Sheikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan was the Ruler of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

from 1818–1833. Having deposed his brother Muhammad bin Shakhbut Al Nayhan with his father's support, he ruled in his father's name. Under Tahnun, Abu Dhabi became a Trucial State in 1820, eventually becoming the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Accession

Tahnun acceded after having driven his brother Muhammad into exile with his father Shakhbut's support. It was, in fact, Shakhbut who was signatory to the landmark

General Maritime Treaty of 1820 The General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was a treaty initially signed between the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Great Britain in January 1820, with the nearby island state of Bahrain acceding to the treaty i ...

with the British, following the sack of

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 ...

and bombardment of coastal communities which took place during the punitive

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, ...

Persian Gulf Campaign of 1819 The Persian Gulf campaign of 1819 was a British punitive expedition, principally against the Arab maritime force of the Al Qasimi in the Persian Gulf, which embarked from Bombay, India in November 1819 to attack Ras Al Khaimah. The campaign wa ...

. However, in an 1824 peace agreement with

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 Emirate ...

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 of ...

over the forts at Buraimi Oasis, it was Tahnun who signed.

Abu Dhabi attacked

The exiled Sheikh Muhammad bin Shakhbut returned to Abu Dhabi in late 1823, together with a force of Manasir

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...

and sacked the town. He was driven out, with the loss of 35 men, by Tahnun, who had raced from the interior to meet him. Muhammad made for Sharjah, but was followed by Tahnun and his force and Tahnun demanded Sultan bin Saqr of Sharjah hand him over. Sultan was saved the dilemma when Muhammad once again fled into exile.

Buraimi

As Abu Dhabi grew, many of its inhabitants maintained links to the inland oasis town of Buraimi (which would in time be split into Buraimi and the Abu Dhabi city of

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...

) and Tahnun worked to establish his influence there, brokering a peace between the

Na'im The Na'im () (singular Al Nuaimi ) is an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries. The Na'im is divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban, the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Sham ...

of the oasis and their breakaway relatives, the Al Nuami of

Ajman Ajman ( ar, عجمان, '; Gulf Arabic: عيمان ʿymān) is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. It is the fifth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain. Located along the Persian Gulf, it is ...

and the

Al Bu Shamis The Al Bu Shamis () or Al Shawamis () (singular Al Shamsi ) is an Arab Bedouin tribe that mostly inhabit the southeastern part of the Arabian peninsula. They are located mainly in Northern Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and to a lesser extent Kuw ...

. A number of interests jostled for Buraimi, including the Sultan of Muscat, the

Wahhabis Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...

(who had made a number of incursions) and Sultan bin Saqr of Sharjah, who had established a number of forts in the oasis. Tahnun commanded the loyalty of many of the Bedouin families in the area ('You will be aware that Dhahirah belongs to us' he told the British in 1839) and established his primacy there when, in 1824, an agreement was forced on Sharjah in which Sultan bin Saqr recognised Tahnun's claim to Buraimi and then demolished the forts he had built there. Tahnun had three sons, Hamdan, Said bin Tahnun Al Nahyan and Saqr.

Death

Mistrusting his brothers Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan and Sultan bin Shakhbut, Tahnun kept them away from Abu Dhabi but his father persuaded him to let them return. He discovered them plotting to remove him and imprisoned a number of the plotters. This action spurred the conspirators to action and Tahnun was killed by his two brothers in 1833. Khalifa became the next Ruler.

References

{{Rulers of Abu Dhabi Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi 19th-century monarchs in the Middle East History of the United Arab Emirates 19th-century Arabs 1833 deaths Year of birth unknown