Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan

He was born in the emirate of Abu Dhabi sometime around 1835 or 1840. He lived much of his early life with the Bedouin of Abu Dhabi. He was made Ruler of Abu Dhabi after the deposition of his cousin, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnun, in 1855. He ruled for 54 years, until his death in 1909.Al-Hajji 2001, pp. 129–36. He had a wife called Maitha Almansoori.

Early in his rule, Zayed guided Abu Dhabi through a series of conflicts with the Emirate of Sharjah. In 1868, during an armed clash with Sharjah's forces, he advanced ahead of his troops and challenged the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, to single combat. Zayed wounded Khalid mortally and the death of Khalid brought an end to the conflict - although outbreaks of internecine conflict continued to be the norm among the coastal communities.Al-Hajji 2001, p 140{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|pages=731–732}}

He united with Omani forces to drive the Saudi troops from the Buraimi area in 1870. This left the forts defending the Buraimi Oasis in permanent control of Abu Dhabi and forced the Saudis to abandon their designs on Oman. Abu Dhabi's influence and control over this area steadily grew afterwards.Al-Hajji 2001, pp. 175–6. Zayed supported the Omani Imam Azzan bin Qais against the Sultan of Muscat, Turki bin Said, at the Battle of Dhank.

Zayed led Abu Dhabi in an extended war with Qatar in the 1880s that secured the western border of Abu Dhabi.Al-Hajji 2001, pp 171-4 The first conflicts between the two occurred in 1881, during the battles of Baynunah, Suwaihan and Al-Marsaf.{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/ar/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1/%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%B1-%D9%88%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B1/1743011|title=قطر ومحاصروها الخليجيون.. أزمة قديمة متجددة (إطار)|publisher=Anadolu Agency|language=Arabic|date=24 February 2020|accessdate=18 July 2024}} In 1887, Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, accompanied by Ottoman troops, led an expedition into Khor Al Adaid in southern Qatar to assert his claim over the territory, which was disputed with Zayed bin Khalifa. This action elicited strong British diplomatic protests to the Ottoman Porte, with the British Political Resident, Edward Ross, going so far as to threaten military intervention.{{cite journal|last1=Hayajneh|first1=Raed Ahmed|url=https://digitalcommons.aaru.edu.jo/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1070&context=aauja|title=Khannour Battle 1889, Causes, Results, and Reactions in the Arabian Gulf: Documentary Research|journal=Association of Arab Universities Journal for Arts|language=Arabic|volume=18|issue=1|page=72|year=2021|accessdate=18 July 2024}}

Tensions peaked in 1888 following a series of raids and counter-raids. Following several of these skirmishes was the Battle of Khannour from January to February 1889, in which Jassim's forces penetrated deep into Abu Dhabi territory.{{cite journal|last1=Hayajneh|first1=Raed Ahmed|url=https://digitalcommons.aaru.edu.jo/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1070&context=aauja|title=Khannour Battle 1889, Causes, Results, and Reactions in the Arabian Gulf: Documentary Research|journal=Association of Arab Universities Journal for Arts|language=Arabic|volume=18|issue=1|page=78|year=2021|accessdate=18 July 2024}} The conflict was eventually resolved in 1893 through an agreement jointly brokered by the British and Ottomans.{{cite web|last1=Omar|first1=Ihab|url=https://raseef22.net/article/120756-%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%82|title=خراب الدوحة... عن الخلافات القديمة بين قطر وجيرانها|publisher=Raseef22|language=Arabic|date=30 May 2018|accessdate=18 July 2024}}

In 1895, Zayed saw in Al Zorah (today part of Ajman) an ideal base for supplying Bani Qitab forces loyal to him in conflicts with the Northern Sheikhs and applied to the British Resident for permission to move supplies there by sea. Unaware of the true reasons for the movement, the Resident gave permission but Zayed faced opposition in his scheme from other Sheikhs and was unable to complete the movement. In 1897, a section of the Sudan (singular Al Suwaidi) tribe under Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi requested permission to settle Al Zorah with the support of Zayed (himself a Suwaidi on his mother's side and married to one of Sultan's daughters) and this was granted by the Resident.

Alarmed by the scheme, the Ruler of Ajman built a fort at one of the waterways connecting Al Zorah with the mainland (it was at the time an island) and the Ruler of Sharjah, in 1890, appealed to the Resident to prevent this establishment of a non-Al Qasimi stronghold in the midst of his territory. This being upheld, to the annoyance of Zayed who had seen Al Zorah as an extension of his claim to the Northern coast, the scheme was abandoned and the decision to block it was subsequently upheld after a visit to Al Zorah by Major Percy Cox, the British Political Resident.{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|pages=750–1}}

Zayed was noted by Cox to be "troublesome" and guided the rest of the Sheikhs of Dubai and Umm Al Quwain to not adopt the White Pierced Red flag, the intended flag of the Trucial States, referencing that the flag represents the Al Qawasim tribal federation.{{cite book |author= |title=Coll 30/15 'Anthems and Flags of Various States. Bahrein [Bahrain], Koweit [Kuwait], Muscat, Asir, Yemen, Qatar, Trucial, Oman' [61r] (103/261) |url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100042699662.0x00006a |publisher=British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers |page=103 }}

In 1892, Zayed signed a treaty with the United Kingdom which effectively ceded control of Abu Dhabi's international commercial relations to the British.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_JorDwAAQBAJ&q=1892&pg=PA13|title=The Report: Abu Dhabi 2016|date=2016-05-09|publisher=Oxford Business Group|isbn=9781910068588|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/19743733.pdf|title=UAE-Saudi Arabia Border Dispute: The Case of the 1974 Treaty of Jeddah|website=core.ac.uk}}

By 1894, Zayed was considered the most powerful of the Trucial Sheikhs, replacing the hegemony of Sharjah.{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|pages=733}}

Through strategic marriages he had many sons. The eldest of whom was named Khalifa, and had maternal heritage from the Manasir people.{{cite web|title=SHEIKH SHAKHBUT AND THE GREAT DECLINE|url=http://www.christopherdavidson.net/files/ADOAB_chapter2.pdf|access-date=8 July 2016|language=en}}

He had a brother called Dhiyab who had three sons, Sultan, Mohammed, and Ahmed.{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}

• Al Jahili Fort

{{reflist|2}}

• Al-Hajji, Jayanti Maitra Afra (2001). Qasr Al Hosn: The History of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi: 1793–1966, Abu Dhabi: Centre for Documentation and Research.
• [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196801/discovery.the.story.of.aramco.then-chapter.1.contact.htm Discovery! The Story Of Aramco Then].

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{{s-hou|House of Al Nahyan||1840|19 May|1909}}

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{{succession box

| before = Sheikh Said

| after = Sheikh Tahnun II

| title = Ruler of Abu Dhabi

| years = 1855–1909

}}

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{{Rulers of Abu Dhabi}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zayed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan}}

Category:19th-century births

Category:1909 deaths

Zayed Khalifa

Category:Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi

Category:19th-century Arab people