[4] This was an unclear status which fell short of a formal protectorate, but required Britain to defend them from external aggression in exchange for exclusive British rights in the states.

[7][8] The first in a long series of maritime skirmishes between the Al Qasimi and British vessels took place in 1797, when the British-flagged snow (a large two-masted ship) Bassein was seized and released two days later.

The rulers of Ajman and Umm Al Quwain acceded to the full treaty on 15 March 1820, signing on board the ship of the commander of the British expeditionary force, Major-General William Keir Grant.

Skirmishes and conflicts, considered raids by the British, continued intermittently until 1835, when the sheikhs agreed not to engage in hostilities at sea and Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman and Abu Dhabi signed a renewed treaty banning hostilities during the pearling season and a number of other short treaties were made, culminating with the ten-year truce of June 1843.

In return, the British promised to protect the Trucial Coast from all aggression by sea and to help in case of land attack.

In the 1920s, the British Government's desire to create an alternative air route from Great Britain to India gave rise to discussions with the rulers of the Trucial States about landing areas, anchorages and fuel depots along the coast.

[19] The council was purely consultative and had no written constitution and no policy making powers, it provided more than anything a forum for the rulers to exchange views and agree on common approaches.

[21] Harold Wilson's announcement, on 16 January 1968, that all British troops were to be withdrawn from "east of Suez", signalled the end of Britain taking care of foreign policy and defence, as well as arbitrating between the rulers of the Eastern Persian Gulf.

[23] The decision pitched the rulers of the Trucial Coast, together with Qatar and Bahrain, into fevered negotiations to fill the political vacuum that the British withdrawal would leave behind.

The nine-state union was never to recover from the October 1969 meeting where British intervention resulted in a walk-out by Qatar and Ras Al Khaimah.

On 2 December 1971, Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah joined in the Act of Union to form the United Arab Emirates.

This change was due to the Iranian seizure of the islands Greater and Lesser Tunbs from Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Musa which was claimed by the emirate of Sharjah.