Al Falayah fort is an 18th-century fort in

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...

, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Traditionally the summer residence of the ruling

Al Qasimi Al Qasimi ( ar, القواسم, spelled sometimes as Al Qassimi or Al Qassemi; plural: Al Qawasem ar, القواسم and, archaically, Joasmee) is an Arab dynasty in the Persian Gulf that rules Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, today forming two of ...

family, the fort was used as a rest house. The landmark 1820 Treaty of Maritime Peace was signed at Al Falayah by Rashid bin Hamid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman and Abdulla Bin Rashid Al Mualla, Ruler of

Umm Al Quwain Umm Al Quwain is the capital and largest city of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. The city is located on the peninsula of Khor Al Bidiyah, with the nearest major cities being Sharjah to the southwest and Ras Al Khaimah ...

on 15 March 1820. The treaty had earlier been signed at mid-day on 8 January 1820 in Ras Al Khaimah by Major-General

William Keir Grant General Sir William Keir Grant, KCB, GCH (born William Keir; 25 May 1771''Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950'' – 7 May 1852) was a British Army general during the first half of the 19th century. He was born in Fife, Scotland,''1 ...

together with Hassan Bin Rahmah Sheikh of 'Hatt and Falna' (hatt being modern day

Khatt Khatt is a mountainous village south-east of the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Famous for its hot springs, and latterly home to a spa hotel, there is evidence that Khatt has been a site of constant human settlement since the ston ...

) and Rajib bin Ahmed

Al-Zaabi The Za'ab ( ar, زعاب) (singular Za'abi ar, الزعابي) is an Arab tribe in the Arabian Peninsula The Zaab originally settled the coastal village of Jazirat Al Hamra, where at the turn of the 20th century they had established some 500 ...

, Sheikh of 'Jourat al Kamra' ( Jazirat Al Hamra). A translation was prepared by Captain JP Thompson. The treaty was then signed on 11 January 1820 in Ras Al Khaimah by Sheikh Shakbout of 'Aboo Dhebbee' (Abu Dhabi) and on 15 January by Hassan bin Ali, Sheikh of ' Zyah'.at

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

on 28 January 1820 by Saeed bin Saif on behalf of the Ruler of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, Mohammed bin Haza bin Zaal, who was in his minority and then on 4 February 1820 by

Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (1781–1866) was the Sheikh of the Qawasim and ruler variously of the towns of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, Jazirah Al Hamra and Rams, all Trucial States in their time and now part of the United Arab Emirates. B ...

, Ruler both of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. The Falayah signatories completed the complement of Trucial Sheikhs. The treaty was to lead to the recognition by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

of the

Trucial States The Trucial States ( '), also known as the Trucial Coast ( '), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( '), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had s ...

, to a series of further treaties formalising the British Protectorate over the UAE and eventually to the process leading to the formation of the modern United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971.

References

{{Ras Al Khaimah Forts in the United Arab Emirates History of the United Arab Emirates