Trade in Dubai
In the period 1830-1900/1245-1318H, output was worth an average of USD 1,750,000 a year, rising to nearly USD 4,000,000 in the first decade of the twentieth century.
Huge fleets of pearling vessels set out to the oyster banks each season.
Bahrain had 900 pearling dhows, Kuwait 600, and the Trucial States 1200 (of which 335 were from Dubai).
Alongside the fishermen and divers there were merchants, traders, dhow builders and those who guarded the villages while the fleet was away.