Buraimi was part of Oman from early historical times from around 600 AD the Azd tribes of Oman occupied the area. Then Al Buraimi town was abandoned in the 700s. Al Nuaimi tribe, the original people of the town, rebuilt and ruled it in the 1800s to the 1950s. It had only two rulers, Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed bin Ali AL-Hamood AL Qurtasi Al Naimi, then Sheikh Saqer bin Sultan bin Mohamed Al Hamood Al Qurtasi Al Naimi. The late President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was born in Abu Dhabi but was brought to Al Ain by his mother, Shaikah Salaamah, following the assassination of his father, Sultan bin Zayed. Zayed was raised in a fortified house in the Muaiji district of Al Ain. Since 1761, Abu Dhabi had been ruled by sheikhs of the Al Abu Falah dynasty.
The community of Buraimi is probably best known as the result of an incident known as the "Buraimi Dispute", an episode that contributed to the confirmation of Zayed as the most astute leader in the region.
The Buraimi Dispute arose from Saudi Arabia's claim, first made in 1949, of sovereignty over a large part of Abu Dhabi territory where oil was suspected to be present and an area in a 20-mile circle around the centre of the Buraimi Oasis. The Saudis relied on historical precedent (the Oasis had once been occupied by ancestors of the Saudi King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud) and tax records. Their claim was backed by the American oil company Aramco, which provided logistics and research to support Saudi Arabia. In 1952 a small group of Saudi Arabian guards led by the Saudi Emir of Ras Tanura, Turki bin Abdullah al Utaishan, crossed Abu Dhabi territory and occupied Hamasa, one of three Omani villages in the Oasis, claiming it as part of the eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The Sultan of Muscat and Imam of Oman gathered their forces to expel the Saudis but were persuaded by the British Government to exercise restraint.
A standstill agreement was implemented and, on 30 July
