Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mualla

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.

Accession Ahmad bin Abdullah succeeded his elder brother, Ali. Ruling at a time when the coastal communities of the Persian Gulf were almost constantly in conflict, he was immediately involved in a fight with Sharjah over the island of Abu Musa. A force from Umm Al Quwain attempted to raid the island and remove the Ruler of Sharjah's horses from there, but was met by boats from Sharjah which had arrived first.

Breach of maritime truce In 1879, Ahmad bin Abdulla signed the 'Mutual Agreement on Absconding Debtors' with the British, which aimed to curb the problem of debtors fleeing from one emirate to another and thereby evading their obligations.

Ahmad bin Abdullah conducted two dynastic marriages, the first to the daughter of the Ruler of Ajman, Sheikh Abdulaziz (to whom was born a son in 1876) and the second to the sister of the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Sheikh Humaid bin Abdulla Al Qasimi. However, they divorced in 1882. This action constituted a breach of the Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853 and Ahmad was consequently reprimanded by the British Resident Agent and compelled to pay a fine. However, the conflict continued to rage on land with Umm Al Quwain and Ajman pitted against Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. In January 1883 peace was brokered by Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa of Abu Dhabi.

Raiding continued between the towns of the coast, however, and Hamriyah attacked Umm Al Quwain, only to have Ahmad bin Abdulla retaliate and sack Hamriyah, whose headman was only spared after he barricaded himself in his fort. In the following conflicts, a northern alliance was founded, with Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah generally pitted against their southern neighbours, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

1892 exclusive agreement Although both German and Turkish interests had attempted to maintain links to the Trucial Coast, it was to be the Persian former deputy Governor of Bushire, Sartip Haji Ahmad Khan, who took to lobbying the Trucial rulers in 1887, proposing an alliance with a view to ejecting the British. The British Political Resident at Bushire, Edward Charles Ross, moved in December 1887 to obtain the agreement of the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah that they would not have dealings with any other government than the British and not allow any other government’s agent to reside in their territories. When reports reached the British Political Resident that the French had been granted a site at Umm Al Quwain, the British government in Bombay approved the signing of an 'Exclusive agreement' in May 1892, which bound the Trucial Sheikhs not to enter into 'any agreement or correspondence with any Power other than the British Government' and that without British assent, they would not 'consent to the residence within my territory of the agent of any other government' and that they would not 'cede, sell, mortgage or otherwise give for occupation any part of my territory, save to the British Government'.

Death Sheikh Ahmad bin Abdulla suffered from paralysis and was too infirm to travel to Sharjah for Curzon's Viceregal Durbar, held off Sharjah in November 1903. He died on 13 June 1904 and was succeeded by his son, Rashid, who had long been de facto ruler.