Rams is a suburb of

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...

in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Once a

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

diving and fishing community that frequently disputed the rule of Ras Al Khaimah, today it forms the northern coastal settlement of the city.

History

A coastal community, Rams' hinterland consists of palm groves and the fort of Dhayah. It was at Rams that the British punitive expedition landed in 1819, following the sack of Ras Al Khaimah. The British fought their way inland to Dhayah, where they encountered spirited resistance, finally taking the surrender of almost 800 men, women and children after surrounding and bombarding the fort for some three days. The

General Maritime Treaty of 1820 The General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was initially signed between the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Great Britain in January 1820, with the nearby island state of Bahrain acceding to the treaty in the fol ...

was signed by Hassan bin Ali, 'Sheikh of Zyah' who was, in fact, the Sheikh of Rams and Dhayah. Rams was traditionally home to the Tanaij tribe, all 400 houses there were settled by the early 19th century by that tribe. Almost a hundred years later, the village had a single shop, kept by a Persian gentleman, and some 7,000 date palms. The inland area of Dhayah was by then uninhabited, having been sacked by the British in 1819. They mostly relied on pearl fishing, with a fleet of 3 pearl boats and 10 fishing boats. The Tanaij of Rams would frequently hire members of the mountain Shihuh tribe for pearling expeditions. Themselves desiring independence, Rams' community frequently came into conflict with the Rulers of Ras Al Khaimah. It has a long, 1.6 km beach, which has in recent year witnessed a number of ecological disasters, including a mass death event where thousands of dead fish, thought to be sardines, were washed up on the beach in May 2018. Earlier in the year, a 9-meter whale was washed up. With its long history of pearl fishing, many of the older buildings in Rams (constructed from wood, coral and local materials) are being considered for redevelopment.

Nature

Thousands of blue blubber jellyfish washed up along the shores of Rams in March and April 2019, which was unusual for this time of the year. Fishermen had to net the jellyfish as they disrupted their work.

References

Populated places in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah {{UnitedArabEmirates-geo-stub