Page 44 - UAE Truncal States

The Tribal Structure of Society
population under study. Here change is superimposed on a very
clearly structured society and on concepts of life which are
meticulously defined in every detail and as such are upheld by most
of the inhabitants.
There are three factors which are woven into the fabric of local
society like three strands of fast colour: firstly the traditional tribal
structures, secondly the lack of choice of economic opportunities,
and thirdly the Islamic order of life. Besides these the contemporary
society was influenced and moulded by the vicissitudes of history.
Some such events which may have seemed decisive at the time have,
however, not left much of a mark. Other events have had so strong an
impact on the society living on this coast at the time that the
transformation set in motion then can still be seen to be responsible
for characteristics of the social structure of today. Some such
historical events were caused by forces outside the area such as the
two World Wars, others were just swirling motions in these
“backwaters of history” while the main stream flooded past.
On the surface it may seem today as though most of the historically
formed characteristics and habits have almost vanished since the
new oil-age first gathered momentum in the shaikhdoms in the late
1950s. But the society which was contemporary with this event bore
certain unmistakable features which stem from the age-old struggle
of adapting to forbidding surroundings and from the equally
formative influence of faith—the profound comfort under such harsh
conditions of life. These features are too distinctive to be easily
effaced or even very much altered by alien influences.
The following chapters attempt to spell out some of the importance
of those three “fast colour” factors, and then, in Chapters Eight and
Nine, to point to those historical developments and events which
conditioned the society of the present day in the UAE.

The major migrations
Very few facts are yet available about when and how people first
came to live on the southern coast of the Gulf. So far, archaeologists
are only sure about the fact that a society which seemed to live well
above the mere subsistence level had settlements in the 3rd
millennium BC on the island of Umm al Nar near the bridge to Abu
Dhabi Island, and in and around the oases of the al 'Ain and Buraimi
area. Similarities have been observed between this culture and the
finds made in Bahrain, on the Kuwait island of Failaka and recently
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