United Arab Emirates: History

Pre-20th-Century History

The earliest significant settlements in the UAE date from the Bronze Age. In the 3rd century BC, a culture known as Umm an-Nar's arose near the site of modern Abu Dhabi and its influence extended well into the interior and along the coast of what is now Oman. The Greeks were the next major cultural influence and ruins showing strong Hellenistic features have been found at Meleiha, about 50km (30mi) from Sharjah, and at Al-Dour, in the emirate of Umm al-Qaiwan. During the Middle Ages, much of the region was part of the kingdom of Hormuz, which controlled the entrance to, and most of the trade in, the Gulf.

The Portuguese arrived in 1498 and by 1515 had occupied Julfar near Ras al-Khaimah, building a customs house that taxed the Gulf's flourishing trade with India and the Far East. The Portuguese stuck around until 1633 and were followed by the British, who began exercising their naval power in the Gulf in the mid-18th century. The British came into conflict with the Qawasim tribal confederation, a seafaring clan whose influence extended to the Persian side of the Gulf. The British dubbed the area the Pirate Coast and launched raids against the Qawasim. In 1820, a British fleet systematically destroyed or captured every Qawasim ship it could find, imposed a General Treaty of Peace on nine Arab sheikhdoms in the area and installed a garrison in the region. As life quietened down, Europeans took to calling the area the Trucial Coast, a name it retained until 1971.

Throughout this period, the main power among the Bedouin tribes of the interior was the Bani Yas tribal confederation, made up of the ancestors of the ruling families of modern Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The Bani Yas were originally based in Liwa, an oasis on the edge of the Empty Quarter, but moved to Abu Dhabi in 1793. They engaged in the traditional Bedouin activities of camel herding and small-scale agriculture. After the British outlawed slavery along the coast, the Bani Yas took over the slave trade and Buraimi became eastern Arabia's main slave market - a position it held right up until the 1950s.

The British were not particularly interested in what the Bedouin got up to; they were focussed on securing their line of communication to India and keeping European competitors, such as France and Russia, out of the region. They formally established a protectorate over the Trucial Coast in 1892, but generally left the area to the locals until the early 20th century. For most of this colonial period, Sharjah was the most populous and powerful of the emirates, but lost influence to Abu Dhabi as the 19th century drew to a close. Abu Dhabi was later overshadowed by Dubai.

Modern History

The prospect of oil changed the Brits' laissez-faire approach. But before oil concessions could be granted, boundaries between the sheikhdoms had to be determined. Since none of the local rulers could agree, it was left to the Brits to demarcate the borders of the seven emirates that would eventually make up the UAE. The first oil concessions were granted in 1939, but oil wasn't found for another 14 years. Exports from Abu Dhabi began in 1962, eventually turning the poorest of the emirates into the richest. Dubai, the region's busiest trading post, was found to have oil of its own in 1966. The other sheikhs were not so lucky and began to turn to Abu Dhabi for subsidies.

When Britain announced in 1968 that it intended to leave the Gulf in 1971, the plan was to form a single state consisting of Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast, but this collapsed almost immediately. Negotiations eventually led to the independence of Bahrain and Qatar and the formation of a new federation - the United Arab Emirates - in 1971. Though many outsiders dismissed the UAE as a loosely assembled, artificial and largely British creation, it became a major international business centre and one of the most stable countries in the Arab world.

Not that political life in the UAE has been devoid of controversy. Border disputes among the emirates continued through the 1970s, and integration among the seven sheikhdoms has been a subject of constant debate. The UAE contributed troops to the anti-Iraq coalition in 1990-91, and foreign soldiers were stationed there prior to the liberation of Kuwait. The UAE's strong ties with the West have not stopped it - Dubai in particular - from maintaining good relations with Iran. In early 1998, plummeting oil prices hit the UAE's government revenues hard.

Recent History

With its massively multicultural population, UAE is one of the most liberal and pluralistic countries in the Gulf region. It has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years, with a buoyant economy that's slowly reducing its reliance on oil revenues.

The government pulled off a tricky double-act in 2003 by opposing the US-led invasion of Iraq, including refusing to give any assistance to the operations, while maintaining good relations with the US and UK.

Construction is big business in the UAE, especially Dubai. Hot on the heels of the US$650 million Burj Al-Arab hotel comes the Burj Dubai, expected to be the world's tallest building when completed. Also being built are Palm Islands, giant artificial peninsulas being built in the shape of palm trees, and the even more ambitious World Islands - some 300 artifical islands that form a map of the world. Both projects are using sand dredged from the Gulf.

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