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Tribes living on the eastern coast of Arabia, on the Persian Gulf, make piracy their business. But the plundering of two British ships leads to naval action against them, resulting in a peace treaty of 1820.
A series of similar truces follow during the later 19th century, in which the local sheikhs or emirs guarantee to refrain from piracy in return for British protection - an arrangement causing these territories to be known as the Trucial States.
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From 1892 all the foreign affairs of the Trucial States are handled by Britain, making them a loosely attached part of the British empire.
In 1971 the group becomes fully independent as the United Arab Emirates.
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The newly formed United Arab Emirates consists in 1971 of six territories - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain. A seventh, Ras al-Khaimah, joins in 1972. Together they form an independent state, ruled by a council of the seven emirs, each of whom retains control of internal matters in his own emirate.
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