Butti bin Suhail Al Maktoum
Butti bin Suhail Al Maktoum | |
---|---|
Al Maktoum | |
Father | Suhail Al Maktoum |
Rule
Early in his rule, Butti was called to intervene in a conflict between
Dubai continued to be a thriving and expanding port: by 1907, J. G. Lorimer notes that 335 pearling boats were operating from the town (compared to 183 from Sharjah and 25 from Al Heera. Only Abu Dhabi was a larger pearling port on the Trucial Coast, sending 410 boats to the pearl beds.[4]
The 'great storm' of 1908 struck the pearling boats of Dubai and the coastal emirates towards the end of the pearling season that year, resulting in the loss of a dozen boats and over 100 men. The disaster was a major setback for Dubai, with many families losing their breadwinner and merchants facing financial ruin. These losses came at a time when the tribes of the interior were also experiencing poverty. In a letter to the Sultan of Muscat in 1911, Butti laments, 'Misery and poverty are raging among them, with the result that they are struggling, looting and killing among themselves.'[5]
The Hyacinth incident
In 1903, Butti had travelled with Sheikh Maktoum to Sharjah at the invitation of British Viceroy and Governor-General of India, George Curzon, to a Durbar, held on 21 November, at which Curzon delivered a speech reminding the assembled Sheikhs of the benefits of the Pax Britannica.[2] The memory would have struck Butti as ironic when, seven years later, British troops were involved in a vicious confrontation in Dubai, killing 37 of his people.
A lively trade in arms had grown in the Trucial States and, at the turn of the century, Sharjah and Dubai became centres for the flourishing trade. By late 1902,
Adding insult to injury, the British attempted to impose a number of reparations following the incident, including a fine of 50,000 Rupees, the surrender of 400 rifles and demands to establish a telegraph station and post office onshore. Both of the latter demands ran contrary to the nature of the relationship the British government had established with the Trucial Sheikhs and Butti had already, in 1906, made his opposition to the establishment of a British Indian post office in Dubai clear to the British.[7] The additional demands were withdrawn following a petition to the British by an enraged Butti.[6]
Death
Already 'an elderly man'[1] upon acceding, Sheikh Butti bin Suhail died in 1912.
See also
References
- ^ a b Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. British Government, Bombay. p. 775.
- ^ a b Wilson, Graeme (1999). Father of Dubai. Media Prima. p. 37.
- ^ Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. British Government, Bombay. p. 755.
- ^ Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. British Government, Bombay. p. 2256.
- ^ Wilson, Graeme (1999). Father of Dubai. Media Prima. p. 39.
- ^ a b Wilson, Graeme (199). Father of Dubai. Media Prima. p. 38.
- ^ Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. British Government, Bombay. p. 742.