A Brief History

A settlement that evolved into the city of Abu Dhabi was established in 1761 when Sheikh Dhiyab Bin Eisa discovered pure stream water by following a deer (Dhabi in Arabic) to a spring.  Sheikh Dhiyab Bin Eisa became the ruler of the Bani Yas tribe and Abu Dhabi became the tribe's capital after it built Qasr Al-Hosn fort castle around the newly discovered water spring.

From 1855 until 1909, under the leadership of Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (Zayed the First), a grandson of Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab, Abu Dhabi gained in stature and power in south-eastern Arabia. Its influence stretched deep into Oman and the desert wastelands of the Rub l-Khali and up to what is now the Northern Emirates.

Throughout the early part of the 20th century, Abu Dhabi's economy derived largely from camel herding, date and vegetables crops at the inland oases of Al Ain and Liwa, and fishing and pearl diving off the coast of Abu Dhabi city.

Abu Dhabi fell on hard times in the 1930s and 1940s, partially due to the introduction of Japanese cultured pearls destroyed the market for Abu Dhabi's most prized export, the pure, natural Gulf pearl.

Oil exploration in Abu Dhabi started in the late 1940s, although the first oil well - drilled at Ra's Sadr, northeast of Abu Dhabi, in 1950 - was a dry hole.  It was not until the late 1950s that commercially-viable oil deposits were found, first offshore at Umm Shaif, then onshore at Bab.  Exports commenced in 1962 and Abu Dhabi entered the oil era. 

In 1966 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the grandson of Zayed the First, became the Ruler of the Emirate and the process of economic development got under way. Abu Dhabi naturally assumed a prominent role in the formation of the United Arab Emirates under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1971. Oil wealth spurred the expansion of the city, and traditional mud-brick huts were rapidly replaced with banks, boutiques and gleaming towers.