Dubai: When David Holden, a correspondent for The Times, arrived in Bahrain during the winter of 1956, he was stepping into a region that was still under the shadow of British influence. Unlike what he anticipated, Holden found echoes of British India everywhere, from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and Oman. The Gulf, at that time, still bore strong traces of its historical ties to the Indian Empire, despite the political shifts that had occurred.
According to BBC, in the early 20th century, nearly a third of the Arabian Peninsula was governed as part of the British Indian Empire. This crescent of protectorates, stretching from Aden to Kuwait, was managed from Delhi and policed by Indian troops. The Interpretation Act of 1889 even legally considered these territories as part of India. However, this link was shrouded in secrecy to avoid provoking geopolitical tensions with the Ottomans and later the Saudis.
In the 1920s, the political landscape began to change. Indian nationalists started envisioning India as a cultural entity rather than an imperial one. Subsequently, the British saw an opportunity to redraw borders, leading to the separation of Aden from India in 1937. This move marked the beginning of the end of India's administrative ties with the Gulf, although the region remained under the purview of the Government of India for another decade.
British officials briefly debated the possibility of India or Pakistan managing the Persian Gulf post-independence. However, it was ultimately decided that Gulf affairs would remain separate from the newly independent nations. As a result, the Gulf states, including Dubai, were officially separated from India in April 1947, just months before the partition of India and Pakistan.
This administrative shift had long-lasting implications. Had the Gulf states remained part of the Indian Empire, they might have become part of India or Pakistan after independence, similar to other princely states in the subcontinent. Instead, Britain's withdrawal from the Gulf was delayed until 1971, maintaining a colonial presence in the region.
Today, the historical ties between the Gulf and British India are largely forgotten. While Gulf states like Dubai remember their past relationship with Britain, the governance from Delhi has been erased from collective memory. Yet, the echoes of this connection persist in private recollections and historical narratives. Dubai, once a peripheral outpost of the Indian Empire, has transformed into a major hub in the Middle East, its past ties to India a quiet footnote in its rapid modernization.