Happy National Day!

Founded in 1971, the United Arab Emirates is a relatively young country. However, the area’s past can be traced back thousands of years before the modern nation’s founding. The UAE’s rich history is rooted in trade and tied to Islam, which came to the region in 630 C.E. The Emirates’ location between Europe and the Far East attracted merchants from India and China and was prized by Europeans, particularly the Portuguese, Dutch and British.

While Europeans sought control of the coasts, inland, the Bedouin made the sandy deserts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai their home. The town of Abu Dhabi became an important center.

In the 19th century, the British signed a series of agreements with individual Emirates that resulted in an area known as “The Trucial States.” The Emirates agreed not to cede any territory except to the United Kingdom and to refrain from engagement with any foreign government other than the United Kingdom without prior consent from the British. In return, the British promised to protect the coast from all aggression by sea and to provide assistance in the event of an attack by land.

The pearling industry thrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, providing income and employment to the people of the Gulf. Many inhabitants were semi-nomadic, pearl diving in the summer and tending date gardens in the winter. But the economic depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s coupled with the Japanese invention of the cultured pearl irreparably damaged the pearling industry. 🇦🇪