Abū Ẓabī

Abu Dhabi grew on a low island off the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Its shallow coastal waters offered fishing grounds and access to pearl banks, while fresh water on the island made a permanent settlement possible. The Bani Yas, whose ancestral home lay inland at Liwa, moved between the desert and the coast, bringing together the resources of the oasis and the sea.

Around 1761, members of the Bani Yas discovered drinking water on the island. Their sheikh, Dhiyab bin Isa, ordered a watchtower built of coral and sea stone to guard the growing community and the approach from the coast. Under his son Shakhbut, the ruling family transferred its seat from Liwa to Abu Dhabi in the 1790s, and the tower developed into the fortified residence known as Qasr al-Hosn. Fishing and seasonal pearl diving sustained the settlement around it. In 1820, Abu Dhabi's ruler was among the Gulf sheikhs who entered a general maritime treaty with Britain, an agreement that marked a new relationship between the coastal rulers and British power.