Trucial States in the context of "Emiratis"

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), also known simply as the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, situated at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal semi-constitutional monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as its national capital. The UAE borders Oman to the east and northeast, and Saudi Arabia to the southwest; it shares maritime borders with Qatar and Iran in the Persian Gulf, and with Oman in the Gulf of Oman. As of 2024, the UAE has an estimated population of over 10 million; Dubai is the country's largest city. Islam is the majority religion and Arabic is the official language; English is the most spoken language and the language of business.

The present-day United Arab Emirates is located within the historical region of Eastern Arabia, which was oriented to maritime trade and seafaring. The Portuguese arrived in the region around 1500 and set up bases on the territory while waging wars against the Persians. After their expulsion, the Dutch controlled the straits and established global maritime dominance. By the 19th century, with pearling becoming a major economic activity, piracy became rampant in the gulf, prompting British intervention; local sheikhdoms formed a pact with the United Kingdom to create the Trucial States, a British protectorate that was effectively shielded from attempted Saudi and Omani suzerainty. The Trucial States remained under British influence until full independence as the United Arab Emirates in 1971. Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the country's first president (1971–2004), oversaw rapid development of the Emirates by investing revenues from newly found oil into healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

The United Arab Emirates consists of seven emirates (Arabic: إمارات ʾimārāt; singular: إمارة ʾimārah), which were historically known as the Trucial States. All emirates are founding members of the union, apart from Ras Al Khaima which joined two months after the rest. There is almost always full freedom of movement between the different emirates of the UAE (an example of an exception is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, there were limitations of movement between the various emirates).

Piracy in the Persian Gulf describes the naval warfare that was prevalent until the 19th century and occurred between seafaring Arabs in Eastern Arabia and the British Empire in the Persian Gulf. It was perceived as one of the primary threats to global maritime trade routes, particularly those with significance to British India and Iraq. Many of the most notable historical instances of these raids were conducted by the Al Qasimi tribe. This led to the British mounting the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809, a major maritime action launched by the Royal Navy to bombard Ras Al Khaimah, Lingeh and other Al Qasimi ports. Some critics of the historical narrative, such as Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi in his book The Myth of Piracy in the Gulf, argue that the allegations of piracy were exaggerated by the East India Company to cut off untaxed trade routes between the Middle East and India.

Piratical activities were common in the Persian Gulf from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, particularly in the area known as the Pirate Coast which spanned from modern-day Qatar to Oman. Piracy was alleviated from 1820 with the signing of the General Maritime Treaty, cemented in 1853 by the Perpetual Maritime Truce, after which the Pirate Coast began to be known by the British as the Trucial Coast (present-day United Arab Emirates).

The General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was initially signed between the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Great Britain in January 1820, with the nearby island state of Bahrain acceding to the treaty in the following February. Its full title was the "General Treaty for the Cessation of Plunder and Piracy by Land and Sea, Dated February 5, 1820".

The treaty was signed following decades of maritime conflict in the Persian Gulf, with British, French, and Omani flagged ships involved in a series of disputes and actions that were characterized by officials of the British East India Company as acts of piracy on the part of the dominant local maritime force, the Qawasim. It led to the establishment of the British protectorate over the Trucial States, which would last until the independence of the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971.

The Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853 was a treaty signed between the British and the Rulers of the Sheikhdoms of the Lower Gulf, later to become known as the Trucial States and today known as the United Arab Emirates. The treaty followed the effective subjugation of the Qawasim (singular Al Qasimi) maritime federation and other coastal settlements of the Lower Gulf by British forces following the Persian Gulf campaign of 1819, a punitive expedition mounted from Bombay which sailed against Ras Al Khaimah, and which resulted in the signing of the General Maritime Treaty of 1820.

The Perpetual Maritime Truce was conceived by the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf Colonel Samuel Hennell following a series of seasonal treaties intended to preserve peace at sea between the coastal communities of the region during the annual pearling season and was signed in August 1853 by the Rulers of the area during meetings at Basidu on the island of Qeshm and at Bushire. It was enacted by Hennell's successor, Arnold Burrowes Kemball.

The Foundation of the United Arab Emirates (Arabic: تأسيس دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, romanized: tasis dawlat al'iimarat alearabiat almutahida) was the result of an agreement initially made between the rulers of the Trucial States of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in the face of the British intention, announced on 24 January 1968, to withdraw from its semi-formal protectorate over the Trucial States, and its various treaty relations with them.

Following the communication of the news of British abrogation of its treaties by Labour MP Goronwy Roberts, Zayed and Rashid met at Argoub Al Sedirah in the desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and agreed on the principle of Union on 18 February 1968. A subsequent meeting on 25 February with the rulers of Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain would lead to a proposal to create a Federation of Arab Emirates together with Bahrain and Qatar. However, Qatar and Bahrain went on to choose independent statehood.

On August 6, 1966, Zayed Al Nahyan, the younger brother of ruling Sheikh of Abu Dhabi Shakhbut Al Nahyan, staged a bloodless palace coup with direct military assistance from the United Kingdom, then Abu Dhabi's colonial overlord via the Trucial States.