Page 256 - UAE Truncal States
P. 256

Social Aspects of Traditional Economy

        groups and families, while in other raids the element of economic
        gain and the hope for booty were at least equally strong.
          Several such incidents were reported in the year 1931 alone. In
        March some people from Fujairah received news that their caravan
        would be attacked by 'Awamir beduin; so they sent off the caravan
        with only three guards, and when the 'Awamir attacked, killing one
        man, the rest of the members of the caravan fell upon the 'Awamir,
        killed three of them, took one prisoner, and saved the caravan.75
        There were many reports of beduin raiding the outskirts of Dubai,
        Sharjah, and Ra’s al Khaimah towns, such as the following: “The
        Ruler of Ra’s al-Khaimah is . . . fighting with Awamir beduin who
        recently killed one man and carried off another from a garden in the
        suburbs."70 In May 1931 a caravan of the shaikh of Buraimi (Na'Tm)
        was attacked outside Dubai by subjects of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi
        (either Manaslr or Bani Yas). In Umm al Qaiwain some 'Awamir were
        “reported to be looting the suburbs of this place. They cut down the
        unripe fruit of 20 trees in retaliation for the punishment meted out to
        them by the Ruler of Umm al-Qawain.  ”77
        Trading in slaves
        While the pearling industry expanded, there was an ever-increasing
        demand on the Trucial Coast for slave divers as well as for domestic
        slaves. After the 1847 agreement on the ban on transport of slaves by
        boat, it became virtually impossible to bring new supplies from the
        traditional sources. During the first two decades of this century the
        British authorities in the Gulf began to manumit domestic slaves who
        applied to the Residency Agent in Sharjah for liberation. The internal
        trade in slaves remained the occupation for a few daring individuals
        whose activities were frowned upon by the British authorities but
        were nevertheless tolerated by the Rulers because the business of
        many a pearl-boat owner in the coastal towns had grown to depend
        almost exclusively on slave divers. A new source of supplies had
        opened because Baluchistan was suffering from a period of internal
        strife and famine during the 1920s, and many people who emigrated
        to the coasts of Batinah and Shamailfyah seeking employment in the
        gardens and on the pearling boats were abducted into slavery.
          The decline of the pearling industry put a temporary stop to these
        activities, and during the early 1930s the British authorities believed
        that trading in slaves had ceased on the Trucial Coast. But when
        eastern Saudi Arabia began to prosper with the start of oil company
                                                                231
   251   252   253   254   255   256   257   258   259   260   261