sharjah islamic city

8/17/2019 Sharjah Islamic City

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Sharjah-Islamic City

Alifa Muneerudeen


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Abriefhist

oryofUAE

• UAE’s history stretches back over 1! years! stone tools from the Early Stone A"e havin"been found recently alon" the ed"e of the #ajar Mountains$

• %y the &rst century A' overland caravan tra(c bet)een Syria and cities in southern Ira*!follo)ed by seaborne travel to the im+ortant +ort of ,mana +robably +resent-day Umm al-.ai)ain/ and thence to India )as an alternative to the 0ed Sea route used by the 0omans$ earlshad been e2+loited in the area for millennia but at this time the trade reached ne) hei"hts$Sea

3arin" and major fairs )ere held at 'ibba also brou"ht merchants from as far as China$• 4he arrival of envoys from the ro+het Muhammad in 56 A' heralded the conversion of the

re"ion to Islam

• %y 567 A' Islamic armies )ere usin" 8ulfar 0a’s al-9haimah/ as a sta"in" +ost for the con*uestof Iran$ ,ver many centuries! 8ulfar became a )ealthy +ort and +earlin" centre of considerableim+ortance from )hich "reat )ooden dho)s ran"ed far and )ide across the Indian ,cean$

• By the 16th century, there was rivalry between the Portugese and Ottomans.

• Sharjah and most of Musandam and the !" "ast #oast, all the way to $hor%a&&an,under control of 'awasim by 1(6)

• *he !l 'awasem, based at +as al$haimah, emerged as a major maritime -owerduring the eighteenth century. *hey ruled some of the shores and islands of Persia,li&e Bandar engeh

, that were o--osite to today/s .!." in di0erent eras between123341253.

• 7t is believed that the -rogenitor of the !l 'assimi family &nown as 'asim 7 came to

8ulfar in the seventeenth century and made it the dynasty/s ca-ital.• *heir control of trade in the Persian 9ulf area led to con:ict with Oman and

eventually with Britain.

• 12331215 "nglish "ast 7ndia #om-any attac&s on 'awasim navy

• 7n 1215, the British defeated !l 'awasem after several naval battles. *he 'awasimwere also -rinci-al leaders of the Persian 9ulf -irates from the early 12th century.;


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:ife %efore ,il


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Sharjah Characteristics

• 4raditionally! Emirati buildin"s )ere constructed )ith materials dra)n from the surroundin"environment$ 4hese materials ran"ed from coral! stone and mud throu"h to +alm fronds andanimal hair$ %ased on material availability! method of construction and de"ree of +ermanence!the buildin"s fall into t)o key cate"ories;

• Mud )as "enerally used for construction in 'haid in Sharjah

• Sharjah is the only Emirate in the UAE )ith land on both the


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3alconry! once an im+ortant means ofsu++lementin" the diet of the UAE’sdesert inhabitants! is no) enjoyed as atraditional +astime$

,nce the falconers mana"ed to ca+tureone of the hi"hly +ried birds! they hadonly t)o to three )eeks to train itbefore the mi"ratin" houbara bustardsstartedto arrive$

4his )as done by develo+in" a stron"bond of trust bet)een a )ild ca+turedbird and its handler$


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4he camel )as not just a useful mount and means of trans+ortin"+ossessionsand "oods on lon" treks across inhos+itable terrainG it also +rovidedfood, clothing,household items and recreation! and at the end of the day )as a+rimary sourceof )ealth$

In many cases camel milk and the +roducts derived from it )ere theonly +rotein available to bedu families for months on end$ 4he camels)ere ca+able of survivin" for lon" +eriods )ithout )ater! but it )as

camels’ milk that *uenched the herders’ thirst$

Houn" male camels )ere slau"htered on s+ecial occasions to +rovidemeat for feasts and informal camel races )ere held durin" thefestivities$

Camel hide )as used to make ba"s and other useful utensils! )hiletents! ru"s


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4he dried +alm fronds )ere +laited into containers in )hich thenourishin"! vitamin-richsta+le diet could be taken on journeys throu"h the desert! into themountains! or outto sea$ 4he dates )ere also stacked in small storerooms )ith

underlyin" draina"e forcollectin" valuable date syru+$

alm fronds )ere used to build the )alls and roofs of Arish’ houses andas roof mattin" for the more sturdy coral-block constructions$

4runks su++orted the roofs of mud brick and stone castles and to)ers$

Even boatscanoe-like shashah/ )ere made from the midrib of the +almfrond$

4he +alm trunk )as also hollo)ed out to form a mortar for crushin"

)heat )ith the tree stum+ sha+ed into a +estle$


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earlin" has been an im+ortant economic activity in the re"ion sinceancient times!but the trade Juctuated throu"hout the centuries$ At the end of thenineteenthcentury +earlin" )as Jourishin" yet a"ain! and an increasin" number ofable-

bodied men +artici+ated in divin" e2+editions "haus/ durin" fourmonths in thesummer! those of the :i)a-based subtribes of the %ani Has mi"ratin"home’$

3or the men! conditions on board the +earlin" boats )ere tou"h andthe )ork )as arduous$ 4he +ro&ts from a "ood season’s harvest madeit all )orth)hile!but bad seasons )ere follo)ed by s+irallin" debt$

Many of the %ani Has men formed coo+eratives! all the cre) jointlyo)nin" a boat and sharin" the +roceeds of the sale of the +earlsaccordin" to an established arran"ement; the bi""est share to theca+tain nakhuda/! a lar"er share to the divers than the haulers! and


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sharjah islamic city

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