Photo: Who is the old Emirati royal in this over 100-year-old picture?

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Dubai - The picture shows an Emirati man wearing traditional clothes, sporting a a dagger and a long beard.

By Web Report

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Published: Sun 19 Jul 2020, 5:54 PM

Last updated: Mon 20 Jul 2020, 9:47 AM

An old, sepia photo of an Emirati man recently went viral on social media - and it got Netizens thinking, who could he be? The man, with a long dark beard, is seen dressed in traditional Emirati clothes, with a dagger tucked under a belt around his waist. At the bottom of the photo are some scribbles, which read 'Sheik Seyed'.

Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, daughter of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and founder of Emirates Publishers Association, said the man in the photo is  Sheikh Zayed the First - the grandfather and namesake of the UAE's beloved founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.  

Sharing the photo on her Instagram account, Sheikha Bodour said the picture was taken by a captain of naval ship in March 1866.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan - also known as Zayed the Great or Zayed the First -was the ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1855 until his death in 1909.

The photo captured  Zayed the First at 31 years old, Sheikha Bodour said, adding that she found the picture in Sheikh Sultan's library.
hesham@khaleejtimes.com 


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