History of Uae
Guiding the progress of the United Arab Emirates since it was established in 1971 has been President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, who has also been Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi since 1966, and who played a major role in the conceiving of the concept of the federation.
Born in 1918, the son of a younger brother of the then Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed is the grandson of Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa, (Sheikh Zayed the Great), who had ruled Abu Dhabi from 1855-1909, the longest reign in the Emirate's history. His father, Sheikh Sultan, was briefly Ruler between 1922 and 1926, and then, after a brief reign by an uncle, Sheikh Zayed's eldest brother, Sheikh Shakhbut, became Ruler at the beginning of 1928.
At the time, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, like the other states along what was then known as the Trucial Coast, was in treaty relations with Britain, which had first established its presence in the region as early as 1820, signing a series of agreement on maritime truce with the local rulers that gave the area its name.
Abu Dhabi was poor and undeveloped, with an economy largely based upon the traditional combination of fishing and pearl-diving along the coast, and simple agriculture in the scattered oases, like those at Liwa and Al Ain inland. When the world market for the Gulf's high-quality pearls collapsed in the late nineteen twenties and early nineteen thirties, owing to the invention by the Japanese of the cultured pearl and the world economic depression, the already poor emirate suffered a catastrophic blow to its economy. Sheikh Zayed's family, like their people, fell upon hard times.
When the young Zayed was growing up, there was not a single modern school anywhere along the coast. He, like his fellows, received only a basic instruction in the principles of Islam from the local Islamic preacher, although an enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge took him out into the desert with the Bedouin tribesmen, absorbing all he could
Born in 1918, the son of a younger brother of the then Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed is the grandson of Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa, (Sheikh Zayed the Great), who had ruled Abu Dhabi from 1855-1909, the longest reign in the Emirate's history. His father, Sheikh Sultan, was briefly Ruler between 1922 and 1926, and then, after a brief reign by an uncle, Sheikh Zayed's eldest brother, Sheikh Shakhbut, became Ruler at the beginning of 1928.
At the time, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, like the other states along what was then known as the Trucial Coast, was in treaty relations with Britain, which had first established its presence in the region as early as 1820, signing a series of agreement on maritime truce with the local rulers that gave the area its name.
Abu Dhabi was poor and undeveloped, with an economy largely based upon the traditional combination of fishing and pearl-diving along the coast, and simple agriculture in the scattered oases, like those at Liwa and Al Ain inland. When the world market for the Gulf's high-quality pearls collapsed in the late nineteen twenties and early nineteen thirties, owing to the invention by the Japanese of the cultured pearl and the world economic depression, the already poor emirate suffered a catastrophic blow to its economy. Sheikh Zayed's family, like their people, fell upon hard times.
When the young Zayed was growing up, there was not a single modern school anywhere along the coast. He, like his fellows, received only a basic instruction in the principles of Islam from the local Islamic preacher, although an enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge took him out into the desert with the Bedouin tribesmen, absorbing all he could