This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). [lower-alpha 1]
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). [lower-alpha 1]
The first post office in the region was opened in Dubai in 1909. Dubai had one post office which was Indian in origin, under the Sind circle, and opened on 19 August 1909. Until 1947, Indian stamps were in use and are distinguished by the cancellation "Dubai Persian Gulf". Pakistani stamps were used until 31 March 1948. [1]
Britain managed the Trucial States' external relations (a result of the 1892 'Exclusive Agreement' treaty), including the management of posts and telegraphs - the states were not members of the UPU - the Universal Postal Union). The Government of India opened its first post office in Dubai in 1941 and its operation was taken over by British Postal Agencies, a subsidiary of the GPO (General Post Office) in 1948. Stamps of the time were British stamps surcharged with Rupee values, until in 1959 a set of 'Trucial States' stamps was issued from Dubai. [2]
Following the Partition of India, the British postal agencies in Eastern Arabia were established. The British agency stamps issued in Muscat were sold in Dubai until 6 January 1961. The agency issued the Trucial States stamps on 7 January 1961. [3]
In Abu Dhabi, an agency was opened on Das Island in December 1960 and in Abu Dhabi City on 30 March 1963, using British agency stamps issued in Muscat. The Trucial States stamps were not used in Abu Dhabi. [4]
As each emirate took over its own postal administration, the offices closed: Dubai on 14 June 1963; Abu Dhabi on 29 March 1964.
The northern emirates proceeded to issue a number of editions of stamps intended for the collector's market - particularly Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Sharjah. Known today as Dunes, they are colourful and virtually worthless.
The UAE issued its first Federal stamps on 1 January 1973. [5] [6] Before then, the individual emirates issued their own stamps. [7] [8]
The United Arab Emirates is a country in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula located on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf and the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Oman. The UAE consists of seven emirates and was founded on 2 December 1971 as a federation, after UK armed forces left the region. Six of the seven emirates declared their union on 2 December 1971. The seventh, Ras al Khaimah, joined the federation on 10 February 1972. The seven sheikdoms were formerly known as the Trucial States, in reference to the truce treaties established with the British in the 19th century.
This article covers the various forms of transport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), by road, rail, air, water, etc.
The flag of the United Arab Emirates contains the Pan-Arab colors red, green, white, and black. It was designed in 1971 by Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah, who was 19 years old at that time, and was adopted on 2 December 1971 after winning a nationwide flag design contest. The main theme of the flag's four colors is the sovereignty and unity of the Arab states.
Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (1781–1866) was the Sheikh of the Qawasim and ruled the towns of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Jazirah Al Hamra and Rams; all within the then Trucial States and now part of the United Arab Emirates. Briefly a dependent of the first Saudi Kingdom, his rule over Ras Al Khaimah ran from 1803–1809, when he was deposed by order of the Saudi Amir and restored in 1820, going on to rule until his death in 1866 at the age of 85. He was Ruler of Sharjah from 1814–1866, with a brief disruption to that rule in 1840 by his elder son Saqr. He was a signatory to various treaties with the British, starting with the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 and culminating in the Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853.
The emblem of the United Arab Emirates was officially adopted on 9 December 1973 ; it was later modified in 2008. It is similar to the coats of arms and emblems of other Arab states.
Civil mail from Sharjah went through the post office in Dubai until 1963. Military mail from the British Forces stationed in the area went through the RAF airport in Sharjah.
Now part of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi was formerly the largest of the seven sheikdoms which made up the Trucial States on the Pirate Coast of eastern Arabia between Oman and Qatar. The Trucial States as a whole had an area of some 32,000 square miles of which Abu Dhabi alone had 26,000. The capital was the town of Abu Dhabi which is on an offshore island and was first settled in 1761.
The Constitution of the United Arab Emirates provides a legal and political framework for the operation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a federation of seven emirates. The Constitution came into effect on 2 December 1971 and was permanently accepted in July 1996. Authored by Adi Bitar, a forming judge and legal advisor, the Constitution is written in 10 parts and has 152 Articles. The United Arab Emirates celebrates the formation of the Union as National Day on 2 December.
Masfout is a village that forms part of the eponymous exclave of Masfout in Ajman, one of the seven emirates forming the United Arab Emirates. It is surrounded by Ras Al Khaimah, the Dubai exclave of Hatta and Oman. It is only accessible from Ajman itself by crossing territories of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Oman.
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 Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces, with the United Kingdom between 1820 and 1892.
British postal agencies in Eastern Arabia issued early postage stamps used in each of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Muscat and Qatar. Muscat and Dubai relied on Indian postal administration until 1 April 1948 when, following the Partition of India, British agencies were established there. Two agencies were opened in Qatar: at Doha and Umm Said. In Abu Dhabi, an agency was opened on Das Island in December 1960 and in Abu Dhabi City on 30 March 1963. The agencies also supplied stamps to Bahrain until 1960; and to Kuwait during shortages in 1951–53.
Dunes in philately refers to the many editions of stamps produced in the Trucial States. The stamps, printed in great profusion in the 1960s and early 1970s, are mostly near-worthless today.
Sheikh Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mualla was the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain from 1873 to 1904. He led Umm Al Quwain through a turbulent period in the Trucial Coast's history, with conflicts against neighbouring emirates and almost constantly shifting alliances. On two occasions these conflicts led to him being found to breach the terms of the 1853 Perpetual Maritime Truce with the British. This notwithstanding, he was a signatory to the 1892 Exclusive Agreement, which bound the Trucial Sheikhs and the British together in a protectorate.
Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Mualla was Ruler of Umm Al Quwain from 1853 to 1873, one of the Trucial States which today form the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi was an Emirati royal, politician and a founder of the United Arab Emirates who served as the ruler of Fujairah from 1938–1974. In 1952 he was to see his father's long-held dream of independence for Fujairah recognised by the British, the last Trucial State to be so recognised, as well as shortly afterwards to help take the UAE to independence as a nation, in 1971. Due to his skills in diplomacy and politics he was called the wolf of the Gulf.
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 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.
