Page 228 - UAE Truncal States

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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