The Trucial Scouts: Life and Times exhibition is a journey through the history of the United Arab Emirates. It goes back to the country’s earliest years and the days before the Union was formed by the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may he rest in peace.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through a collection of artefacts on loan from the Armed Forces Museum & Military History Center in Abu Dhabi, all of which date back to the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. These artefacts are testimony to the historic Trucial Scouts that was formed in 1951 by royal order of the British Crown, with its headquarters in Sharjah. The primary role of the Scouts was to maintain internal and external security in the Trucial emirates, in addition to protecting the interests of oil companies that were exploring in the region at the time. 

In 1955, and with the permission of Sheikh Shakhbout bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1928 to 1966, one of the Scouts’ brigades set up their regional headquarters in Al Jahili Fort in the city of Al Ain.  

This exhibition highlights the social services that the Trucial Scouts carried out in the Trucial emirates, particularly in the city of Al Ain.