Page 140 - UAE Truncal States
P. 140

Administering a Tribal Society

         profit. He does not recover anything on pearls which are not precious,
         cxcepl the usual diving lax.”70
           In the early 1950s Dahlia island was still very much the centre for
         pearling of the desert based population of Abu Dhabi; of the 40-50
         houses only 8 were inhabited the year round (by Qubaisat families),
         the others belonging mostly to people who also owned houses and
         date gardens in the Llwa. Some Bani Yas owned houses on other
         islands; they also converged on Dalma for the pearling season.77 Most
         of the approximately 65 boats reported to be based on Dalma
         belonged to LTwa-based Bani Yas. A statement made in 1954 by a
         Qubaisi pearl-boat owner from Qutuf shows that of the 14 crew in his
         boat several of the divers were either Qubaisi or other Bani Yas from
         Qutuf, one was a Mazru'i from Maqab where some of the haulers
         came from, and one of the haulers was the servant of a Qubaisi of
         Dalma. This particular nukhada had taken on some Manaslr as
         crew in previous years.
           In 1955 the previous amir of Dalma gave a written description of
         the taxation system which was then still in use on the island.78 It
         involved six types of dues: 1. At the beginning of the pearling season
         a sack of rice, junlyah, and four Rupees /.Oman were collected from
         every boat: half of both amounts were taken from small boats. 2. A
         share equal to the season’s income of one rope-puller, saib, was
         collected as hasilah. This amount was calculated. The remainder was
         shared between divers and saibs at the proportion of three for the
         former and two for the latter, after adding an imaginary saib. The
         share of that saib was the tax due to the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. 3. At the
         end of a season a tax of two Rupees was levied on every qallah (pair,
         a diver and a hauler). 4. On every pearl valued 2,000 Rupees or more a
         tax of 200 Rupees was taken by the Ruler. 5. Naub was at that time
         the term for the tax levied on every pearl merchant or other merchant
         in Dalma or the islands and coastal tracts administered by the amir.
         The tax varied between 2 and 200 Rupees a year for an individual,
         depending on the size of his business. 6. 'Azlmah was a voluntary
         contribution of the pearl merchants towards the cost of a feast
         traditionally given in honour of the Ruler when he or a close relative
         came to Dalma at the end of every diving season.
           Compared to the taxes relating to the pearling industry, taxes on
         agricultural produce amounted to very little almost everywhere in
         the Trucial States. This type of tax was collected in kind, so that the
         Ruler or in some cases the wali could feed the members of his

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