Maktoum bin Butti bin Sohal

Maktoum bin Butti (Arabic: مكتوم بن بطي) bin Suhail Al Maktoum was the joint founder and first ruler of Dubai, today one of the United Arab Emirates, alongside Obeid bin Said bin Rashid, with whom he led a migration of the Al Bu Falasah from Abu Dhabi, seceding from the Bani Yas. Maktoum was the founder of the Al Maktoum dynasty.

He was a signatory to the 1843 Maritime Truce, the precursor to the Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853, as well as the 1847 treaty to abolish the slave trade.

Migration Dubai is thought to have first been established as a fishing village on the Trucial Coast in the early 18th century. It was then a tributary to the Bani Yas tribe of Abu Dhabi.

By 1820, the town was ruled on Abu Dhabi Sheikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan's behalf by a regent, when the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was signed between the sheikhs of the South Eastern Persian Gulf coast and the British. The regent, Saeed bin Saif bin Zaal, signed the treaty on behalf of his nephew, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hazza bin Zaal, who was at the time in his minority.

By 1822, Dubai had grown to be a town of some 700–800 residents.

Mohammed bin Hazza remained head man of Dubai until the arrival of the Al Bu Falasah in 1833. At that point, aged 23, Mohammed stepped aside and allowed the Al Bu Falasah to make Dubai their home. A subsection of the Bani Yas, the Al Bu Falasah disagreed with the actions of the new Ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan and moved north to Dubai, which at the time consisted of a settlement of some 250 houses at Shindagha and the Al Fahidi Fort on the other side of the Ghubaiba inlet. The migration would have been an arduous undertaking, and took place over some time throughout and following the pearling season of that year (typically May to November).

Khalifa bin Shakhbut of Abu Dhabi was in favour of punishing Dubai for the nature of the Maktoums' secession and in May 1838 led a raid against the town when its pearling fleet had departed for the season's fishing. The raiding party invested a watchtower in Dubai which was the scene of fierce fighting, eventually retaken by Dubai forces but completely destroyed in the process.

In 1840, Maktoum actively encouraged Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, the Wali of Sharjah, to declare independence from his father Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah and head of the Qawasim federation. In this, his aim was the creation of a friendly buffer state between Dubai and the aggressive Sultan bin Saqr. Saqr bin Sultan was eventually deposed and taken to Ras Al Khaimah but escaped and sought refuge in Dubai.

By 1844, Maktoum bin Butti was actively reinforcing the maritime truce, stepping in to punish the combatants when a fight broke out between Al Qasimi and Ka’abi pearling boats, forcing them to lodge a bond with the British Residency Agent in Sharjah against their good behaviour.

Maktoum also signed the 1847 Engagement to Prohibit Exportation of Slaves From Africa on board of Vessels Belonging to Bahrain and to the Trucial States and to Allow Right of Search of April–May 1847.

He died at sea of smallpox while travelling from Muscat to Qeshm in 1852.