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At the beginning of the 20th century, one-third of Arabia was under the British Empire.

President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is on a visit to India. He is visiting India on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is his fifth visit in the last 10 years. With his visit, the pages of history are being turned and the story has come into discussion when Dubai kept becoming a part of India.

At the beginning of the 20th century, one third of Arabia was under the British Empire. Officially, not only India but also Dubai was under the control of British rule. All the countries from Arabia to Kuwait were under the control of Britain, they were controlled from Delhi. Governance there was done through the Indian Political Service. According to BBC report, legally all these countries were considered part of India. When the list of princely states started in English alphabetical order, the first name was Abu Dhabi.

The then Viceroy Lord Curzon had suggested that Oman should also be considered a part of India like Kalat (today's Balochistan). Indian passports were issued in Aden, today's Yemen. It used to be part of the administration of Bombay province. In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi went on Aden trip. There he met many Arab youth who described themselves as Indian nationalists.

Dubai kept becoming a part of India. Photo: Getty Images

Indians were also ignorant

The special thing is that whether it is India or Britain, very few people knew that the scope of British rule extended to Arabia. The maps of India in which it was shown were printed in secret. Arab states were not shown in the maps that were made public. It was claimed that such a decision was taken to avoid provoking the Saudi regime.

In a BBC report, a lecturer at the Royal Asiatic Society says that the situation can be understood in the same way that the British authorities kept the Arab states a secret, just like a jealous sheikh keeps his wife behind the scenes.

At that time, all the countries from Arabia to Kuwait were under the control of Britain, they were controlled from Delhi.

How did the whole picture change?

The voice of nationalists was becoming louder in India. Meanwhile, seeing the opportunity, London separated Aden from India on 1 April 1937. For this, a telegram message sent by King George VI was sent. The message clearly said, "Aden has been an integral part of India for the last 100 years. Now its political relations with my Indian Empire are ended. It will be a part of my colonial empire."

This is where the change started. After this the decision was taken on Dubai and Kuwait. before India's independence On 1 April 1947, Dubai to Kuwait was separated from India. That means this administrative change happened before the partition of India. All this happened so quietly that no one was even aware of what a huge historical event had happened.

What arguments were counted?

According to historian William Dalrymple, such a decision was taken for several reasons. British officials believed that the culture and politics of India and the Gulf countries were different. However, it was also claimed in many media reports that there were different types of strategies behind this.

British officials wanted to keep it as a separate zone. Did not want to give direct control over sea routes, oil and trade to India. He believed that by gaining control over them, India could become powerful. It was also claimed in some reports that apart from the language, culture and laws of India and the Arabian Peninsula being different, their geographical boundaries also do not connect. Therefore linking it politically was not practical.