Remove ads

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab Al Nahyan (Arabic: شخبوط بن ذياب بن عيسى آل نهيان) was the Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 1793 to 1816,[1] now part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Quick Facts Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Reign ...
Shakhbut bin Dhiyab Al Nahyan
Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Reign1793–1816
PredecessorDhiyab bin Isa Al Nahyan
SuccessorMohammed bin Shakhbut (1st rule) Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan (2nd rule)
BornLiwa Oasis (now Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE) [citation needed]
IssueMuhammad bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan
Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan
Khalifa bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan
Sultan bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan
Hilal bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan
Yafoor bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan
HouseAl Nahyan family
FatherDhiyab bin Isa Al Nahyan
ReligionIslam
Close

Political career

Sheikh Shakhbut was the eldest[2] son (or brother) of Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa Al Nahyan who was the leader of the Bani Yas tribal confederation.

In 1761 Shakhbut's father, Dhiyab bin Isa, sent a hunting party from Liwa which tracked a gazelle to a brackish spring on the island.[3] According to legend, the gazelle became the symbol of Abu Dhabi, and gave it its name (literally Father of the Gazelle). In 1793, Dhiyab ordered Shakbut to move to the island; he did, and built a village and fort there near a freshwater spring.[4] The fort, Qasr al-Hosn, became the palace of the sheikhs.[4] It housed the Centre for Documentation and Research for several years, and is now a museum.[5] By Shakhbut's reign, Abu Dhabi had expanded to some 400 houses.[1]

Remove ads

Successors

He was followed by his sons Mohammed bin Shakhbut (ruled 1816–1818), Tahnun bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818–1833), Khalifa bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan (ruled 1833–1845), but co-ruled throughout all their reigns.[1] Hilal and Yafoor are identified as his sons in the 1845 Memoranda on the Tribes of the Arabian Shores of the Persian Gulf of Lieutenant AB Kembal, Assistant Resident at Bushire.[6]

Legacy

He has been described as legendary, and having a notable amount of sons.[7] He was deposed by his son.[1]

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.

Remove ads