Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi

Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi was the first recognised leader of the Al Sharqi Ruling family of Fujairah, one of the Trucial States and today one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He led Fujairah in a number of insurrections against Al Qasimi rule, presiding over a turbulent time when the emirate was practically independent but denied recognition of status as a Trucial State in its own right by the British.

Insurrection Hamad was headman of Fujairah town in 1879 when he led an insurrection in spring of that year against Sheikh Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi of Sharjah, who claimed suzerainty over the Gulf of Oman coast (known as Shamaliyah) and had placed a slave named Sarur in charge of Fujairah. This followed a prolonged period of contested ownership of areas of the coast between the Al Qasimi of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah and the Sultan of Muscat.

The insurrection replaced Sarur and a delegation was sent to Sheikh Saqr but they were badly received, imprisoned and a force sent back against the insurrectionists, taking Fujairah Fort (garrisoning it with Baluchi mercenaries) and forcing Hamad bin Abdullah into exile in Muscat, where he lobbied the Sultan of Muscat, Turki Bin Said for support. a strategically important asset guarding the Wadi Ham, which was the major route inland from Shamaliyah.

Control of Bithnah was to be essential for Hamad bin Abdullah when, in 1901, he once again refused the suzerainty of Sharjah and used the fort at Bithnah to refuse aid to the headman of Kalba, who was related to Sheikh Saqr bin Khalid of Sharjah.

Declaring his independence in 1901, Sheikh Hamad enjoyed the recognition of this status by all concerned, with the sole exception of the British.

In 1903, the British once again decided not to recognise Fujairah but to consider it a dependency of Sharjah. Despite a sally by Saqr bin Khalid against Bithnah early in the year and an exhortation to peace by Curzon during his 1903 vice regal Durbar, Fujairah remained a nominal dependency at best and in 1906 was claimed as a dependency of Abu Dhabi, with no opposition from Sharjah.

War with Kalba and Khor Fakkan Hamad bin Abdullah took on a fight with the British after he bought a Baluchi girl from Muscat, breaking the embargo on slave trading. The British Political Resident, Francis Bellville Prideaux, decided to enforce the rules and, in April 1925, he anchored off Fujairah in the RIMS Lawrence and raised the Resident’s flag – the signal for a Trucial ruler to come aboard for talks.

Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi died in the mid-1930s and was succeeded by his son, Saif bin Hamad Al Sharqi.