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Trucial Oman Scouts
The Trucial Oman Scouts (), known as Trucial Oman Levies prior to 1956, was a predecessor paramilitary force that operated in the Trucial States under British control from 1951 to 1971, after which they were renamed to the Union Defence Force with the formation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971. In 1976, the force was restructured and is now known as the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. The Trucial Oman Scouts were a highly respected and impartial gendarmerie and were regarded as well trained, well paid, and efficient. Trucial Oman Levies The Trucial Oman Scouts were established at Sharjah (emirate), Sharjah, in a location adjacent to the Royal Air Force, RAF base, originally as the Trucial Oman Levies (TOL) in 1951, but renamed in 1956 by Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), Field Marshal Templar. Substituting the word 'scout' for 'levies' was done to eliminate the impression that the force was conscripted, as well as to make the force sound more exotic and alluring. ...
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Trucial States
The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf (southeastern Arabia) whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces, with the United Kingdom between 1820 and 1892. The Trucial States remained an informal British protectorate until the treaties were revoked on 1 December 1971. The following day, six of the sheikhdoms— Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah—formed the United Arab Emirates; the seventh, Ras Al Khaimah, joined on 10 February 1972. Overview The sheikhdoms included: * Abu Dhabi (1820–1971) * Ajman (1820–1971) * Dubai (1833–1971) * Fujairah (1952–1971) * Kalba (1936–1951) * Ras Al Khaimah (1820–1972) * Sharjah (1820–1971) * Umm Al Quwain (1820–1971) The sheikhdoms allied themselves with the United Kingdom through a series of treaties, beginning with the General Maritime Treaty of ...
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Buraimi Slave Trade
Legal chattel slavery existed in Saudi Arabia from antiquity until its abolition in the 1960s. Hejaz (the western region of modern day Saudi Arabia), which encompasses approximately 12% of the total land area of Saudi Arabia, was under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1918, and as such nominally obeyed the Ottoman laws. When the area became an independent nation first as the Kingdom of Hejaz and then as Saudi Arabia, it was a slave trade center during the interwar period. After World War II, growing international pressure eventually resulted in the formal abolition of the practice. Slavery was formally abolished in 1962. Many members of the Afro-Saudi minority are descendants of the former slaves. In contemporary Saudi Arabia, the kafala system, in which foreign workers are tied to a single employer for the duration of their time in Saudi Arabia, and often have their passports confiscated, has been described by human rights organizations as a form of modern ...
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Military Medal
The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned officer, commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award was established in 1916, with retrospective application to 1914, and was awarded to Other ranks (UK), other ranks for "acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire". The award was discontinued in 1993, when it was replaced by the Military Cross, which was extended to all ranks, while other Commonwealth nations instituted their own award systems in the post war period. History The Military Medal was established on 25 March 1916. It was awarded to Other ranks (UK), other ranks including non-commissioned officers and warrant officers, and ranked below the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). Awards to British and Commonwealth forces were announced in the ''London Gazette'' ...
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Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The MC is granted in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land" to all members of the British Armed Forces of any rank. In 1979, Queen Elizabeth II approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be recommended posthumously. History The award was created on 28 December 1914 for Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the substantive rank of Captain (land), captain or below and for warrant officers. The first 98 awards were gazetted on 1 January 1915, to 71 officers, and 27 warrant officers. Although posthumous recommendations for the Military Cross were unavailable until 1979, the first awards included ...
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Avro Lincoln
The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which maiden flight, first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and II. It was the last reciprocating engine, piston-engined bomber operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF); the later Avro Shackleton, though piston-engined, served in maritime patrol rather than bomber roles. The Lincoln attained operational status in August 1945. It had been initially assigned to units of the Tiger Force (air), Tiger Force, a Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth heavy bomber force which had been intended to play a role in the Japan campaign in the closing stages of the World War II, Second World War, but the war ended before the Lincoln could participate. Production of the type proceeded and the type was adopted in quantity, complementing and progressively replacing the Lancaster in RAF service during the late 1 ...
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Sharjah
Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital of the emirate of Sharjah, eponymous emirate. The emirate shares law, legal, political, military and economic functions with the other emirates of the UAE within a Federal government of the United Arab Emirates, federal framework, although each emirate has jurisdiction over some functions such as civil law enforcement and provision and upkeep of local facilities. Sharjah has been ruled by the Al Qasimi dynasty since the 18th century. The city is a center for culture and industry, and alone contributes 7.4% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates. The city covers an approximate area of 235 km2 and has a population of over 1,800,000 (2022–2023). The sale or consumption of al ...
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Vickers Valetta
The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing monoplane with a tailwheel undercarriage. Development of the Valetta commenced during immediate postwar years as a consequence of Royal Air Force (RAF) interest in a military transport model of the Viking. Amongst the requirements stipulated for the aircraft was the need for it to rapidly alternate between various different roles, including that of a troop transport, air ambulance, freighter, glider tug and paratroop carrier. To accommodate these various roles, many of the aircraft's furnishings were designed to be rapidly removed and replaced by alternative configurations. Further design changes from the Viking included the adoption of more powerful Bristol Hercules 230 radial engines, a reinforced cabin floor and a strengthened underca ...
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Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam. The English word ''bedouin'' comes from the Arabic ''badawī'', which means "desert-dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ''ḥāḍir'', the term for sedentary people. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky ones of the Middle East. They are sometimes traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ''ʿašāʾir''; or ''qabāʾil'' ), and historically share a common culture of herding camels, sheep and goats. The vast majority of Bedouins adhere to Islam, although there are some fewer numbers of Christian Bedouins present in the Fertile Cres ...
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Ibn Saud
Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', a leading Saudi historian found records that show Ibn Saud in 1891 greeting an important tribal delegation. The historian reasoned that a 10 or 11-year-old child (as given by the 1880 birth date) would have been too young to be allowed to greet such a delegation, while an adolescent of 15 or 16 (as given by the 1876 date) would likely have been allowed. When Lacey interviewed one of Ibn Saud's sons prior to writing the book, the son recalled that his father often laughed at records showing his birth date to be 1880. Ibn Saud's response to such records was reportedly that "I swallowed four years of my life." p. 561" – 9 November 1953), known in the Western world as Ibn Saud (; ''Ibn Suʿūd''),''Ibn Saud'', meaning "son of Saud" (see Arabi ...
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Persian Gulf Residency
The Persian Gulf Residency () was a subdivision of the British Empire from 1822 until 1971, whereby the United Kingdom maintained varying degrees of political and economic control over several states in the Persian Gulf, including what is today known as the United Arab Emirates (formerly called the "Trucial States") and at various times southern portions of Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Historical background until 1900 British interest in the Persian Gulf originated in the sixteenth century and steadily increased as British India's importance rose in the Empire, imperial system of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the beginning, the agenda was primarily commercial. Realizing the region's significance, the English fleet supported the Persian emperor Abbas the Great, Abbas I in Anglo-Persian capture of Hormuz, expelling the Portuguese from Hormuz Island in 1622. In return, the East India Company was permitted to establish a trading post in the coastal city of ...
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British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or direct rule in India. * Quote: "Mill, who was himself employed by the British East India company from the age of seventeen until the British government assumed direct rule over India in 1858." * * The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, which were collectively called ''Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India'', and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British British paramountcy, paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially. As ''India'', it was a founding member of th ...
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Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- largest company in the world by revenue and is headquartered in Dhahran. Saudi Aramco has both the world's second-largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than , and largest daily oil production of all oil-producing companies. Saudi Aramco operates the world's largest single hydrocarbon network, the Master Gas System. In 2024, its oil production total was 12.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and it manages over one hundred oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia, including 288.4 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas reserves. Along the Eastern Province, Saudi Aramco most notably operates the Ghawar Field (the world's largest onshore oil field) and the Safaniya Field (the world's largest offshore oil field).
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