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Emirate of Dubai

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32-649: The Emirate of Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates . It is the most populous emirate of the UAE . The capital of the emirate is the eponymous city, Dubai . The city of Dubai is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, while the Emirate stretches inland and is bordered to the south by the emirate of Abu Dhabi , to the northeast by the emirate of Sharjah , to the southeast by

64-532: A peace treaty was signed to which all the sheikhs of the coast adhered. The signatories to that treaty included Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Sharjah (on 6 January 1820). He signed a 'preliminary agreement' also on behalf of Ajman and Umm Al Qawain, and then on 8 January at Ras Al Khaimah, Hassan Bin Rahma Al Qasimi signed as "Sheikh of 'Hatt and Falna' formerly of Ras Al Khaimah" ('Hatt' being

96-689: A desert stop between the two emirates. The two agreed to work towards bringing the other emirates, including Qatar and Bahrain, into the union. Over the next two years, negotiations and meetings of the rulers followed—often stormy—as a form of union was thrashed out. The nine-state union was never to recover from the October 1969 meeting where British intervention resulted in a walk-out by Qatar and Ras Al Khaimah. Bahrain and Qatar were to drop out of talks, leaving only six emirates to agree on union on 18 July 1971. On 2 December 1971, Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah joined in

128-410: A forum for the rulers to exchange views and agree on common approaches. The British managed to provoke considerable irritation amongst the rulers, especially Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, when the ruler of Fujairah, recognised as a Trucial State by Britain on 21 March 1952, attended his first Trucial States Council. By 1958, committees were set up to advise on public health, agriculture and education, but

160-601: A free hand to explore for oil along the whole east coast. In 1952, the Trucial States Council was established to encourage co-operation among the seven rulers. The Indian rupee remained the de facto currency of the Trucial States as well as the other Persian Gulf states , such as Qatar , Bahrain , Kuwait and Oman , until the Gulf rupee was introduced in 1959. The Gulf rupee was used until

192-568: A process overseen by the British political agent at Bushire, Captain A. B. Kemball. Separate treaties in 1847 and 1856 saw treaties undertaking the abolition of slave trading and, in 1873, a further treaty abolishing slaving was signed by Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Primarily in reaction to the ambitions of France and Russia, Britain and the Trucial Sheikhdoms established closer bonds in an 1892 treaty, similar to treaties entered into by

224-654: Is made up of various other communities. The inland exclave of Hatta is located about 134 km east of the city of Dubai. The exclave is bordered by Oman to the east and south, the villages of Sayh Mudayrah and Masfout in Ajman to the west, and Ras Al Khaimah to the north. Emirates of the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates consists of seven emirates ( Arabic : إمارات ʾimārāt ; singular: إمارة ʾimārah ), which were historically known as

256-652: The Al Qawasim tribe) to Dubai. An indicator of the growing importance of Dubai can be gained from the movements of the steamer of the Bombay and Persia Steam Navigation Company, which from 1899 to 1901 paid five visits annually to Dubai. In 1902, the company's vessels made 21 visits to Dubai and from 1904 on, the steamers called fortnightly – in 1906, trading 70,000 tonnes of cargo. The frequency of these vessels helped to accelerate Dubai's role as an emerging port and trading hub of preference. British historian John Lorimer noted

288-499: The Gulf countries introduced their own currencies after the great devaluation of the rupee. The southeastern Persian Gulf coast was called the " Pirate Coast " by the British, who argued that raiders based there—particularly the 'Qawasim' or 'Joasmees', now known as the Al Qasimi (the ruling families of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah )—harassed British-flagged shipping. The first in a long series of maritime skirmishes between

320-686: The Trucial States . There are no internal barriers hindering movement between the emirates. Trucial States The Trucial States ( Arabic : الإمارات المتصالحة , romanized :  Al-Imārāt al-Mutaṣāliḥa ), also known as the Trucial Coast ( Arabic : الساحل المتصالح , romanized :  Al-Sāḥil al-Mutaṣāliḥ ), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( Arabic : المشيخات المتصالحة , romanized :  Al-Mashyakhāt al-Mutaṣāliḥa ), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman ,

352-824: The United Arab Emirates ; the seventh, Ras Al Khaimah , joined on 10 February 1972. The sheikhdoms included: The sheikhdoms permanently allied themselves with the United Kingdom through a series of treaties, beginning with the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 and including the Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853, until in 1892 they entered into "Exclusivity Agreements" with the British—following on from Bahrain in 1880—which put them under British protection. This

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384-657: The Al Qasimi and British vessels took place in 1797, when the British-flagged snow Bassein was seized and released two days later. The cruiser Viper was subsequently attacked off Bushire. The Al Qasimi leader, Saqr bin Rashid Al Qasimi , protested innocence in both cases. A period of great instability followed along the coast, with a number of actions between British and Al Qasimi vessels alongside various changes of leadership and allegiances between

416-512: The British, continued intermittently until 1835, when the sheikhs agreed not to engage in hostilities at sea and Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman and Abu Dhabi signed a renewed treaty banning hostilities during the pearling season and a number of other short treaties were made, culminating with the ten-year truce of June 1843. Feeling the benefit of peaceful pearling and trade, the coastal Sheikhs signed the Perpetual Treaty of Maritime Peace in 1853,

448-685: The Sheikh of the Bani Yas and ruler of Abu Dhabi. Husain bin Ali of Rams signed on 15 January 1820. The uncle of Muhammad bin Hazza of Dubai signed on 28 January 1820 in Sharjah. The rulers of Ajman and Umm Al Quwain acceded to the full treaty on 15 March 1820, signing on board the ship of the commander of the British expeditionary force, Major-General William Keir Grant . The treaty was also signed, at Sharjah, by

480-673: The UK with other Persian Gulf principalities. The sheikhs agreed not to dispose of any territory except to Britain and not to enter into relationships with any other foreign government without Britain's consent. In return, the British promised to protect the Trucial Coast from all aggression by sea and to help in case of land attack. This treaty, the "Exclusive Agreement", was signed by the Rulers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain between 6 and 8 March 1892. It

512-424: The area, and by political officers to visit the rulers. Air agreements were initially resisted by the rulers, who suspected interference with their sovereignty, however they also provided a useful source of revenue. In 1932, the demise of the air route through Persia (today's Iran) led to the opening of an airfield at Sharjah. In 1937, Imperial Airways flying boats began to call in at Dubai, and continued to do so for

544-593: The council had no funding until 1965, when the chairmanship moved from the Political Agent to one of the rulers, the first chairman being Shaikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi of Ras Al Khaimah. One issue which came up regularly in the council's first 14 meetings was that of locusts —the swarms were highly destructive to the agriculture of the whole area—but the Bedouin of the interior were convinced

576-414: The country of Oman , to the east by the emirate of Ajman , and to the north by the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah . The emirate and the coterminous city is subdivided into nine numbered sectors. Dubai is divided into 9 sectors of which 1 to 6 are urban and 7 to 9 are rural. In numbers of 2007: 1.511.423 urban, 18.369 rural, 1.529.792 total. The sectors are subdivided into 224 communities . In other sources,

608-464: The emir of Bahrain. The Sheikh of Rams lost the support of his people soon after and both he and the Sheikh of Jazirah Al Hamrah were deposed and their communities became subject to the rule of Ras Al Khaimah. However, the Al-Zaabi family continued to rule Jazirah Al Hamrah as vassals until 1970. As a peace treaty, it was not a conspicuous success. Skirmishes and conflicts, considered raids by

640-686: The end of Britain taking care of foreign policy and defence, as well as arbitrating between the rulers of the Eastern Persian Gulf. The decision pitched the rulers of the Trucial Coast, together with Qatar and Bahrain, into fevered negotiations to fill the political vacuum that the British withdrawal would leave behind. The principle of union was first agreed between the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan , and Sheikh Rashid of Dubai on 18 February 1968 meeting in an encampment at Argoub Al Sedirah, near Al Semeih,

672-604: The main commodity of the region, with buyers from Mumbai , commerce peaked in 1897. In 1901, Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum established Dubai as a free port with no taxation on imports or exports and also gave merchants parcels of land and guarantees of protection and tolerance. These policies saw a movement of merchants not only directly from Lingeh , but also those who had settled in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah (which had historical links with Lingeh through

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704-519: The modern day village of Khatt and 'Falna' being the modern day suburb of Ras Al Khaimah, Fahlain , near the location of Al Falayah Fort ), followed on 10 January 1820 by Qadib bin Ahmad of Jazirah Al Hamrah (given in the treaty's English translation as 'Jourat Al Kamra') signed. On 11 January 1820, again at Ras Al Khaimah, Shakhbut bin Diyab Al Nahyan signed on behalf of his son, Tahnoon,

736-481: The next ten years. The Trucial States Council was a forum for the leaders of the emirates to meet, presided over by the British Political Agent . The first meetings took place in 1952, one in spring and one in autumn, and this set a pattern for meetings in future years. The council was purely consultative and had no written constitution and no policy making powers, it provided more than anything

768-591: The rulers of Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and Sharjah with Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi claiming sovereignty over 'all the Joasmee ports' in 1823, a claim recognised by the British at the time. British expeditions to protect British Indian trade and interests around Ras al-Khaimah , close to the Strait of Hormuz , led to campaigns against that headquarters and other harbours along the coast in 1809, and again (with far greater destructive force) in 1819. The next year, 1820,

800-535: The sectors and communities are called districts and subdistricts. The exclave of Hatta is a community in Sector 8. In the early 19th century, the coastal township of Dubai was located within the territorial lands of the Bani Yas tribe, however Dubai was also on the borderlands near the control of the powerful Al Qasimi clan. This caused both groups to assert authority over the town. In the 19th century, pearls were

832-473: The spraying of insecticide would be detrimental to their herds and resisted the teams brought in from Pakistan to spray the insects' breeding grounds. In 1965 the council was given a grant by the British to administer as it saw fit, instead of merely advising on British-prepared budgets. A full-time secretariat was also recruited. Harold Wilson 's announcement, on 16 January 1968, that all British troops were to be withdrawn from " east of Suez ", signalled

864-443: The transfer of merchants from Lingeh "bids fair to become complete and permanent", and also that the town had by 1906 supplanted Lingeh as the chief entrepôt of the Trucial States. By 1908, Dubai was home to a population of some 10,000 people. By the 1930s and 1940s, the pearl business crashed due to cultured pearls from Japan. The economy crashed which triggered a famine. Hopes were reignited when in 1937, an oil exploration contract

896-565: Was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf (southeastern Arabia ) whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces , with the United Kingdom between 1820 and 1892. The Trucial States remained an informal British protectorate until the treaties were revoked on 1 December 1971. The following day, six of the sheikhdoms— Dubai , Abu Dhabi , Sharjah , Ajman , Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah —formed

928-450: Was an unclear status which fell short of a formal protectorate, but required Britain to defend them from external aggression in exchange for exclusive British rights in the states. Two sheikhdoms at various times looked as if they might be granted trucial status, affirming their independence from neighbouring Sharjah, Al Hamriyah and Al Heera , but neither signed treaties with the British. Kalba , granted trucial status in 1936 because it

960-553: Was chosen as the site of a back-up landing strip for the Imperial Airways flights into Sharjah, was re-incorporated into Sharjah in 1951 on the death of its ruler. The last sheikhdom to be granted recognition was that of Fujairah , which became a trucial state in 1952 after the British Government came under pressure from PCL (Petroleum Concessions Limited) to grant status in order that the company could have

992-589: Was signed which guaranteed royalty rights for Dubai and concessionary payments to Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum . However, due to World War II , oil would not be struck until 1966 at the Fateh oil field . In December 1971, the emirates united to form the United Arab Emirates , thus ending their status as British Protectorates. The ruler of the emirate is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum . The emirate

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1024-543: Was subsequently ratified by the Viceroy of India and the British Government in London. In the 1920s, the British Government's desire to create an alternative air route from Great Britain to India gave rise to discussions with the rulers of the Trucial States about landing areas, anchorages and fuel depots along the coast. The first aeroplanes to appear were Royal Air Force (RAF) flying boats, used by RAF personnel to survey

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