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There are
records of the town of Dubai from 1799. Earlier
in the 18th century the Al Abu Falasa lineage
of Bani Yas clan established itself in Dubai which
was a dependent of the settlement of Abu Dhabi
until 1833.
On 8 January
1820, the 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
former protector Britain left the Persian Gulf
in 1971. In 1973, Dubai joined the other emirates
to adopt a single, uniform currency: the UAE dirham.
The current
ruler of Dubai is H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum. Like the preceding ruler, his older
brother H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
he is also the Vice President and the Prime Minister
of the UAE.
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