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Do not fill this in! ===Establishment of modern Dubai=== [[File:Al Fahidi-Fort.jpg|thumb|left|Al Fahidi fort in the 1950s]] Dubai is thought to have been established as a fishing village in the early 18th century<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates|last=Heard-Bey|first=Frauke|publisher=Longman|year=1990|isbn=978-0-582-27728-1|location=UK|page=238}}</ref> and was, by 1822, a town of some 700–800 members of the [[Bani Yas]] tribe and subject to the rule of [[Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan|Sheikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut]] of [[Emirate of Abu Dhabi|Abu Dhabi]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Islands and Maritime Boundaries of the Gulf 1798–1960|last = Schofield|first = R|publisher = Archive Editions|year = 1990|isbn = 978-1-85207-275-9|location = UK|page = 545}}</ref> In 1822, a British naval surveyor noted that Dubai was at that time populated with a thousand people living in an oval-shaped town surrounded by a mud wall, scattered with goats and camels. The main footpath out of the village led to a reedy creek while another trailed off into the desert which merged into caravan routes.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Krane |first=Jim |url=http://archive.org/details/dubaistoryofworl0000kran |title=Dubai: The Story of the World's Fastest City |publisher=Atlantic |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84887-009-3 |location=London, England |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}} In 1833, following tribal feuding, members of the [[House of Al Falasi|Al Bu Falasah]] tribe seceded from Abu Dhabi and established themselves in Dubai. The exodus from Abu Dhabi was led by [[Obeid bin Said bin Rashid|Obeid bin Saeed]] and [[Maktoum bin Butti bin Suhail|Maktoum bin Butti]], who became joint leaders of Dubai until Ubaid died in 1836, leaving Maktoum to establish the [[Al Maktoum|Maktoum dynasty]].<ref name=":0" /> Dubai signed the [[General Maritime Treaty of 1820]] with the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] along with other [[Trucial States]], following the [[Persian Gulf campaign of 1819|British campaign in 1819]] against the [[Ras Al Khaimah]]. This led to the 1853 [[Perpetual Maritime Truce]]. Dubai also – like its neighbours on the [[Trucial States|Trucial Coast]] – entered into an exclusivity agreement in which the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] took responsibility for the emirate's security [[Trucial States–United Kingdom Treaty of 1892|in 1892]]. [[File:Dubai Museum and Al Fahidi Fort.jpg|thumb|left|[[Al Fahidi Fort]], built in 1787, houses the Dubai Museum.]] In 1841, a [[smallpox]] epidemic broke out in the [[Bur Dubai]] locality, forcing residents to relocate east to [[Deira, Dubai|Deira]].<ref name="hist_karim">{{cite web |url=http://www.alshindagah.com/september99/architecture.htm |title=Modernity and tradition in Dubai architecture |last1=Karim |first1=Luiza |publisher=Al Shindagah Magazine |access-date=31 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930191053/http://www.alshindagah.com/september99/architecture.htm |archive-date=30 September 2009}}</ref> In 1896, fire broke out in Dubai, a disastrous occurrence in a town where many family homes were still constructed from ''barasti'' – palm fronds. The conflagration consumed half the houses of Bur Dubai, while the district of Deira was said to have been totally destroyed. The following year more fires broke out. A female slave was caught in the act of starting one such blaze and was subsequently put to death.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|page=750}}</ref> [[File:A Round Watchtower (Name Unknown).jpg|thumb|upright|A watchtower in [[Bur Dubai]], c. 19th century]] 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,<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|page=2236}}</ref> but also those who had settled in [[Ras Al Khaimah]] and [[Sharjah]] (which had historical links with Lingeh through the [[Al-Qasimi|Al Qawasim]] tribe) to Dubai. An indicator of the growing importance of the port 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,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|page=743}}</ref> the steamers called fortnightly – in 1906, trading 70,000 tonnes of cargo.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Father of Dubai|last=Wilson|first=Graeme|publisher=Media Prima|year=1999|page=34}}</ref> The frequency of these vessels only helped to accelerate Dubai's role as an emerging port and trading hub of preference. Lorimer notes the transfer from Lingeh "bids fair to become complete and permanent",<ref name=":12" /> and also that the town had by 1906 supplanted Lingeh as the chief entrepôt of the Trucial States.<ref name="Lorimer 1915 454">{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf Vol II|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|page=454}}</ref> The "great storm" of 1908 struck the pearling boats of Dubai and the coastal emirates towards the end of the pearling season that year, resulting in the loss of a dozen boats and over 100 men. The disaster was a major setback for Dubai, with many families losing their breadwinner and merchants facing financial ruin. These losses came at a time when the tribes of the interior were also experiencing poverty. In a letter to the Sultan of [[Muscat]] in 1911, Butti laments, "Misery and poverty are raging among them, with the result that they are struggling, looting and killing among themselves."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Father of Dubai|last=Wilson|first=Graeme|publisher=Media Prima|year=1999|page=39}}</ref> In 1910, in the [[The Hyacinth incident|Hyacinth incident]] the town was bombarded by [[HMS Hyacinth (1898)|HMS ''Hyacinth'']], with 37 people killed. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page