Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi

Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi was the Sheikh, or head man, of the township of Al Heera, today a suburb of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. A highly influential and often divisive figure in regional politics during the early 20th century in the Trucial States, he was referred to by one British Political Resident as ‘a stormy petrel of the Trucial Coast, a man feared by everyone in and around Sharjah’.

Frequently at odds with other rulers of communities in the Trucial Coast, he was also often in trouble with the British administration. However, he was also instrumental in concluding negotiations between the British and the Ruler of Sharjah, Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, for the establishment of an airport in Sharjah and the construction of the associated Mahatta Fort.