Page 337 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Eight

coaslal towns, particularly Dubai, from Hamasah in the Buraimi
oasis, to be shipped north across the Gulf. Probably the most
compelling reason for the British Government to involve itself in the
problem of security in IheTrucial Stales, to the extent of setting up a
British-officered force, was the odium attached to the slave trade,
which had again become very profitable during the late 1940s. News
of incidents in which former slaves from Africa and Baluchistan and
even free people were taken to Hamasah, and sold to be domestic
servants in Saudi Arabia,90 had leaked out. Britain, already some-
what on the defensive before a world audience which had made anti­
colonialism and the responsibility of former colonial powers for
newly independent States a burning issue, fell compelled to concern
itself with these internal matters in those Stales for which she was
responsible in the eyes of the outside world.
If exploration for oil was to commence seriously in the country, the
security of the Europeans involved had to be guaranteed. Similarly, if
the country was to be gradually modernised, the hinterland as well
as the coastal settlements had to be made secure enough for
development to be carried out. A security force, initially called the
Trucial Oman Levies (the name was changed to Trucial Oman Scouts
in 1956), was established by the King’s Regulation No. 1 of 1951
under article 82 of the Trucial States Order in Council of 1950. The
duty of the force was to maintain peace and good order in any part of
the Trucial Stales, particularly outside the coastal towns, and to
provide an escort for the British representative.91 Because the latter
lived in Sharjah at the lime when this force was created, it seemed to
be the most logical location for the headquarters of the TOL. The first
commander, Major Hankin Turvin, was seconded from the Arab
Legion with two Jordanian officers and several other ranks. Most of
the soldiers were initially recruited from among the people of the
Trucial States to whom the steady income and the prospect of
training were considerable incentives during the 1950s. Of the 200
men in the force in 1953 many belonged to Abu Dhabi tribes, because
Shaikh Zayid bin Sultan, the Ruler’s wali in the Buraimi area, who
had a great deal of influence with the tribes, encouraged enrolment
and supported the TOL. During the 1960s recruitment for the TOS in
Abu Dhabi proved rather less successful because the oil company
paid considerably more and the men could more easily leave the
company at their convenience, whereas this was not so with the
force.
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