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history of dubai
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Dubai was iriginally a small fishing settlement. This city was taken over in about 1830 by a branch of the Bani Yas tribe from the Liwa oasis. This tribe was led by the Maktoum family. This family still rules the emirate today.
The major part of the Dubai emirate consists of rolling sand dunes lapping the foothills of the arid Hajar mountains in the east. Until a decade or two ago, the dunes were inhabited by nomadic Bedouin. These Bedouin were roaming with their flocks and herds. Today the nomads have all settled, in villages in the few fertile oases or valleys, or else in the city.
Dubai had grown gradually from a fishing village inhabited in the 18th century by members of the Bani Yas tribe. Its origins can be traced in the far more distant past. The towns museum displays a rich collection of objects found in graves of the first millenium BC at nearby Al-Qusais, while a caravan station of the sixth century AD was excavated in the expatriate suburb of Jumairah.
The village began to grow in the early 19th century when almost 800 members of the Bani Yas tribe, the Al Bu Falasah, moved north and settled in Dubai. It had fertile oases of Liwa and Al Ain. Its inhabitants were forced to live on the coast as they were dependent on the sea for their living. Fishing, pearling and sea trade were their main sources of living.
The traditional activities of Dubai were herding sheep and goats, cultivating dates, fishing and pearling. However,the inhabitants built up trade too. By the turn of the century, Dubai was reputed to have the largest souks on the Gulf coast, with 350 shops in the Deira district alone. Its prosperity attracted the people from Iran, India and Baluchistan.
The facilities for trade and free enterprise were enough to make Dubai a natural haven for merchants who left Lingah, on the Persian coast, after the introduction of high customs dues there in 1902. These people were mostly of distant Arab origin and Sunni, unlike most Persians, and naturally looked across to the Arab shore of the Gulf finally making their homes in Dubai. They continued to trade with Lingah, however, as do many of the dhows in Dubai Creek today, and they named their district Bastakiya, after the Bastak region in southern Persia.
Meanwhile a flourishing Indian population had also settled in Dubai. They had their fare share in building Dubai a great modern city. They built the shops and facilitated in the construction of alleys of the market square. The perfect atmosphere was created for living of multi-ethnic people. This cosmopolitan atmosphere and air of tolerance began to attract other foreigners too: by the 1930s, nearly a quarter of the 20,000 population was foreign, including 2,000 Persians, 1,000 Baluchis, many Indians and substantial communities from Bahrain, Kuwait and the Hasa province in eastern South Arabia. Some years later the British also made it their center on the coast, establishing a political agency in 1954.
The international trade which flowed from Dubais cosmopolitan contracts was the basis of rapidly increasing prosperity. This gave the city an early start in development before the beginning of oil production in the late 1960s.
The Rulers of Dubai have the greatest contributions in its great development. During the 20th century , H H Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum from 1912 to 1958, followed by that of his son, H H Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed al-Maktoum revolutionized Dubai during their ruling periods. Shaikh Rashid has guided Dubai in its expansion from a small, old-world town to a modern state with excellent communication, and industrial infrastructure, and all the comforts of contemporary life. His policies are still continued by his four sons.
The Discovery of Oil and its production has also facilitated the development of Dubai. However, Oil revenues in Dubai are quite a fraction of those in Abu Dhabi. Therefore, growth of Dubai has always depended partly on the inhabitants own entrepreneurial abilities.
Unlike Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, Dubai has only one substantial town. While the emirate of Dubai covers 3,900 square kilometers, the population is largely concentrated in Dubai town. This has enhanced the popularity of a number of oases which provide a welcome break at weekends from the competitive commercial life of the city.
Modern Dubai is the product of the past 20 years of intensive development. Prior to that, Dubai was a small trading port, clustered around the mouth of the Creek.
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