Page 80 - UAE Truncal States
P. 80

The Tribal Structure of Society

          was a blessing in disguise as far as the historiography of the tribes in
          the disputed area is concerned. The last concerted effort at collecting
          material on the tribes had been some on-the-spot investigations
          during 1904-7 to update the archival material available to the
          Government of India for the compilation of the Gazetteer."9 The
          dispute over large parts of Dhafrah and over the oasis of Buraimi,
          which came to a head in the early 1950s, made it essential for all the
          concerned parlies to collect as much evidence as possible on the
          wandering habits and the allegiances of the beduin tribes of the
          areas, and on the number, habitat, occupation, tax payments,
          seasonal movements and other questions regarding the settled or
          semi-nomadic population. Such research brought much of the
          information contained in the Gazetteer up to date. The changes
          which look place during five decades in the life pattern of the tribes
          were recorded. Some of the initial reports of these meticulous
          investigations carried out by government officials as well as oil
          company employees on both sides in the dispute are still confidential.
          Material which stood up to repeated probing and historical corre­
          lation was eventually used in the memoranda submitted by each side
          to an arbitration tribunal which was convened for the first time in
          Nice on 23 January 1955. These memoranda became known as the
          "UK Memorial” and the "Saudi Memorial”.90 Both have been used
          and quoted extensively by scholars who adopted the history of this
          dispute as the subject of specialised research.
            Thus the shaikhdom of Abu Dhabi became a well-studied model
           which illustrated the different types of tribal claims to a particular
          area and the relationships between a Ruler and the various tribal
          groups, which could take any form from unconditional submission to
           traditionally-established loyalty, to alliance or just temporary re­
          spect. The expansion of the influence of the A1 Bu Falah Rulers went
           hand in hand with the appropriation by the Bani Yas sub-tribes, first
           of all of Dhafrah and the Llwa, then of the coast and islands,
          especially of Abu Dhabi and later Dubai. In all these areas the Bani
          Yas did not have to compete with the established rights of previously
           settled people, but they shared these rights with the Manasfr and
           some sections of migrating beduin tribes. Extending A1 Bu Falah
           influence into the area bordering Oman meant competing not only
           with the incumbent owners of the settlements, mainly Dhawahir and
           Na'im, but also with the nomadic and settled tribes of the neighbour­
           hood, who had to be kept sufficiently well under control so that they

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