Page 87 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Two

Ahmad bin Ibrahim, succeeded in this, and most of the shaikhs
signed an agreement pledging recognition of Saqr bin Sultan.97 But
the Sultan’s success was short-lived, as the NaTm shaikhs soon
asserted their independence by trying to grant their own petroleum
concessions. Shaikh Saqr bin Sultan and Shaikh Rashid bin Hamad,
who had become the most important shaikhs of the A1 Bu Shamis
section of the NaTm in Hamasah, both insisted, first on an agreement
with the oil company covering the exploration period only and
guaranteeing them Rupees 2 lakhs (£15,000 Sterling); and secondly,
on the omission of any mention of the Sultan or of the State of Muscat
and Oman in the document. The Sultan insisted on his part that a
clause referring to his sovereignty over part of the Buraimi oasis
should be included in any agreement with an oil company. However,
he offered to allocate to the NaTm shaikhs a share of one Rupee per
ton of the three Rupees per ton which he could expect if oil were ever
to be exported from this area. But this did not prove to be a way out of
the deadlock.
Thus it came as no surprise that the NaTm, as well as the other
half-independent tribes of the Trucial States hinterland, also re­
sponded to the overtures of other powers in the area, namely the
representatives of the Saudi King in al Hasa, and later his repre­
sentative in the Buraimi oasis itself. During the 1950s, Rashid bin
Hamad of the Al Bu Shamis of Hamasah, Muhammad bin Salmln of the
beduin Al Bu Shamis and 'Ubaid bin Juma'h of the Bani Ka'ab
confirmed in letters to the governor of the eastern region of the Saudi
Kingdom “our territories are yours”.98 Some of the shaikhs in and
around Buraimi assisted and welcomed the Saudi force which
established its presence in the Buraimi village and Hamasah in 1952.
Considering the past history of virtual independence of the NaTm
and the other tribes in that area it would indeed have been quite out
of keeping with the normal function of tribal politics if, in view of the
remoteness and intransigence of the Sultan in Muscat, these shaikhs
had not responded in some way or other to the approaches of an even
greater power in the neighbourhood. Such seemingly contradictory
statements as the assertion of allegiance to both the Sultan and Ibn
Jaluwi in al Hasa within a short span of time were legitimate means
frequently used in tribal politics either to come to terms with the
powers that be or to try to force the traditional overlord to grant
larger subsidies.
The historical-political perspective of this episode of the “Buraimi

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