Parent house
Country
Founded
Founder
Maktoum bin Butti (died 1852)
Current head
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Titles
Extended family
Extended family
The House of Maktoum (Arabic: آل مكتوم Āl Maktūm) is the ruling royal family of the Emirate of Dubai, and one of the six ruling families of the United Arab Emirates. The family is a branch of the Bani Yas clan (a lineage the family shares with the Al Nahyan dynasty of Abu Dhabi), which is a branch of the Al Bu Falasah section of the Bani Yas, a tribal federation that was the dominant power through the region that now forms the United Arab Emirates.
In 1833, about 800 members of the Bani Yas tribe, under the joint leadership of Sheikh Maktoum bin Butti and Obeid bin Said, took over the emirate of Dubai. After Obeid bin Said died of old age in 1836, Maktoum bin Butti took the reins as the sole ruler and established the Al Maktoum dynasty in the emirate.[1][2]
The Al Maktoum dynasty has ruled Dubai since 1833.[3] Within the federation of the United Arab Emirates, the Federal Supreme Council consists of the individual rulers of the seven emirates. The president and vice-president are elected by the Supreme Council every five years.[4] Although unofficial, the presidency is de facto hereditary to the Al Nahyan clan of Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Prime Minister, Vice President and Minister of Defence post de facto is hereditary to the Al Maktoum clan of Dubai.
Butti
bin Suhail
Maktoum
bin Butti
(1)
r. 1833–1852
Saeed
bin Butti
(2)
r. 1852–1859
Hasher bin
Maktoum
(3)
r. 1859–1886
Rashid bin
Maktoum
(4)
r. 1886–1894
Suhail bin
Maktoum
Al Maktoum
Maktoum
bin Hasher
(5)
r. 1894–1906
Butti bin
Suhail
(6)
r. 1906–1912
Saeed bin
Maktoum
(7)
r. 1912–1958
Rashid
bin Saeed
(8)
r. 1958–1990
(1)
r. 1971–1990
r. 1979–1990
Maktoum
bin Juma
Al Maktoum
Thani
bin Juma
Al Maktoum
Maktoum
bin Rashid
(9)
r. 1990–2006
(2)
r. 1990–2006
r. 1971–1979,
1990–2006
Muhammad
bin Rashid
(10)
r. 2006–present
(3)
r. 2006–present
r. 2006–present
Fatima
bint Thani
Al Maktoum
Hamad bin
Muhammad
Fujairah
(4)
r. 1974/5–present
The following Al Maktoum family members have ruled Dubai:[1]
Name
Lifespan
Reign start
Reign end
Notes
Family
Image
Unknown
–
1852
9 July 1833
1852
(death by smallpox)
Joint founder of the Al Maktoum clan and first ruler of Dubai, alongside Obeid bin Said bin Rashid
Unknown
–
1859
1852
1859
(death by smallpox)
Brother of Maktoum bin Butti bin Suhail
Unknown
–
1886
1859
22 November 1886
(death by natural causes)
Nephew of Saeed bin Butti
Unknown
–
1894
22 November 1886
7 April 1894
(death by paralytic seizure)
Brother of Hasher bin Maktoum bin Butti Al Maktoum
House of Al Maktoum
Unknown
–
1906
7 April 1894
16 February 1906
(death by heart disease)
Nephew of Rashid bin Maktoum
House of Al Maktoum
1850
–
1912
16 February 1906
November 1912
(death by natural causes)
Cousin of Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum
House of Al Maktoum
1878
–
9 September 1958
November 1912
September 1958
(death by natural causes)
Son of Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum
House of Al Maktoum
11 June 1912
–
7 October 1990
September 1958
7 October 1990
(death by natural causes)
Son of Saeed bin Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum and one of the founders of the United Arab Emirates in 1971.
House of Al Maktoum
15 August 1943
–
4 January 2006
7 October 1990
4 January 2006
(death by heart attack)
Son of Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum
House of Al Maktoum
15 July 1949
–
current
4 January 2006
Incumbent
Son of Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Current Ruler of Dubai, Vice President, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates[5]
House of Al Maktoum
The Al Maktoum family owns Godolphin, one of the premier thoroughbred studs.[6]
In 2001, Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum alleged that she was kidnapped off the streets of Cambridge by her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s men.[7]
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum also alleged that she was kidnapped off the coast of India on the orders of her father. She has stated that she was detained under police guard in Dubai.[8] The actions taken against the princesses was allegedly motivated by a desire to protect the reputation of the Al Maktoum family.[9]
On 29 June 2019, The Sun reported that the wife of Sheikh Mohammed, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, had fled Dubai and was in Germany seeking political asylum along with her children son and daughter.[10][11][12] The cause of the departure was unknown,[13] despite a poem reportedly composed by Dubai’s ruler alluding to betrayal.[13][14] On 30 July 2019 at the High Court, she filed for the sole custody of their two children, for a forced marriage protection order (FMPO), a non-molestation order, and non-repatriation to Dubai.[15]
In December 2019, a UK family court ruled that—on the balance of probabilities—Sheikh Mohammed had orchestrated the abductions of Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa and that he continued to maintain a regime whereby both were deprived of their liberty, and had subjected his former wife, Princess Haya, to a campaign of "intimidation"; the findings were published in March 2020.[16][17][18]
Rulers
These prefixes ignored in the alphabetical ordering: Al, Al-Bu, Albu, Banu.
Tribal coalition
Part of Arab tribes
Authority control databases: National