Translated Ras Al Khaima means top of the tent, and indeed the Emirate contains the highest peak in the United Arab Emirates. In the old days it probably had some great smugglers dens. Now it hosts the worlds longest zip line. This stamp collector would rather talk about the old days. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp shows the docking of the lunar and command module of that years American Apolo 11 mission to the moon. A note about how spelling changes. They currently list three acceptable spellings for the Emirate in English, none of which is the one this stamp from 1969. The Emirate now seems decisive in wanting an h at the end of Khaima. Interestingly, in the first year of the Emirate’s stamps in 1964, the cancelation to order done on the stamp spelled the Emirate differently than on the actual stamp. The cancellation was prescient on putting the h at the end of Khaima, but then switched the Al to El which again is not one of the three allowed English spellings.
This dune stamp is considered fake so it is not in the catalog. Between 1964 and 1972 1036 stamps and 70 souvenir sheets were issued by Ras Al Khaima. Mid way along the currency switched from Indian Rupees to Riyals so there are even some overprints of early issues changing the currency. This issue of 6 stamps and one souvenir sheet came out on August 15th, 1969.
The area of Ras Al Khaima has been occupied by humans continuously for 7000 years. It is associated historically with the trading post of Julfar. The area has been rules by the House of Al-Qasimi since 1721. Another line of the Royal house rules the Emirate of Sharjah. During this early period the British involved with the private British East India Company labeled the area of the coastline a pirate coast. There is some contention that this is just the British putting labels on trading competitors, however it is known that the Al-Qasimis were tied to the Somalis. Their allies in old times were the Persians and their rivals were the Omanis in Muscat and their British allies.
At first there was much inconclusive fighting with Muscat. In 1820 to they said put a stop to the piracy, the East India Company attacked by land and sea the fort at Ras Al Khaima. When they charged the fort they found it almost deserted. Unable to locate Emir Al-Qasimi, they traveled to Sharjah and had that Al-Qasimi sign a capitulation that agreed to an end to piracy and slavery. Ras Al Khaima again seperated from Sharjah in 1869.
In 1963, the British stopped being the protector and stamp issuer for the Trucial States as they called them. That allowed American fake stamp guru Finbar Kenny come in to fill the stamp breach, signing a deal with Sheik Saqr Al-Qasimi. However the time period was very bad for Ras Al Khaima. Two islands that the Emirate claimed were occupied militarily by Shah era Iran. It seems the Al-Qasimi ties with the Persians had frayed. This became very important to stamp collectors because Ras al Khaima delayed joining the United Arab Emirates until the whole area agreed to to take up the cause of returning the islands. As a result of the delay, Ras Al Khaima produced the last fake dune stamps. Emir Saqr ruled from 1948 -2010.
In 2003 Saqr removed crown prince Khalid in favor of son Saud. Khalid was forced into exile in old rival Muscat, Oman. Upon Saqr’s death on 2010, Khalid posted a video claiming the Emirship for himself, but the Emirate council recognized instead the selection of Saud. Khalid than funded a western PR campaign suggesting that his father and brother were in cahoots with the Islamic Republic of Iran in their nuclear weapons program. Sometimes the Philatelist has to update his scorecard to track the leans. Dunes do shift.
Well my drink is empty. Tomorrow I will have to make a painful announcement as to the future of this website. Come again tomorrow to read it.