When I visited Sharjah in the late 1960s, the ruler was a young enlightened man of letters whose name was Khaled bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, in his 40s, a fine and hospitable man. The city was relatively poor in a region that was already awash with oil and about to explode into unprecedented riches soon.
He had succeeded his cousin and brother-in-law, Sheikh Saqr, and taken part in the talks leading to the creation of the United Arab Emirates that came into being in 1971 under the presidency of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the wealthiest ruler and one of the wealthiest in the world.
Zayed, whom I profiled a few weeks ago, was instrumental in creating the union after the end of the British domination, which had lasted since the previous century after Britain defeated the Portuguese and the Ottomans and imposed treaty relations with all the sheikhdoms.
The region was then abjectly poor and was called the Trucial States under British protection. Similarly, the sheikhdoms of the south part of the Arabian Peninsula were subdued and called British protectorates until their independence 1967. But they fell under a Marxist regime until their merger with northern Yemen, which has lasted erratically until this day. But the UAE was fortunate in that they had a strong central government under Sheikh Zayed, plenty of money from oil and British and American protection when necessary.
Sheikh Khaled would normally welcome all visitors in his main diwan and then invite them to lunch by 2 p.m. and dinner by 10 p.m. unless he had some official engagements previously arranged for by his secretaries. In the morning he would go to his downtown office and then tour the city or the town that was being developed and make sure he would either stop over to shake hands or greet his citizens or residents who wanted to talk to him.
Because he wanted to develop the state quickly he would grant small pieces of land to those who wished to build on them according to the plans that he had already had in hand. Within a few years when I again visited the area I saw the beginnings of a city complete with roads, schools and residential areas certainly with the generous assistance of Sheikh Zayed who liked and admired the younger ruler.
Sharjah benefitted immensely from its proximity to its neighbor Dubai ,which was until the explosion of oil production from Abu Dhabi, the most prosperous in the region and with the breakup of Aden’s free port became increasingly the main free port of the region. Sheikh Rashid, the ruler, whom I profiled here a few weeks ago, had decided that all imports would be taxed 4 percent of value only, with no income tax and only nominal fees for residency permit. It was a superb formula that worked exceedingly well. Very soon the progress of Dubai rubbed on Sharjah as more and more residents moved out to it to find accommodation there as Dubai as always became congested and costly to live in. This was explained to me by Sheikh Khaled in our meetings at lunch.
The result was there for all to see as the skyline changed and more residents made use of his land gifts and built their plots at great speed. Shops followed and roads connected the areas and small industrial zones were built.
The Sheikh was pleased and expressed his confidence in the future of his state and that of the promising United Arab Emirates which was producing more and more oil and Sheikh Zayed was spending more money on his colleagues, including one of his favorites, Sheikh Khaled.
On Jan. 25, 1972, there was a bloody but abortive coup engineered by Khaled’s cousin Saqr whom Khaled had replaced. Khaled was assassinated much to the sorrow not only of his small population but to the rest of the UAE who had seen in him a rising star in its firmament. Many leaders as well as citizens and residents were shattered but the rulers stood together and Sheikh Zayed quickly controlled the situation by sending part of his army to Sharjah and installing Khaled’s brother Sultan.
Sharjah has an area of 2,600 square kilometers and a population of 1 million. Attached to it are towns of Kalba, Dibba, Al-Hisn and the famous Khor Fakkan coast that may one day become a great tourist attraction.
Around 1727 the Qasimi dynasty took control of Sharjah and declared it independent. Sultan bin Saqr Al-Qasimi ruler signed the General Maritime Treaty with Britain to ward off Ottoman domination, like other sheikhdoms did. He had to accept protectorate status giving up some of his independence to the British crown. History states that the region had had relations with India for nearly five thousand years. The relationship continues until the present as the state is heavily inhabited by Indians in all walks of life, especially trade and medium jobs.
• Farouk Luqman is an eminent journalist based in Jeddah.