Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum acceded as Ruler of Dubai following his father's death on 10 September 1958. Rashid had already been effectively managing the affairs of the emirate since the late 1930s having refused, in the face of considerable pressure from the British, to force his father to abdicate. As de facto ruler of Dubai, he had already started to implement a widespread program of reforms and improvements despite limited revenues. He would also revisit sites during the evening riding his horse, Saqlawi. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, Rashid's office building by the creekside had a mirrored window on the first floor that overlooked the unloading area on the wharfage with its single crane and he would place a retainer there to oversee the ships unloading. When the merchants came to pay their fees the next morning, their manifests would be compared to the tally Rashid's man had made. == Trade and development ==

Dubai's customs had already been reformed prior to World War II and its port, by the 1950s the most important in the Gulf, was thriving. whereas Abu Dhabi adopted the Bahraini dinar. Dubai Police was founded in 1956, under a British commander, Major P. Lorimer, with its headquarters in Naif, in Deira. That force was later taken over by Jack Briggs, who moved from the Trucial Oman Scouts to take up the post at Rashid’s invitation. Raising credit against his anticipated revenues, he ordered the construction of a four-berth deep sea container terminal, named Port Rashid. This long-held dream (he had originally commissioned a plan for such a terminal in 1965) was to result in the award of the £9 million contract in June 1967, again under Halcrow. During the construction of the port Rashid called Halcrow's resident head, Nevil Allen, to his office and asked that the company cancel many of the planned outbuildings and support infrastructure and instead focus on building more berths, increasing the design to a 16-berth port. He would eventually expand the contract to encompass 21 berths. Port Rashid opened in 1972. Rashid's aggressive expansion saw the population of Dubai boom from 59,000 people in 1968 to over 278,000 in 1980. The first tarmac road built in the interior was to Dubai's mountainous exclave Hatta, to bring in aggregate and concrete from the Hajar Mountains, which was far cheaper than importing construction materials. The savings made supported Rashid's plans to accelerate development even further. == Independence and Union ==

The British politician Goronwy Roberts travelled to the Trucial States and met with the Trucial rulers between 8 and 11 January 1968, to let them know that Great Britain was unilaterally ending its protectorate. Britain was pulling its armed forces out of the area by the end of 1971 and take no further responsibility for the Trucial States or their international relations. Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, both travelled to London to press the government to reconsider the move – or at least to put in place an arrangement where the rulers could pay for British military assistance. This resulted in British Defence Secretary Denis Healey telling the BBC's Panorama that he disliked the idea of being ‘a sort of white slaver for Arab sheikhs’. Healey was forced to apologise for the comment. == Jebel Ali ==

British construction consultancy Halcrow's man in Dubai, Nevil Allen, received a 5am call in 1971 asking him to meet Sheikh Rashid at Ras Hasa, a hill overlooking the coastal area of Jebel Ali. He found Rashid bin Saeed there, along with a number of advisors including finance head Bill Duff. He opened Dubai Dry Docks in 1983, with the ability to cater to vessels of up to one million tons. Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Dubai in 1979 was to demonstrate Rashid bin Saeed's showman qualities. He had her inaugurate a number of buildings and facilities, including Jebel Ali Port, the Dubai Aluminium smelter (DUBAL), the Dubai Desalination Plant and the Dubai World Trade Centre. Every one of the projects she 'opened' had been operating for months, but Rashid had an eye to headlines in the British press. == Aviation ==

In 1960 Rashid had pressured the British for the right to build an airstrip (it was the British view that Dubai didn't need one because neighbouring Sharjah already had one). Rashid petitioned the then-office manager of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC, British Airways' predecessor) in Bombay to schedule regular flights between Bombay and Dubai and in order to secure his backing, promised to pay for any unsold tickets. The manager agreed and flights commenced - and Rashid never had to buy a ticket, the planes flew full. The BOAC manager's name was Maurice Flanagan and he would, in 1985, become the founding CEO of Emirates. The first flights to Dubai airport flew in 1961 and in May 1965, an asphalt runway was constructed, allowing jetliners to land. == Death==

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum died, after almost a decade of illness, on 7 October 1990. Both his predecessor and successor as Prime Minister of the UAE was his son, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid was the prime minister of United Arab Emirates from 1971 to 1979, and acceded as ruler of Dubai on his father's death on 7 October 1990. ==Family==

Sheikh Rashid's father was Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, while his mother was Sheikha Hessa bint Al Mur bin Hureiz Al Falasi. , and Sheikh Rashid's sons Mohammed and Maktoum, both future rulers of Dubai, in 1968 Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum married only once. His wife, Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, was the daughter of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who ruled Abu Dhabi for the decade between 1912–22. Following the murder of her father, Sheikha Latifa fled, along with other family members, to Dubai. Rashid and Latifa had nine children, four sons and five daughters: • Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (1943–2006), who succeeded his father as ruler of Dubai (ruled 1990–2006) • Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum (1945–2021) • Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (born 1949), who succeeded his elder brother as ruler of Dubai (ruling 2006-) • Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (born 1951) • Maryam bint Rashid Al Maktoum married the Qatari emir, Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani, deposed in 1972. • Fatima bint Rashid Al Maktoum. • Hassa bint Rashid Al Maktoum married Ahmed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum. Their children are Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum and Rashid bin Ahmed Al Maktoum. • Maitha bint Rashid Al Maktoum. • Shaikha bint Rashid Al Maktoum married Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud. They have 3 sons: Rashid, Saud, and Mohammed. Sheikh Rashid was half-brother—46 years older—to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of the airline Emirates. ==See also==