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Abu Dhabi
There are various theories about the origins of the name of the
present capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. "The area had a lot of Dhibaa
[deers] and was nicknamed after that," Al Budoor theorises. Another
story reveals that a man who used to chase Dhabi [deer] was named the
"father" of the animal and the name caught on.
Abu Dhabi was previously called Milh or salt, "probably because of
the salty water," Handhal says. Even now, this is the name of an island
in Abu Dhabi.
The word Abu Dhabi means "Father of Deer" referring to the few
Dhibaa living in Al Buteen area, Handhal says, adding that some
Bedouins called the city Umm Dhabi (mother of deer). However, he says,
the British archives refer to the city as Abu Dhabi.
"We still don't know when it was [first] called Abu Dhabi, but Milh was the old name of Abu Dhabi."
However, according to books written by Arab historians and poets, the name was first used more than 300 years ago.
Ahmad Mohammad Obaid, poet and author of Studies on the Dialects of
the UAE, says the old name Abu Dhabi isn't found in Arabic geography
books. Most likely, the name was originally, tho Dhabi, tho referring
to an area that possessed something (in this case, deer), he says. Tho
was perhaps dropped because it was either deemed too heavy or did not
match the idiom of the local dialect.
Hence, its replacement with Abu, which means father.
Abu Dhabi is pronounced as "Bu Dhabi" by inhabitants of the western
coast of the city. In the eastern part of the city, the pronunciation
is "Abu".
Based on old Omani records, the present mainland of Abu Dhabi, Al
Dhafra, was inhabited before Abu Dhabi. It was an island in the land of
Bani Yas, where the dominant tribes, the Al Nahyan and Al Maktoum,
resided.
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