Maktoum bin Hushur

Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum was the Ruler of Dubai from April 1894–February 1906. The fifth Maktoum Ruler since the establishment of the dynasty in 1833. Maktoum's short but 'liberal and enlightened' reign was to transform the coastal port. He was responsible for the establishment of the trading community of Dubai, encouraging disaffected merchants from Lingeh to bring their businesses to Dubai after the Persian government had introduced unpopular taxes. Accession Maktoum bin Hasher came to power following the death of his uncle, Sheikh Rashid bin Maktoum, who had entered into the 'Exclusive Agreement' of 1892 with the British. The latest in a number of treaties signed since the General Maritime Treaty of 1820, which bound the Trucial Sheikhs to maintain peace at sea, the Exclusive Agreement bound Dubai and its other signatories to protectorate status, including an undertaking not to "cede, sell, mortgage or otherwise give for occupation any part territory, except to the British Government". His rule was contested by Sheikh Rashid's sons, Buti and Saeed, who were arrested and imprisoned in Dubai's Al Fahidi Fort. Following a period of intense campaigning from the friends of the two, Maktoum accepted an offer made by the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Saqr bin Khalid Al Qassimi, to take them as exiles and, after five months' imprisonment, they were freed and lived in Sharjah for the remainder of Maktoum's reign returning only on his death and the accession of Sheikh Butti bin Suhail Al Maktoum in 1906. Rule In 1896, fire broke out in Dubai, a disastrous occurrence in a town where many family homes were still constructed from barasti - palm fronds. The conflagration consumed half the houses of Bur Dubai, while the district of Deira was said to have been totally destroyed. The following year, more fires broke out. A female slave was caught in the act of starting one such blaze and was subsequently put to death.