Saqr bin Muhammad al-Qasimi
| Sheikh Saqr bin Moḥammad Al Qasimi | |
|---|---|
|
|
| "Emir" (monarch) of Ras Al Khaimah | |
| Reign | 17 July 1948 – 27 October 2010 |
| Predecessor | Sulṭân bin Sultan Al Qasimi |
| Successor | Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi |
| Born | c. 1918–1920 Ras Al Khaimah, |
| Died | 27 October 2010 Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates |
| Issue |
Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Mohammed bin Saqr Al Qasimi Omar bin Saqr Al Qasimi Talib bin Saqr Al Qasimi Faisal bin Saqr Al Qasimi Ahmed bin Saqr Al Qasimi |
Sheikh Saqr bin Moḥammad Al Qasimi (c. 1918–1920 – 27 October 2010) was the Emîr (Arabic: أمير) (Ruler) of Ras Al Khaimah, an emirate on the Persian Gulf, from 1948 to 2010. On the 10th February 1972, under his leadership, Ras Al Khaimah become the seventh Trucial State to join the United Arab Emirates.
He became the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah on 17 July 1948, when he overthrew his uncle and father-in-law Sheikh Sultan bin Sultan Al Qasimi in a bloodless coup d'etat. Saqr exiled Sultan to Sharjah. At the time of his death in 2010, Saqr was the world's oldest reigning monarch at age ~90.
Sheikh Saqr was born in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, where he was brought up in the care of his father, Sheikh Mohammad bin Sultan, who ruled the emirate as regent for his ailing and paralysed father Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi between 1917 and 1919. However, upon Mohammad bin Sultan's death, his younger brother Sultan bin Sultan took power. Sultan bin Sultan Al Qasimi was recognised by the British as ruler of Ras Al Khaimah in 1921.
Sheikh Saqr received a religious and primary education. He learned to read from regionally-renowned clerics as a youth, and later joined a semi-regular school in Ras Al Khaimah to further study reading and writing, as well as principles of mathematics. He studied oratory and Arabic arts.
Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad Al Qasimi became the ruler of the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah on 17 July 1948, after a bloodless coup against Sultan bin Sultan Al Qasimi, who had allegedly neglected his subjects and alienated them by secretly signing oil concessions with British company PCL (Petroleum Concessions Ltd).
His early years in power necessitated meeting the challenge posed by the Shihuh, a tribe affiliated to the Sultan of Muscat, who nevertheless lived and had holdings and customary rights in both the mountainous and coastal areas of Ras Al Khaimah, for instance the previously rebellious village of Sha'am. Both these and the oft-secessionist tribes of Za'ab in Jazirat Al Hamra and the Tanaij of Rams were brought under Ras Al Khaimah or, as in the example of the Za'ab, exiled militarily. It should be noted that the ruler of the Zaab (Jazirat Al Hamra) and Rams were among the only 7 independent rulers who signed the first treaty with the British in 1820, while Ras al-Khaimah was ruled by a different branch of the family at that time than now. A British general travelling in 1925 also speaks about the Zaab (Jazirat Al Hamra) as a state independent of any other sheikhdom.
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