Timeline of Dubai

A settlement at Jumeirah. An Abbasid-period caravan station and trading post stands on the coast, on the route between Iraq and Oman. Excavated from the 1960s.

Dubai appears in a Venetian record. The pearl merchant Gasparo Balbi lists it among the pearling centres of the Gulf — the first known written mention of the name.

The General Maritime Treaty. Britain imposes terms on the coastal sheikhdoms after a naval campaign, beginning the arrangement that will make them the Trucial States.

The Al Bu Falasah settle the Creek. Around 800 members of the Bani Yas leave Abu Dhabi under Maktoum bin Butti and establish themselves at the mouth of Dubai Creek. His family has ruled ever since.

The Perpetual Maritime Truce. Raiding at sea ends by agreement and the coast becomes the Trucial States, self-governing but with foreign policy in British hands.

The exclusive agreement. The rulers undertake to deal with no foreign power but Britain. The arrangement lasts until 1971.

Tax exemption for foreign traders. Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher begins the policy that will define Dubai, offering exemptions to merchants who settle.

Tariffs abolished. Dubai becomes a free port. Persian merchants from Lingah, where duties have just risen, cross the Gulf and settle in Al Fahidi and Al Shindagha. This is the decision the modern city rests on.

The pearl trade collapses. The Japanese cultured pearl and the Great Depression destroy the industry within a decade. Dubai becomes very poor and some families emigrate.

The first airfield agreement. Imperial Airways flying boats begin using the Creek as a staging point on the route to India, bringing the first regular air link and a small annual payment.

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed succeeds. He will govern Dubai until 1990 and is the architect of nearly everything that follows.

The Creek is dredged. Rashid borrows from the ruler of Kuwait, against advice, to deepen the silted channel. Larger vessels return and the loan is repaid quickly.

Oil at Fateh. Offshore reserves are found. They are modest by regional standards — a fraction of Abu Dhabi’s — and are now nearly exhausted.

The first export cargo. Oil begins shipping. The revenue funds infrastructure rather than becoming the economy.

Britain announces withdrawal. The decision to leave east of Suez by 1971 gives the Trucial rulers three years to decide what to do.

The United Arab Emirates. Six emirates sign the union at Union House in Dubai. Ras Al Khaimah joins in February 1972, making seven.

Jebel Ali and the World Trade Centre. The largest man-made harbour in the world opens, alongside a 39-storey tower far out in the desert. Both are called extravagant; both fill.

Emirates airline begins. Two leased aircraft and a $10 million start-up, flying to Karachi and Mumbai. It becomes one of the largest international carriers in the world.

Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid succeeds. Rashid dies after a long illness; his sons continue the programme.

The Burj Al Arab opens. A sail-shaped hotel on an artificial island, designed explicitly to give Dubai a silhouette. It works.

Freehold property for foreigners. Non-nationals are permitted to own property in designated areas, and the construction boom begins in earnest.

Palm Jumeirah is occupied. The first residents move onto 94 million cubic metres of dredged sand. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid becomes ruler the same year.

The metro, and the bailout. The driverless Red Line opens on 09/09/09. Weeks later Dubai World seeks a debt standstill and Abu Dhabi provides $10 billion.

Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world opens at 828 metres — and is renamed on the day from Burj Dubai, after the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Nobody mentions why.

Expo, delayed. Expo 2020 is postponed a year by the pandemic and runs from October 2021 to March 2022. The site becomes Expo City.

The weekend moves. The UAE shifts to a Monday-to-Friday working week, making Saturday and Sunday the weekend — the only Gulf state to do so.

The Museum of the Future opens. A torus clad in Arabic calligraphy that forms its windows, with no internal columns.

Alcohol rules relax. The 30 per cent municipality tax on alcohol is suspended and the personal licence requirement for residents is removed.