Page 228 - UAE Truncal States
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Social Aspects of Traditional Economy

        preneurs came to dominate the whole spectrum of the pearling
        industry: they owned boats, employed nawakhidah and crews and
        bought and sold pearls. Some branched out into financing the yearly
        advances to the owners or nawakhidah of other boats. Following the
        example of the Hindu merchants who were involved in both the trade
        in pearls and the trade in other goods, many Arab entrepreneurs also
        started to import merchandise. When the pearling industry started to
        decline in the 1930s some of the merchants were bankrupted while
        others managed to remain in business under very difficult circum­
        stances in a rapidly-declining market for pearls. The people whose
        livelihood depended directly or indirectly on the pearling industry
        also suffered, through losing their business or through being unable
        to find work. The entire social-economic structure of the pearling
        community in the ports was thrown into confusion.

        The effect of the decline of the pearling industry on
        the desert tribesmen
        By contrast, the way of life of the tribal population in Abu Dhabi was
        not affected so radically by the decline of the pearling industry,
        because the families who had retained their roots in the desert
        concentrated again on utilising its resources. The material collected
        for the U.K. Memorial shows that the multi-skilled tribesmen still
        existed during the first few years of the 1950s. This material is
        supplemented by information given by local people who have
        described the life of the non-urban population of Abu Dhabi at that
        lime. This picture then changed very rapidly after the search for oil
        began.
          During the early 1950s, 42 date groves of the Lfwa were still
        inhabited during the summer months;7 a great number of other
        places in the Lfwa had small groves but no houses. The owners used
        to camp there, collect their dates and either return to their parent
        settlement in the Lfwa or, like many Manasfr who had no permanent
        houses, return to the desert. In all, about 620 to 750 houses were
        occupied in the Lfwa during the date harvest; if it is correct to assume
        that about five persons belonged to each house the temporary
        population of the Lfwa was still about 2,500 to 3,000 during the
        1950s.8 Some 13 settlements were at that time inhabited throughout
        the year, the most important one being Muzaira'ah.
          During the summer months the representative of the Ruler for all of
        Dhafrah went to the Lfwa and collected the tax due to the Ruler. For the

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