By Iftikhar Mashwani
The story of Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi is one of the more turbulent political chapters in the modern history of Sharjah and the Gulf. His career moved from education and Arab nationalism to confrontation with British influence, exile in Egypt and, eventually, a failed attempt to regain power that ended with the assassination of his successor.
Saqr bin Sultan ruled Sharjah from 1951 until June 1965. During his years in power, he became associated with Arab nationalist politics and with the wider political currents inspired by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. He also pursued educational development and sought assistance from Arab countries, including Egypt and Kuwait, at a time when the Trucial States were still under strong British political influence.
The Sharjah ruler’s relationship with Britain deteriorated sharply during the 1960s. The dispute was not simply personal: it reflected a wider struggle over the political future of the Gulf, the authority of the Trucial rulers and Britain’s strategic position in the region.
Education and Arab connections
Saqr’s rule coincided with a period when education was beginning to expand across the Gulf. He sought outside assistance to establish schools and bring teachers to Sharjah, drawing on Arab countries that were increasingly interested in the development of the Gulf states.
His political outlook was also shaped by the rise of Arab nationalism. Egypt under Nasser had become a major centre of that movement, while the Arab League was seeking a greater role in the development and political affairs of the Gulf.
In 1964, an Arab League delegation headed by Secretary-General Abdel Khaleq Hassouna visited the Trucial States. The League subsequently promoted development assistance for the Gulf emirates, including proposals for a development fund. Saqr supported closer Arab involvement and welcomed the establishment of an Arab League presence in Sharjah.
That position brought him into increasing conflict with British officials.
The confrontation with Britain
Britain regarded the Trucial States as part of a wider strategic system in the Gulf. Existing treaties gave Britain considerable influence over the external affairs of the individual rulers.
Saqr increasingly challenged that arrangement.
A particularly revealing confrontation took place in May 1965, when British officials warned him against cooperation with the Arab League. According to an account published by the official website of Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Saqr argued that the principal issue for him was the development of his country and questioned whether British policies were serving British interests or Sharjah’s interests.
The dispute was therefore about more than an Arab League office. It represented a fundamental disagreement over who should determine Sharjah’s political and economic relationships.
Historical accounts differ in emphasis over the circumstances surrounding Saqr’s removal. Some scholarship describes the 1965 change of ruler as a British-backed coup, while archival material also records that members of the Al Qasimi ruling family formally moved to depose Saqr and appoint his cousin Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi.
On 24 June 1965, Saqr was removed from power. He was subsequently sent into exile, eventually settling in Cairo, while Khalid bin Mohammed became ruler of Sharjah. The National Library and Archives of the UAE records Khalid’s rule as lasting from June 1965 until 1972.
Cairo and the life of an exile
Exile did not end Saqr’s political and cultural life.
Cairo provided him with an environment in which Arab intellectual and political currents were particularly strong. Away from the Sharjah court, he continued his involvement in political and cultural circles and developed his literary interests.
Saqr was also a poet. The UAE’s official Poetry Encyclopedia records him as a major modern Arab poet and lists works and poems associated with him. It gives his birth date as 9 December 1925 and records his rule of Sharjah from 1951 to 24 June 1965.
His literary legacy therefore sits alongside his political biography. His poetry provides another dimension to a figure more commonly remembered for his conflicts with Britain and the events that eventually led to his removal from power.
The return to Sharjah
The most dramatic chapter came after the establishment of the United Arab Emirates in December 1971.
On 24 January 1972, Saqr returned to Sharjah from Egypt and attempted to overthrow his cousin Khalid bin Mohammed and recover the position from which he had been removed seven years earlier.
Contemporary reporting by Time described Saqr returning from exile with armed supporters and attacking the ruler’s palace. Fighting followed, and Khalid was killed during the confrontation. Saqr was subsequently captured after UAE forces intervened.
Other historical accounts record that the Union Defence Force surrounded the palace and that Saqr eventually surrendered in the early hours of 25 January. Khalid’s death brought the seven-year rule of the second Al Qasimi ruler to an abrupt end.
The political consequences were immediate. Saqr did not regain the Sharjah throne. Instead, the emirate passed into the hands of Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, who became ruler in 1972.
A complicated historical legacy
Saqr bin Sultan’s life cannot easily be reduced to either the story of an anti-British ruler or that of a failed political challenger.
His first period in power coincided with important changes in Gulf society, particularly the expansion of education and the emergence of stronger connections with the wider Arab world. His support for Arab nationalist ideas and the Arab League placed him on a collision course with Britain’s established political role in the Trucial States.
At the same time, the 1965 change of power cannot be explained solely through one narrative. British pressure was clearly part of the historical context, while members of the Al Qasimi ruling family also participated in the decision to remove him.
Seven years later, Saqr’s attempt to return to power produced an even more consequential outcome: the death of Khalid bin Mohammed and the definitive end of Saqr’s political ambitions in Sharjah.
Politics, exile and poetry
Saqr eventually spent much of the remainder of his life outside Sharjah. He died in 1993.
His legacy consequently occupies several different historical fields: the political history of the Trucial States, the rise of Arab nationalism in the Gulf, Britain’s withdrawal from the region, the formation of the United Arab Emirates, and the development of modern Arabic literature in the Gulf.
Whether he should be regarded as a ruler who anticipated the political transformation of the Gulf or as a leader whose political choices ultimately contributed to his downfall is a matter for historical interpretation rather than a simple verdict.
What is less disputed is the extraordinary arc of his life: a ruler of Sharjah, a supporter of Arab nationalism, an opponent of aspects of British influence, an exile in Cairo, a returning claimant to power, and a poet whose political and literary lives remained intertwined until his death.
His story illustrates the difficult transition through which the Gulf passed during the final decades of British influence — from the politics of protected sheikhdoms to Arab nationalism, decolonisation and, ultimately, the creation of the United Arab Emirates.
