married to one of Sultan's daughters) and this was granted by the Resident. Alarmed by the scheme, the Ruler of Ajman built a fort at one of the waterways connecting Al Zorah with the mainland (it was at the time an island) and the Ruler of Sharjah, in 1890, appealed to the Resident to prevent this establishment of a non-Al Qasimi stronghold in the midst of his territory. This being upheld, to the annoyance of Zayed who had seen Al Zorah as an extension of his claim to the Northern coast, the scheme was abandoned and the decision to block it was subsequently upheld after a visit to Al Zorah by Major Cox, the British Political Resident. Zayed was also noted by Percy Cox to be "troublesome" and guided the rest of the Sheikhs of Dubai and Umm Al Quwain to not adopt the White Pierced Red flag, the intended flag of the Trucial States, referencing that the flag represents the Al Qawasim tribal federation. In 1892, Zayed signed a treaty with the United Kingdom which effectively ceded control of Abu Dhabi's international commercial relations to the British. By 1894, Zayed was considered the most powerful of the Trucial Sheikhs, replacing the hegemony of Sharjah. Through strategic marriages he had many sons. The eldest of whom was named Khalifa, and had maternal heritage from the Manasir people. He had a brother called Dhiyab who had three sons, Sultan, Mohammed, and Ahmed. See also Al Jahili Fort Sources References Al-Hajji, Jayanti Maitra Afra (2001). Qasr Al Hosn: The History of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi: 1793–1966, Abu Dhabi: Centre for Documentation and Research. Discovery! The Story Of Aramco Then. 1835 births 1909 deaths House of Al Nahyan Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi 19th-century Arabs