The UAE has a long History as finds and excavations have a lot of evidences that man lived in the Emirates four thousand years ago, and a great civilization was established and developed in that area which had contacts and ties with the neighboring civilization.
Coloured Potteries imported from south central Iraq were found in some sites in the UAE which date back to 3,000 years BC, and were a proof of existence of trade contracts between those regions and people in southern Iraq.
The above - ground collective tombs built of unworked stone appeared at two sites in the UAE, Jebel Hafeet and Jebel Al – Emalah south of Dhaid, contained numerous stone tools, sword heads, daggers and metal plates.
Around 3,000 BC, the following Era which is known as `Umm Al – Nar` period , (2500 – 2000 BC ) was characterised by numerous circular fortresses at Hili, Tell Abraq, Bidiya and Kalba as well as arrow heads, long swords and nails. Also a square fortress with square towers dating back to 200 BC have been discovered recently.
Alexander the Great, discovered the Arabian Gulf and its coasts during his return from India, and targeted to protect his empire against Persians and prevent attempts by them to extend their influence to the Gulf Coasts and reach the Arabian Peninsula and occupy it.
None of Alexander the Great Seleucid successors were able to established any sort of Greek dominance in the region.
The Roman emperor Trajan sent his forces to the Gulf and clashed with the Persians where fierce battles between them started and lasted for about three centuries.
With the coming of Islam, a new era of the region history started, as people of the region converted to Islam , when the Arab Leader Amr bin Alas defeated the conquerers in the Gulf area.
The spread of Islam helped the gulf people to live in stability and during the Umayyad Rule the Gulf region became a world centre for marine trade and navigation.
An Archaeological site was discovered at Jumairah area in Dubai, represented the traces of an Islamic city from the Umayyad age , which controlled the trade routes.
Julfar city at the north of Ras Al – Khaimah was also an Islamic city which dates back to the fourth Hegira century, and used as an entry point for the Abbasid invasion of Oman.
In the 11th century the Portuguese arrived in the gulf and controlled it and established a string of forts at the coasts and stayed for about 200 years where they managed during this period to destroy the Arab trade.
The libration of Oman from the Portuguese occupation led to new movements among the tribes not only in Oman but also in the eastern Arabian Peninsula, as stability domained at the coast of the Arabian Gulf after a long period of violence and bloodshed, and tribes started to immigrate to the coastal areas.
While European powers like Portugal, Holland and Britain competed for regional supremacy in the 18th and 19th centuries. A local power, the Qawasim were gathering strength and at the beginning of the 19th century, had build up a fleet over 60 large vessels and could put nearly 20,000 sailors to sea.
The strength posed a serious challenge to the British and in the first two decades of the 19th century a series of clashes between the two sides ended in the virtual destruction of the Qasimi fleet and consolidation of the British influence in the gulf till the beginning of the 20th century.
One of the greatest figures of that period was Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan who ruled the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, for over 50 years from 1855 to 1909, earning the title of ``Zayed the Great``.
The region became during 150 years under the British mandate, as the British signed a series of agreements with the rulers of the individuals emirates in the 19th century which allowed the British to be in charge of the defense and foreign affairs in the emirates against a British undertaking in the emirates internal affairs.
Till the mid of the 20th century British did not give any attention to the economic development in the emirates while the rulers of the area started themselves to build a new infrastructure.
At the beginning of 1968, when the British announced their intention of withdrawing from the Arabian Gulf, by the end of 1971, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan acted to initiate moves towards establishing a federation and met with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum at the beginning of February 1968, and on 25 of the same month another meeting including the rulers of the emirates was held.
On 2nd December 1971, the federation to be known as the United Arab Emirates was formally established.
The Seventh Emirates, Ras Al – Khaimah acceded to the new Federation on 10th February 1972. Sheikh Zayed was elected as President of the newly formed state while Sheikh Rashid became Vice – President and Prime Minister.
On 6th December 1971, the UAE has joint the Arab League and on 9th December 1971 , it became a member of the United Nations. |