The earliest written record of Dubai (dubai) is accredited to Muhammad al-Idrisi, who mapped the coast of the United Arab UAE in the tenth century AD. Circa 1580, the state jeweler of Venice, Gasparo Balbi, documented the pearling industry of Dubai and other cities currently presiding in UAE territory. Though traditionally conservative, the UAE is one of the most liberal countries in the Gulf, with other cultures and beliefs generally tolerated. Politically it remains authoritarian, however, relations with neighbouring Iran have been tense because of an ongoing territorial dispute over Gulf islands. The UAE was one of only three countries to recognise Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
Before oil was discovered in the 1950s the UAE's economy was dependent on fishing and a declining pearl industry. But since oil exports began in 1962, the country's society and economy have been transformed. The UAE has diversified and has become a regional trading and tourism hub, with UAE firms having invested heavily abroad.{ { citation needed|date=August 2020}
Early history
7000 BCE – 7th century
Records of the area where the emirate and city of Dubai is situated are very rare for any period before the 18th century.
During the expansion of the Sheikh Zayed Road between 1993 and 1998, remnants of a mangrove swamp were uncovered which were dated to approximately 7000 BCE. It is thought that by about 3000 BCE, the coastline had moved seaward sufficiently towards the present-day coastline and the area became covered in sand.
As it became more inhabitable, nomadic cattle herders used the area to live and herd in. The date palm began to be grown locally in 2500 BCE, and was the first instance of the land being used for agricultural purposes. The herders worshipped the god Bajir and various evidence suggests links to the mysterious Magan civilisation, who it is thought controlled the copper trade of this part of the ancient world, and of which there are archaeological sites in Bahrain.
For the next about 2000–2700 years there are no more details, probably because of the desertification, insignificance, and remoteness of the area, until the area came part of the "Maka" satrapy, the southernmost satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, and followed by the Sassanian Empire, the last pre-Islamic Iranian Empire, several hundred years later in the 3rd century CE. Recent excavations of the Jumeirah area of Dubai have unearthed a 6th-century caravan station suggesting the area was sparsely inhabited during this period.
7th century–1800
The Umayyads introduced Islam to the area in the 7th century and sparked the vitalization of the area, opening up trade routes supported by fishing and pearl diving to eastern regions such as modern-day Pakistan and India, with reports of ships travelling as far as China to trade. The earliest written mention of the area of Dubai was in 1095, by Abū 'Ubayd 'Abd Allāh al-Bakrī, in his Mojam Ma Ostojam men Asmae Al belaad wal Mawadhea, in which he describes many places of the world compiled from other accounts of them. It was not until 1799 that the town had its first record. However, the Venetian Gasparo Balbi, a renowned pearl merchant, mentioned "Dibai" in a list of places he noted for the exceptional quality of their pearls in the year 1590.
1800–1966
1800–1912
In the early 19th century, the Al Abu Falasa dynasty (part of the House of Al-Falasi) of the Bani Yas tribe established Dubai, which remained a dependent of Abu Dhabi until 1833. On 8 January 1820, the Sheikh of Dubai and other sheikhs in the region signed the "General Maritime Peace Treaty" with the British government, which aimed to suppress piracy in the region and was the first formal denunciation of the Arab slave trade in Emirati history. However, in 1833 the Al Maktoum dynasty (also descendants of the House of Al-Falasi) of the Bani Yas tribe left the settlement of Abu Dhabi and took over Dubai from the Abu Falasa clan without resistance, led by Maktoum bin Butti, the founder of the present day al-Maktoum dynasty. In 1841 the town was hit by a devastating smallpox outbreak which forced many to relocate east to the town of Deira, Dubai.