Sheikh Dhiyab ibn Isa al-Nahyan was the

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

of the

Bani Yas Bani Yas ( ar, بَنُو ياس) is a tribal confederation of Najdi origin in the United Arab Emirates. The tribal coalition which consists of tribes from Dubai to Khawr al Udayd southeast of Qatar, was called the Bani Yas Coalition. The tribe has ...

of the

Liwa Oasis The Liwa Oasis ( ar, وَاحَـة لِـيْـوَا, Wāḥḥat Līwā) is a large oasis area in the Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. Geography Liwa Oasis is about south of the Persian Gulf coast ...

(

Abu Dhabi emirate The Emirate of Abu Dhabi (, , or ; ar, إِمَارَةْ أَبُوظَبِي , ) is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is by far the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area o ...

) from 1761 to 1793 and the founder of the Al Bu Falah dynasty, which still rules Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), today.

Life

Dhiyab ibn Isa, leader of the Bani Yas tribal confederation, sent a hunting party from Liwa in 1761 which tracked a

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third f ...

to a brackish spring on the island. The gazelle became the symbol of Abu Dhabi, and gave it its name (literally ''Father of the Gazelle''). In 1793, Dhiyab ordered his son Shakbut to move to the island. He did and then built a village of some 20 houses and a fort there. The village expanded quickly, and within two years there were 400 houses on the island, which quickly became the capital of the Bani Yas. In 1793 Dhiyab visited Abu Dhabi in order to tell a branch of the Al Bu Falah led by his cousin Hazza bin Zayed bin Muhammad bin Falah to stop stirring up trouble with a neighbouring tribe. Hazza, who was in Bahrain at the time, returned and killed Dhiyab during an argument between them. The Bani Yas elders supported Dhiyab’s son, Shakhbut, and Hazza went into exile after his supporters were defeated. Dhiyab's son Shakhbut acceded as sheikh.

References

House of Al Nahyan Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi 1793 deaths Year of birth unknown 18th-century Arabs {{MEast-royal-stub