NAHYAN, SHAYKH SHAKHBUT IBN ...

born 1905, Abu Dhabi died Feb. 11, 1989, al-'Ayn, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates also spelled Sheikh Shakhbut Bin Sultan An-nahayan, or Nuhayyan Arab potentate who ruled Abu Dhabi from 1928 until he was deposed in 1966. As ruler of the largest emirate within the British-controlled Trucial Coast, Shakhbut maintained friendly relations with the United Kingdom and successfully resisted territorial incursions in a prolonged border dispute with Saudi Arabia. He was an early supporter of Western oil exploration and granted drilling rights that earned Abu Dhabi as much as $70 million per year in the mid-1960s. He was reluctant to invest the emirate's oil earnings in schools and major development projects. On Aug. 6, 1966, a council of the Abu Dhabi royal family replaced him with his more progressive younger brother, Sheikh Zayid ibn Sultan. After four years in exile, Shakhbut returned to the Abu Dhabi royal palace.