efforts to recapture Muscat, compelling him to court the
French. He granted the French coaling facilities for their fleet at
Bandar Jissah near Muscat. Determined to thwart any growth in French presence in what Britain considered its sphere of influence, Britain presented Faisal ibn Turki with an ultimatum in 1899 ordering the sultan to board the British flagship or Muscat would be bombarded. Having little recourse, Faisal ibn Turki capitulated. Publicly humiliated, his authority was irreversibly damaged. In 1903 he asked Lord
George Nathaniel Curzon, viceroy of
India, for permission to abdicate, but his request was denied. Responsibility for the capital was delegated to
Said ibn Muhammad Al Said, while affairs of the interior fell to an ex-slave,
Sulayman ibn Suwaylim. By 1913 control over the interior was completely lost, and a reconstituted imamate was again a threat to Muscat. In May 1913,
Salim ibn Rashid al Kharusi was elected
imam at
Tanuf and spearheaded a revolt against the sultan that combined both
Hinawi and
Ghafiri tribal groups. On Faisal's death, he was succeeded by his second son,
Taimur bin Faisal.
Sultan Haitham, the current ruler of Oman, is a direct descendant of Faisal bin Turki. ==Marriage and issue==