Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi

[1] It found its first mention in British records in 1830, with the note: "The people of Heera, a Joasmee dependency, commit a piracy upon a Bundar Abbas boat.

To bear a debt equivalent to the running costs of Dubai illustrated how deeply in trouble Al Shamsi was, for a man who commanded a small fleet of 25 pearling boats.

In an act of desperation, Al Shamsi raised a force which headed north and attacked Ajman and its fort on 15 June 1920, towards the end of Ramadan that year.

The Ruler of Ajman, Humaid bin Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi was forced to flee and the town's souq was set aflame.

The subsequent bombardment reduced the fort and, with one of its great towers totally demolished and a second crumbling under blistering cannon fire, Humaid sued for peace and paid the fine.

A truce was signed on 8 January 1921, Abdulrahman agreeing to quit Al Heera for Sharjah for a period of one month and not to cause trouble.

Stuart Horner, secretary to the Political Resident, travelled on HMS Cyclamen to Sharjah to investigate, together with the Bahraini trader, Yousuf bin Ahmed Kanoo.

The evidence presented to Horner was flimsy, including a woman who saw a freed slave linked to Al Shamsi holding a gun near to where the shooting had taken place.

[5] He eventually complied[16] and Al Shamsi was sent onto Bombay and then to a four-year exile in Yemen,[17] although he returned after three years following Sultan bin Saqr's petitioning of the British and offer of a guarantee of good behaviour .

This time – on the evening of 31 January 1931 – three slaves belonging to Abdulrahman had taken refuge in the British Residency in Sharjah, seeking their manumission (release).

Sultan bin Saqr was given two options: surrender Abdulrahman to be exiled or pay Rs 2,000 and give up 100 good rifles.

Negotiations with several Trucial Sheikhs resulted in British offers to establish an airport (originally seeking only landing rights for seaplanes) being rejected.

[24] Local resistance to the idea of an airport in Sharjah was fierce and Sultan bin Saqr found himself fighting violent opposition to the scheme, even as he was trying to negotiate its conclusion.

He played an ace card, bringing Al Shamsi to the negotiations to argue Sultan's case to those who opposed the scheme.

According to Captain Crabbe, the Senior Naval Officer for the Persian Gulf in his summary of the affair, Sultan bin Saqr ‘played a master stroke by introducing Abdulrahman into the discussions’.