When Dubai Nearly Became Part of India: A Forgotten Chapter of History

Fri Jan 09 2026 04:23:36 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A deep dive into the historical ties between the Arabian Peninsula and British India, exploring how Dubai and other Gulf states were once considered an extension of the Indian Empire.

In the mid-20th century, significant political shifts led to the disconnection of Gulf states like Dubai from British India, despite their deep historical ties. During the British Raj, parts of the Arabian Peninsula were governed from Delhi, and many locals identified as Indian nationalists. However, a quiet series of decisions shifted the destiny of these states away from India, reshaping the region's future.

In the winter of 1956, The Times correspondent David Holden found himself in Bahrain, a British protectorate, reflecting on the lingering influence of British India in the Gulf. He noted the presence of familiar customs, from curry lunches reflecting Anglo-Indian traditions to local officials educated in India. "The Raj maintains here a slightly phantasmal sway," he observed, confirming the deep-rooted connections between the regions.

During the early 20th Century, nearly a third of the Arabian Peninsula was governed as part of the British Indian Empire, with the Indian Political Service overseeing the administration from Aden to Kuwait. These territories, recognized legally as part of India under the Interpretation Act of 1889, contained traces of Indian culture, politics, and military presence. Aden, for instance, served as India's westernmost port, where many young Arabs identified with Indian nationalism when Mahatma Gandhi visited in 1931.

Despite these connections, knowledge of the Gulf states as extensions of the British Raj remained limited within the British and Indian public spheres. Maps depicting the full scope of the Indian Empire were kept secret, avoiding potential conflicts with the Ottomans and Saudis. As political landscapes shifted in the 1920s, Indian nationalists envisioned a future based on cultural identity rather than imperial constructs. This gradual redrawing of boundaries began with Aden's separation from India on April 1, 1937, culminating in a broader disassociation of the Gulf states shortly before the Indian subcontinent itself was partitioned.

In discussions about British withdrawal from Arabian territories, the notion of granting responsibility to Indians or Pakistanis was met with resistance, leading to the final detachment of Dubai and surrounding states from India on April 1, 1947. As the Gulf states transitioned into an 'Arabian Raj' under direct control from Whitehall, their connections to India began to fade from collective memory.

The official currency remained the Indian rupee, and the governance structure was heavily influenced by the Indian Political Service until British withdrawal in 1971. This marked the end of a historical chapter where India’s administrative footprint in the Gulf had persisted for over a century. Despite attempts to erase these connections from the national narratives of the Gulf states, private memories and the implications of the past linger, reflecting a transformation that reshaped the identities of nations.

Today, Dubai stands as a beacon of economic prosperity and modernity, with a significant Indian population unaware of the historical context that once linked them to the oil-rich Gulf states. A subtle bureaucratic decision during the twilight of empire severed the ties, leaving only echoes of a bygone era where Dubai could have flourished as a part of a larger Indian union.