Dubai: Encyclopedia II - Dubai - History of Dubai

Dubai - History of Dubai

There are records of the town of Dubai from 1799. Earlier in the 18th century the Al Abu Falasa lineage of Banu Yas clan established itself in Dubai which was a dependent of the settlement of Abu Dhabi until 1833.

On 8 Jan 1820 the then sheikh of Dubai was a signatory to the British sponsored "General Treaty of Peace" (the General Maritime Treaty).

In 1833, the Al Maktoum dynasty of the Bani Yas tribe left the settlement of Abu Dhabi and took over the town of Dubai, "without resistance". From that point on, Dubai, a newly independent emirate, was constantly at odds with the emirate of Abu Dhabi. An attempt by the Qawasim pirates to take over Dubai was thwarted. In 1835, Dubai and the rest of the Trucial States signed a maritime truce with Britain and a "Perpetual Maritime Truce" about two decades later. Dubai came under the protection of the United Kingdom (keeping out the Ottoman Turks) by the Exclusive Agreement of 1892. Like four of its neighbours, Abu Dhabi, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain, its position on the route to India made it an important location.

In March 1892 the Trucial States (or Trucial Oman) were created.

The rulers of Dubai fostered trade and commerce, unlike the town's neighbors. The town of Dubai was an important port of call for foreign tradesmen (chiefly Indians), who settled in the town. Until the 1930s, the town was known for its pearl exports.

After the devaluation of the Gulf Rupee in 1966, Dubai joined the newly independent state of Qatar to set up a new monetary unit, the Qatar/Dubai riyal. Oil was discovered 120 kilometres off the coast of Dubai, after which the town granted oil concessions.

On 2 December 1971 Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi, and five other emirates, formed the United Arab Emirates after Britain left the Persian Gulf in 1971. In 1973, Dubai joined the other emirates to adopt a single, uniform currency: the UAE dirham.

Dubai maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and 1980s. Dubai and its twin across the Dubai creek, Deira (independent at that time), became important ports of call for Western manufacturers. Most of the new city's banking and financial centers were headquartered in this area.

The city of Dubai has a free trade in gold and is the hub of a "brisk smuggling trade" of gold ingots to India, where gold trade is restricted. Oil reserves in Dubai are less than one-twentieth that of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and hence oil income is a minor contributing factor to the city's prosperity.

Today, Dubai is also an important tourist destination, bolstered by its rapidly-expanding airline Emirates, which is headed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, an uncle of the Sheikh. Dubai is also diversifying as a hub for service-based industries such as IT and finance, with the new Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The government has set up industry-specific free zones throughout the city. Dubai Internet City, now combined with Dubai Media City as part of TECOM (Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority) is one such enclave whose members include IT firms such as EMC Corporation, Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM, and media organisations such as MBC, CNN, Reuters, ARY and AP. Dubai Knowledge Village (KV) is an education and training hub is also set up to complement the Free Zone’s other two clusters, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City, by providing the facilities to train the clusters' future knowledge workers.

Dubai - The ruler chronology

• .... - 9 June 1833 Sheikh `Ubayd ibn Said
• 9 June 1833 - 1852 Sheikh Maktoum I ibn Bati ibn Suhayl (d. 1852)
• 1852 - 1859 Sheikh Said I ibn Bati (d. 1859)
• 1859 - 22 Nov 1886 Sheikh Hushur ibn Maktoum (d. 1886)
• 22 Nov 1886 - 7 April 1894 Sheikh Rashid I ibn Maktoum (d. 1894)
• 7 April 1894 - 16 Feb 1906 Sheikh Maktoum II ibn Hushur (b. 18.. - d. 1906)
• 16 Feb 1906 - Nov 1912 Sheikh Bati ibn Suhayl (b. 1851 - d. 1912)
• Nov 1912 - 15 April 1929 Sheikh Said II ibn Maktoum (1st time) (b. 1878 - d. 1958)
• 15 April 1929 - 18 April 1929 Sheikh Mani ibn Rashid
• 18 April 1929 - Sep 1958 Sheikh Said II ibn Maktoum (2nd time) (s.a.)
• Sep 1958 - 7 Oct 1990 Sheikh Rashid II ibn Said Al Maktoum (b. 1912 - d. 1990)
• 7 Oct 1990 - 4 Jan 2006 Sheikh Maktoum III ibn Rashid Al Maktoum (b. 1943 - d. 2006)
• 4 Jan 2006 - Present Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (b. 1949)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History of Dubai", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki