Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum ( ar, ٱلـشَّـيْـخ رَاشِـد بِـن سَـعِـيْـد آل مَـكْـتُـوْم, Ash-Shaykh Rāshid bin Sa`īd Āl Maktūm; 11 June 1912 – 7 October 1990) was the vice president and second prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. He ruled Dubai for 32 years from 1958 until his death in 1990.

Development of Dubai

Sheikh Rashid was responsible for the transformation of Dubai from a small cluster of settlements near the Dubai Creek to a modern port city and commercial hub.

A quote commonly attributed to Sheikh Rashid reflected his concern that Dubai's oil, which was discovered in 1966 and which began production in 1969, would run out within a few generations.

"My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel",While the following quote is commonly attributed to Sheikh Rashid, it is sometimes attributed to Saudi politician Ahmed Zaki Yamani. Furthermore, the quote has some alternate forms, such as "My grandfather rode a camel. My father drove a car. I fly in jet planes. My son will drive a car. My grandson will ride a camel".

He therefore worked to develop the economy of Dubai so that it could survive after the end of oil production, and was a driving force behind a number of major infrastructure projects to promote Dubai as a regional hub for trade, such as:

#Port Rashid (opened in 1972)
#Al Shindagha Tunnel (opened in 1975)
#Jebel Ali Port (opened in 1979)
#Dubai World Trade Centre (built in 1978)
#The second major dredging and widening of the Dubai Creek (early 1970s)Ruling Shaikhs and Her Majesty's Government, 1960-1969
Joyce, Miriam. Routledge. 2003
#Dubai Drydocks (opened in 1983)

Relationship with other emirates

Dubai remained in a stand-off with Abu Dhabi at the time Sheikh Rashid became ruler of Dubai following the armed border dispute between the two emirates in 1946, and he established a close relationship with Qatar. Sheikh Rashid's daughter married the emir of Qatar in 1961. In 1966, India devalued the rupee, and Qatar and Dubai adopted the Gulf rupee as a common currency, whilst Abu Dhabi adopted the Bahraini dinar.

The Emir of Kuwait assisted in the financing of the dredging of the creek, along with a popular issue of bonds, the 'creek bonds' and revenue derived from land reclamation made possible by the dredging. The project resulted in Dubai's rising prominence as an entrepôt, a position cemented by the visionary construction of a 15-berth deep-water port, Port Rashid, starting in 1969.

Sheikh Rashid brought Dubai to join Abu Dhabi and other northern emirates to create the United Arab Emirates in 1971, and in 1973, Dubai joined the other emirates to adopt a uniform currency, the UAE dirham.

Jebel Ali port was established in 1979, and the customs free zone Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) was built around the port in 1985. By the late 1990s, JAFZ developed into a commercial free zone.

Family

Sheikh Rashid's father was Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, while his mother was Sheikha Hessa bint Al Mur bin Hureiz Al Falasi.

Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum married once to Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, the daughter of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Rashid and Latifa had four sons and five daughters:

# Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (1943–2006)
# Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum (1945–2021)
# Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (born 1949)
# Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (born 1956)
# Maryam bint Rashid Al Maktoum married to the first Qatari emir, Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani.
# Fatima bint Rashid Al Maktoum.
# Hassa bint Rashid Al Maktoum married to Ahmad bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum. Their children are Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum and Rashid.
# Maitha bint Rashid Al Maktoum.
# Shaikha bint Rashid Al Maktoum married to the Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud, known as Al Samer, a very famous poet. They have 3 sons: Rashid (born 1996), Saud, and Mohammed.

Both his predecessor and successor as Prime Minister of the UAE was his son, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid was the prime minister of United Arab Emirates from 1971 to 1979, and acceded as ruler of Dubai on his father's death on 7 October 1990, until his death on 4 January 2006. Following Maktoum's death in 2006, another of Sheikh Rashid's sons, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, acceded to these positions and is the current vice president and prime minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai.

Sheikh Rashid was half-brother—46 years older—to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, presently the Chairman of Emirates Airline.

See also

* Hazza bin Sultan Al Nahyan, friend and relative by marriage
* Timeline of Dubai

Notes

References

External links

Shaikh Mohammad: A role model for world leaders

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maktoum, Rashid Bin Saeed
1912 births
1990 deaths
Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Prime Ministers of the United Arab Emirates
Rulers of Dubai
20th-century Emirati people