Page 193 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Five

Because the camel-owners among the tribes living in or at the foot
of the Hajar mountains found both grazing and water in the
immediate vicinity of their settlements, few of the beduin sections of
the tribes of theTrucial Stales outside Abu Dhabi territory needed to
lead a fully nomadic life, nor did they confine their pastoral activities
always to camels. Most beduin families of the Na'im, A1 Bu Shamis,
Bani Qitab or Sharqiyin used to own many goats or sheep, which
could graze in the vicinity of their settlements, sometimes together
with the camels; but more often the camels were taken by some
members of the family out into the plains.
Camels were raised primarily for their milk, and also to provide a
mount for their owner and his family and as beasts of burden.
Secondly, they were the only item which a beduin had to sell if
he wanted money to buy the few necessities in life: a rifle and
ammunition, clothing material, cooking implements, camel-trim­
mings, rice, coffee, sugar or even jewellery for a wedding. Probably
the most important camel market of the area used to be 'Ibri in Oman,
but Buraimi village and to some extent Daid and the coastal
settlements were also places where camels changed hands.
The importance of camels for the carrying trade is obvious in a
sandy and waterless terrain. An age-old caravan route passed from
the ports on the western coast through Buraimi to Suhar. With the
expansion of trade into Dubai, when it became a port of call for the
British Indian Steamship Company early in the 20th century, this
town developed into an important caravan terminal as well.
The route between Abu Dhabi town and the Buraimi oasis became
increasingly busy after the Bani Yas and other subjects of the Ruler
of Abu Dhabi consolidated their interests in the oasis. A large
number of families left Abu Dhabi during the summer for the drier
climate and the date harvest in the oasis. Few of those families who
normally lived in Abu Dhabi town owned enough camels to move
their entire households. They used the services of tribesmen who
specialised in this seasonal carrying trade between Abu Dhabi and
the oasis in about the month of May and back again in the autumn.
The A1 Bu Khail subsection of the Manaslr and occasionally some
Dhawahir acted as the principal carriers for this annual summer
migration. At other times in the year these camel owners carried the
charcoal they made themselves, and firewood and dates, limes,
wheat, and other products from the oasis gardens to Abu Dhabi,
Dubai or Sharjah. The journey to the Buraimi oasis, which was

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