Page 217 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

The Trucial Slates in 1939: The Dawn of a New Age I83

to wealth and spending would suggest. He realized that some
countries with new wealth to spend had run into the 20th century,
after centuries of stagnation, with unhappy results Shaikh
Shakhbut . . . wanted to crawl in . . . .H
He could not long withstand the pressures created by the newfound
wealth, and in 1 <)(>(> his brother Zayid peacefully deposed him.
Dubai underwent a major upheaval in 1938 and 1939, and emerged
changed in many respects. To begin with, Shaykh Sa‘id gave much
power and authority to his son Rashid, who hastened to restore
the commercial reputation of the shaykhdom. His efforts proved
worthwhile, for in 1939 the first dispensary on the Coast was opened
in Dubai, under the supervision of an Indian doctor, and in 1941
the first post office on the Coast was established there. The importance
of Dubai continued to grow, until it completely overshadowed that
of its former great rival, Sharjah; but it was not until the 1960s
that it enjoyed a real boom. Between 1968 and 1973, for example,
the external trade of Dubai grew by more than 700 per cent.
Much of the credit for this must be given to Shaykh Rashid,
who became ruler when his father died in 1958. ‘Sheikh Rashid
is Dubai, it is said, and Dubai is Rashid.’9
The ebb of Qasimi fortunes was felt most acutely in Sharjah.
Although the seeds of decline had been sown by his two predecessors,
Sultan bin Saqr was helpless to stop the process. A young man
when he seized control of Sharjah from Khalid bin Ahmad, Sultan
immediately fell under the influence of his powerful father-in-law,
who dominated him, undermining and compromising the ruler’s
position. With the growth of ‘Abd al-Rahman’s power, that of
Sultan began to diminish, and it was then that the ruler of Sharjah
discovered his own lack of authority. Resentment for the older
man gradually replaced the earlier feelings of reliance, especially
when ‘Abd al-Rahman went so far as to claim Hirah independent
of Sharjah, saying he had a document signed by Sultan to that
effect.10 Sultan could do little but protest. His secretary, ‘Abdullah
bin Faris, became the next dominating influence over him, and
on more than one occasion caused trouble for his employer.11 Another
influence was Sultan’s wazir> Humayd bin ‘Ali bin Humayd. Sultan
did not forget his grudge against ‘Abd al-Rahman, and in 1938
plotted against his life; when the plot failed, he made an unsuccessful
attempt to have him ostracised from Trucial Coast affairs. He
tried to induce Sa‘id bin Maklum to invite his fellow rulers to
boycott Hirah, because ‘Abd al-Rahman had given refuge to the
exiled members of the Al-bu-Falasah of Dubai following their over­
throw by Sa‘id in 1939; but the ruler of Dubai refused to accept
the suggestion.12