Dibba
Encyclopedia
Dibba sometimes spelled Diba or Daba, is a coastal region at the northeastern tip of the United Arab Emirates
(UAE)/Oman
peninsula on the Gulf of Oman
. It is politically divided into three parts:
. There is some slight evidence, mainly from tombs, of settlement during the later 2nd millennium and the early first millennium BC, contemporary with such sites as Shimal, Tell Abraq and Rumeilah. There is also scattered occupation during the period of al-Dur and Mileiha
but it is in the period just prior to, and after, the coming of Islam that we hear most about Dibba. Under the Sasanians
, and their Omani clients the Al-Julanda, an important market existed at Dibba and that it was sometimes the capital of Oman. According to Ibn Habib "merchants from Sindh
, India, China, people of the East and West came to it."
Soon after the death of the prophet Muhammad
a rebellion broke out at Dibba and a faction of the Azd
, led by Laqit bin Malik Dhu at-Taj, rejected Islam. According to one tradition Laqit was killed by an envoy of the caliph Abu Bakr
in what may have been a relatively small struggle, while other sources including Al-Tabari
say that at least 10,000 rebels were killed in one of the biggest battles of the Ridda wars. The plain behind Dibba still contains a large cemetery which according to local tradition represents the fallen apostates of Dibba.
During the time of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tadid
(AD 870–892) a great battle was fought at Dibba during the conquest of Oman by the Abbasid governor of Iraq and Bahrain, Muhammad bin Nur. Thereafter references to Dibba in historical literature are scarce, until we come to the Portuguese
who built a fortress there. Dibba (Debe) appears in the list of southeast Arabian placenames preserved by the Venetian
jeweler Gasparo Balbi in AD 1580 and depictions of its Portuguese fort can be found in several sources, such as Cortesao's Portugalliae monumenta cartographica.
Around 1620–1621 the Italian
traveller Pietro Della Valle
, while staying with the Sultan of Bandar Abbas
, met the son of the ruler of Dibba. From this he learned that Dibba had formerly been subject to the kingdom of Hormuz
, but was at that time loyal to the Safavids. In 1623 Safavids sent troops to Dibba, Khor Fakkan
and other ports on the southeast coast of Arabia in order to prepare for a Portuguese counter-attack, following their expulsion from Hormuz (Jarun). The Portuguese, under Rui Freire, were so successful that the people of Dibba turned on their Safavid overlords putting them all to death, whereupon a Portuguese garrison
of 50 men was installed at Dibba. More Portuguese forces had to be sent to Dibba in 1627 as a result of an Arab revolt. Two years later the Portuguese proposed moving part of the Mandaean
population of southern Iraq to Dibba under pressure from neighbouring Arab tribes . Although Dibba was offered to the Mandaeans they were wise enough to see that the Portuguese force there would be insufficient to guarantee their security and, while a few Mandaeans tested the waters by moving to Muscat
, most returned to Basra
in AD 1630.
In 1645 the Portuguese still held Dibba but the Dutch, searching for potential sites for new commercial activities, sent the warship Zeemeeuw ('Seagull') to explore the Musandam peninsula between Khasab
, on the Persian Gulf side, and Dibba on the east coast. Claes Speelman, the captain of the Zeemeeuw, made drawings in his logbook, including what is certainly the earliest depiction of Dibba in a European source. Within a year or two the Portuguese were forced out of Dibba and held only Khasab and Muscat, which they finally lost in 1650.
Eleven years later Jacob Vogel's description of the east coast of the Oman peninsula, prepared for the Dutch East India Company
in 1666, contained the following: "Dabba (which we were unable to visit because of calm and counter currents) is a place (according to the interpreter assigned to us) with about 300 small houses constructed from branches of date trees ... During the days of the Portuguese, there were here 4 fortresses of which the biggest one is still standing. This place also has a valley with a lot of date trees under which there are water wells, where one can get fresh water. At the Northern side of Dabba there is a small fresh water river where the fishermen live.".
The 1900s witnessed land disputes over Dibba.
, which means that it had a displacement or seismic activity during the geologically recent period, and is one of the two faults that run through the UAE. The fault crosses into Oman
near the from the north and runs southward to the centre of the Arabian Peninsula
. Gulf News
reported that people in Dibba have felt at least 150 tremor
s during 2003 and 2004 which indicates that there is a major earthquake waiting to happen in the area. Dibba also felt the 2005 Qeshm earthquake.
The Mesozoic
and the Cenozoic
accretionary wedge
is truncated on the western side by the right lateral fault, the Zendan Fault – Oman Line. West of the transform are the Zagros Mountains
of southern Iran, the Musandam peninsula and the Oman Mountains, and the Arabian platform and the Dibba Fault. The Dibba Fault separates the ophiolites
in the Oman Mountains from the Mesozoic carbonates in the Musandam Peninsula.
On March 31, 2009, Gulfnews reported that the UAE's National Centre of Metrology and Seismology (NCMS) recorded two earth tremors, measuring magnitudes of 2.9 and 3.5 on the Richter scale, which shook the Gulf of Aden and the north of Dibba at 6.21am and 9.35am. The tremors were lightly felt in some areas of the northern emirates.
affected the sea around Dibba and reached the tourist hot-spots of 'Aqqah and Al-Faqeet, which contain several high-end resorts. 95 per cent of coral
s in the Dibba Marine Protected Zone were destroyed and the fish population dwindled to a minimum. Rita Bento, a marine biologist working with the Emirates Diving Association (EDA), said she saw only three fish during an hour-long dive in an area where previously hundreds were seen.
, which caused damage to buildings and homes.
. Indian and Chinese merchant activity has also been discovered in Dibba, and in Chinese sources as well.
In the early 1950s Bibby appealed to his wartime acquaintance, P. V. Glob, professor of Prehistory
at Aarhus University, and together they organized the first modern archaeological expedition to the Persian Gulf region
, including Dibba.
. It contains several small villages located between the mountains and the seacoast. In winter people from all over the Emirates travel to Dibba to camp
in the mountains and in summer they enjoy water sports and the sandy beaches. Beaches in Dibba are considered among the best of the UAE and have many luxury hotels.
to the east, Dibba Al-Baya to the north, and Dibba Al-Fujairah to the south. It is the smallest in size among the other "Dibbas" and is notable mostly for its fish market and a fortress, after which the town is named. Its population density is greater than the other towns. There have been land disputes between Dibba Al-Hisn and Dibba Al-Baya, which were resolved in the 1990s.
Dibba Al-Hisn is believed to be the site where the Portuguese built a fort and a wall around the city during the Iberian Union
.
peninsula.
popular in the UAE and Oman
. It is used to express the ability of proving a point or test if a fact is true or not, since Dibba allegedly enjoys a cooler weather in the summer than the rest of the UAE.
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
(UAE)/Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
peninsula on the Gulf of Oman
Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman is a strait that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf. It is generally included as a branch of the Persian Gulf, not as an arm of the Arabian Sea. On the north coast is Pakistan and Iran...
. It is politically divided into three parts:
- Dibba Al-FujairahDibba Al-FujairahDibba Al-Fujairah is a name of a settlement in the emirate of Fujairah located on the North east part of the United Arab Emirates. It is geographically part of the Dibba region. Dibba is considered to be the 2nd largest city in the emirate of Fujairah...
(دبا الفجيرة), ruled by the Emirate of FujairahFujairahFujairah is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, and the only one on the Gulf of Oman in the country's east instead of Persian Gulf .-History:...
, UAEUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a... - Dibba Al-HisnDibba Al-HisnDibba Al-Hisn is an enclave of the emirate of Al-Sharjah, one of the seven of the United Arab Emirates. It is bordered by the Gulf of Oman from the East, Dibba Al-Baya from the North, and Dibba Al-Fujairah from the South. It is also geographically part of the Dibba region. It is the smallest in...
(دبا الحصن), ruled by the Emirate of Sharjah, UAEUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a... - Dibba Al-BayaDibba Al-BayaDibba Al-Baya is geographically part of the Dibba region. It is a district or a wilaya in the governorate or the muhafazah of Musandam part of the Sultanate of Oman, on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula....
(دبا البيعة), ruled by the Governorate of MusandamMusandamMusandam Governorate is a governorate of Oman.Geographically, the Musandam peninsula juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entry into the Persian Gulf, from the Arabian Peninsula. The Musandam peninsula is an exclave of Oman, separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates...
, OmanOmanOman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
Etymology
Scholars have suggested two possible origins for the name Dibba:- It may have been named at a time when it was invaded by hordes of locustLocustLocusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...
s, which in Literary ArabicLiterary ArabicModern Standard Arabic , Standard Arabic, or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in most formal speech....
are called daba.
- The name may refer to the bloodshed during the Ridda warsRidda warsThe Ridda wars , also known as the Wars of Apostasy, were a series of military campaigns against the rebellion of several Arabian tribes launched by the Caliph Abu Bakr during 632 and 633 AD, after prophet Muhammad died....
; blood in Arabic is dama, and that word may have evolved over time to daba. Today the town is called Daba by its natives and in OmanOmanOman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
; but in most of the United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, it is called Dibba.
History
This large natural harbour on the east coast of the northern Emirates has been an important site of maritime trade and settlement since the pre-Islamic eraPre-Islamic Arabia
Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabic civilization which existed in the Arabian Plate before the rise of Islam in the 630s. The study of Pre-Islamic Arabia is important to Islamic studies as it provides the context for the development of Islam.-Studies:...
. There is some slight evidence, mainly from tombs, of settlement during the later 2nd millennium and the early first millennium BC, contemporary with such sites as Shimal, Tell Abraq and Rumeilah. There is also scattered occupation during the period of al-Dur and Mileiha
Mileiha
Mileiha is a village in the United Arab Emirates and the location of archaeological remnants dating from the Neolithic to pre-Islamic Arabia....
but it is in the period just prior to, and after, the coming of Islam that we hear most about Dibba. Under the Sasanians
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
, and their Omani clients the Al-Julanda, an important market existed at Dibba and that it was sometimes the capital of Oman. According to Ibn Habib "merchants from Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, India, China, people of the East and West came to it."
Soon after the death of the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
a rebellion broke out at Dibba and a faction of the Azd
Azd
The Azd or Al Azd, are an Arabian tribe. They were a branch of the Kahlan tribe, which was one of the two branches of Qahtan the other being Himyar.In the ancient times, they inhabited Ma'rib, the capital city of the Sabaean Kingdom in modern-day Yemen...
, led by Laqit bin Malik Dhu at-Taj, rejected Islam. According to one tradition Laqit was killed by an envoy of the caliph Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
in what may have been a relatively small struggle, while other sources including Al-Tabari
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...
say that at least 10,000 rebels were killed in one of the biggest battles of the Ridda wars. The plain behind Dibba still contains a large cemetery which according to local tradition represents the fallen apostates of Dibba.
During the time of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tadid
Al-Mu'tadid
Al-Mu'tadid was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 892 to 902. As the son and heir of the powerful vizier and virtual regent Al-Muwaffaq , Mu'tadid was already in possession of supreme power even before he was appointed Caliph, and continued as Caliph to ably administer the Government...
(AD 870–892) a great battle was fought at Dibba during the conquest of Oman by the Abbasid governor of Iraq and Bahrain, Muhammad bin Nur. Thereafter references to Dibba in historical literature are scarce, until we come to the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
who built a fortress there. Dibba (Debe) appears in the list of southeast Arabian placenames preserved by the Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
jeweler Gasparo Balbi in AD 1580 and depictions of its Portuguese fort can be found in several sources, such as Cortesao's Portugalliae monumenta cartographica.
Around 1620–1621 the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
traveller Pietro Della Valle
Pietro Della Valle
Pietro della Valle was an Italian who traveled throughout Asia during the Renaissance period. His travels took him to the Holy Land, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and as Far as India.-Biography:...
, while staying with the Sultan of Bandar Abbas
Bandar Abbas
Bandar-Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās , also Romanized as Bandar ‘Abbās, Bandar ‘Abbāsī, and Bandar-e ‘Abbās; formerly known as Cambarão and Port Comorão to Portuguese traders, as Gombroon to English traders and as Gamrun or Gumrun to Dutch merchants) is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on...
, met the son of the ruler of Dibba. From this he learned that Dibba had formerly been subject to the kingdom of Hormuz
Ormus
The Kingdom of Ormus was a 10th to 17th century kingdom located within the Persian Gulf and extending as far as the Strait of Hormuz...
, but was at that time loyal to the Safavids. In 1623 Safavids sent troops to Dibba, Khor Fakkan
Khor Fakkan
Khor Fakkan is a town located along the Gulf of Oman on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates . The town is set on the picturesque bay of Khor Fakkan, which means "Creek of Two Jaws". Khor Fakkan belongs to the emirate of Sharjah but is geographically surrounded by the emirate of Fujairah...
and other ports on the southeast coast of Arabia in order to prepare for a Portuguese counter-attack, following their expulsion from Hormuz (Jarun). The Portuguese, under Rui Freire, were so successful that the people of Dibba turned on their Safavid overlords putting them all to death, whereupon a Portuguese garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
of 50 men was installed at Dibba. More Portuguese forces had to be sent to Dibba in 1627 as a result of an Arab revolt. Two years later the Portuguese proposed moving part of the Mandaean
Mandaeism
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a Gnostic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist...
population of southern Iraq to Dibba under pressure from neighbouring Arab tribes . Although Dibba was offered to the Mandaeans they were wise enough to see that the Portuguese force there would be insufficient to guarantee their security and, while a few Mandaeans tested the waters by moving to Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
, most returned to Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
in AD 1630.
In 1645 the Portuguese still held Dibba but the Dutch, searching for potential sites for new commercial activities, sent the warship Zeemeeuw ('Seagull') to explore the Musandam peninsula between Khasab
Khasab
Khasab is a city in an exclave of Oman. It is the local capital of the Musandam peninsula. Khasab is located 500 kilometers from Muscat and is dubbed the "Norway of Arabia". The Portuguese built Khasab at the beginning of the 17th century at the height of their naval presence in the region. The...
, on the Persian Gulf side, and Dibba on the east coast. Claes Speelman, the captain of the Zeemeeuw, made drawings in his logbook, including what is certainly the earliest depiction of Dibba in a European source. Within a year or two the Portuguese were forced out of Dibba and held only Khasab and Muscat, which they finally lost in 1650.
Eleven years later Jacob Vogel's description of the east coast of the Oman peninsula, prepared for the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
in 1666, contained the following: "Dabba (which we were unable to visit because of calm and counter currents) is a place (according to the interpreter assigned to us) with about 300 small houses constructed from branches of date trees ... During the days of the Portuguese, there were here 4 fortresses of which the biggest one is still standing. This place also has a valley with a lot of date trees under which there are water wells, where one can get fresh water. At the Northern side of Dabba there is a small fresh water river where the fishermen live.".
The 1900s witnessed land disputes over Dibba.
Geology
The Dibba Fault is an active faultActive fault
An active fault is a fault that is likely to have another earthquake sometime in the future. Faults are commonly considered to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,000 years....
, which means that it had a displacement or seismic activity during the geologically recent period, and is one of the two faults that run through the UAE. The fault crosses into Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
near the from the north and runs southward to the centre of the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
. Gulf News
Gulf News
Gulf News is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates with a December 2009 BPA audited circulation of over 117,036 qualified copies...
reported that people in Dibba have felt at least 150 tremor
Tremor
A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving to-and-fro movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, eyes, face, head, vocal folds, trunk, and legs. Most tremors occur in the...
s during 2003 and 2004 which indicates that there is a major earthquake waiting to happen in the area. Dibba also felt the 2005 Qeshm earthquake.
The Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
and the Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
accretionary wedge
Accretionary wedge
An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism is formed from sediments that are accreted onto the non-subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary...
is truncated on the western side by the right lateral fault, the Zendan Fault – Oman Line. West of the transform are the Zagros Mountains
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...
of southern Iran, the Musandam peninsula and the Oman Mountains, and the Arabian platform and the Dibba Fault. The Dibba Fault separates the ophiolites
Ophiolites
An ophiolite is a section of the Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks...
in the Oman Mountains from the Mesozoic carbonates in the Musandam Peninsula.
On March 31, 2009, Gulfnews reported that the UAE's National Centre of Metrology and Seismology (NCMS) recorded two earth tremors, measuring magnitudes of 2.9 and 3.5 on the Richter scale, which shook the Gulf of Aden and the north of Dibba at 6.21am and 9.35am. The tremors were lightly felt in some areas of the northern emirates.
Marine life
In 2008 an algal bloomAlgal bloom
An algal bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system. Algal blooms may occur in freshwater as well as marine environments. Typically, only one or a small number of phytoplankton species are involved, and some blooms may be recognized by discoloration...
affected the sea around Dibba and reached the tourist hot-spots of 'Aqqah and Al-Faqeet, which contain several high-end resorts. 95 per cent of coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
s in the Dibba Marine Protected Zone were destroyed and the fish population dwindled to a minimum. Rita Bento, a marine biologist working with the Emirates Diving Association (EDA), said she saw only three fish during an hour-long dive in an area where previously hundreds were seen.
Natural disasters
In June 2007, Dibba was affected by Cyclone GonuCyclone Gonu
Cyclone Gonu is the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea, and is also the strongest named cyclone in the northern Indian Ocean...
, which caused damage to buildings and homes.
Archaeology
There is evidence of extensive ancient settlement and Dibba was an international market on the coast of Oman frequented by merchants from India and China sailing through the Arabian SeaArabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
. Indian and Chinese merchant activity has also been discovered in Dibba, and in Chinese sources as well.
In the early 1950s Bibby appealed to his wartime acquaintance, P. V. Glob, professor of Prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
at Aarhus University, and together they organized the first modern archaeological expedition to the Persian Gulf region
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
"Arab states of the Persian Gulf" or "Arab Persian Gulf states" or "Persian Gulf Arab states" or "Arabic Persian Gulf states" or "Arab States of The Gulf", are terms that refer to the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf....
, including Dibba.
Dibba Al-Fujairah
Dibba Al-Fujairah on the east coast is one of the largest towns in FujairahFujairah
Fujairah is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, and the only one on the Gulf of Oman in the country's east instead of Persian Gulf .-History:...
. It contains several small villages located between the mountains and the seacoast. In winter people from all over the Emirates travel to Dibba to camp
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
in the mountains and in summer they enjoy water sports and the sandy beaches. Beaches in Dibba are considered among the best of the UAE and have many luxury hotels.
Dibba Al-Hisn
Dibba Al-Hisn is bordered by the Gulf of OmanGulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman is a strait that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf. It is generally included as a branch of the Persian Gulf, not as an arm of the Arabian Sea. On the north coast is Pakistan and Iran...
to the east, Dibba Al-Baya to the north, and Dibba Al-Fujairah to the south. It is the smallest in size among the other "Dibbas" and is notable mostly for its fish market and a fortress, after which the town is named. Its population density is greater than the other towns. There have been land disputes between Dibba Al-Hisn and Dibba Al-Baya, which were resolved in the 1990s.
Dibba Al-Hisn is believed to be the site where the Portuguese built a fort and a wall around the city during the Iberian Union
Iberian Union
The Iberian union was a political unit that governed all of the Iberian Peninsula south of the Pyrenees from 1580–1640, through a dynastic union between the monarchies of Portugal and Spain after the War of the Portuguese Succession...
.
Dibba Al-Baya
Dibba Al-Baya is the most northerly of the three "Dibbas" and acts as a gateway to the MusandamMusandam
Musandam Governorate is a governorate of Oman.Geographically, the Musandam peninsula juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entry into the Persian Gulf, from the Arabian Peninsula. The Musandam peninsula is an exclave of Oman, separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates...
peninsula.
Notable people
- Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah, an AzdAzdThe Azd or Al Azd, are an Arabian tribe. They were a branch of the Kahlan tribe, which was one of the two branches of Qahtan the other being Himyar.In the ancient times, they inhabited Ma'rib, the capital city of the Sabaean Kingdom in modern-day Yemen...
i ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and an eminent military commander born in Dibba, whose name appeared on the first-edition of the United Arab Emirates dirhamDirhamDirham or dirhem is a unit of currency in several Arab or Berber nations, and formerly the related unit of mass in the Ottoman Empire and Persian states...
coins shortly after the people of the country accepted IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
- Laqit bin Malik: A false prophetFalse prophetIn religion, a false prophet is one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy, or who uses that gift for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneously considered a "false prophet" by others....
and an AzdAzdThe Azd or Al Azd, are an Arabian tribe. They were a branch of the Kahlan tribe, which was one of the two branches of Qahtan the other being Himyar.In the ancient times, they inhabited Ma'rib, the capital city of the Sabaean Kingdom in modern-day Yemen...
i Arab in Dibba also known as the "Crowned One (Dhul'-Taj)" who rose against the local Muslim Julanda rulers. The army led by Hudayfa and supported by Ikrimah ibn Abi-JahlIkrimah ibn Abi-JahlIkrimah ibn Abi Jahl was an important early Muslim leader and companion of Muhammad. As the son of Abu Jahl, Ikrimah was at first, one of the chief Mecca opponents to Muhammad....
and 'Arfaja arrived at Al AinAl AinAl Ain |Spring]]), also known as the Garden City due to its greenery, is the second largest city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the fourth largest city in the United Arab Emirates. With a population of 374,000 , it is located approximately 160 km east of the capital Abu Dhabi and about...
/ Buraimi where they wrote to local tribes to convince them to abandon the revolt. They then marched against and defeated Laqit in battle at Dibba, where reports of combined casualties of 10,000 are mentioned. Hudayfah then remained in Oman as governor restoring peace with the local tribes and bringing them back to the fold of Islam while the remaining troops to Mahra in southern Arabia to Ash ShihrAsh ShihrAsh Shihr is a coastal town in Hadhramaut, southern Yemen. It is located at around . It was a part of the Qu'aiti Sultanate before the unified Yemen was formed.-External Links:*...
in Yemen.
In popular culture
"We will go to Dibba, and we will see how summer feels like" is a sayingSaying
A saying is something that is said, notable in one respect or another, to be "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth."There are a number of specific types of saying:...
popular in the UAE and Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
. It is used to express the ability of proving a point or test if a fact is true or not, since Dibba allegedly enjoys a cooler weather in the summer than the rest of the UAE.