Page 88 - UAE Truncal States

The Tribal Structure of Society

Dispute” will be discussed in Chapter Eight; in the present context it
illustrates the degree or independence which some tribes of the
interior were able to reserve for themselves right up to the lime oil
was being exported from Oman and Abu Dhabi.

A1 Bu Shamis
The A1 Bu Shamis section of the NaTm had, during the general
disintegration of the homogeneity of the NaTm, established an
almost completely separate identity. Originally they represented the
beduin section of the tribe and the nomadic element was still
dominant during the 1950s, when their total strength was estimated
at about 1,000 people including 400 armed men. The shaikh of the
beduin at that lime was Muhammad bin Salmln bin Rahmah, who
lived either at Sanainah or Qabil south of the Buraimi oasis." The
settled A1 Bu Shamis, although few in numbers, lived in important
oases and coastal settlements, and their headmen were accordingly
rated as prominent figures. Some owned portions of Dhank, others
under Shaikh Rashid bin Hamad al Shamsi lived in Hamasah. A
sizeable section of the population of the ports of Hamrlyah and
Hfrah, both dependencies of Sharjah, has always been Al Bu Shamis,
and the headmen traditionally come from families within that tribe.
The Al Bu Shamis came to the coast after they were temporarily
driven out of Dhahirah early in the 19th century. As with the other
NaTm sections, the sovereignty of the Sultan was generally accepted
as long as this remained a matter of the usual tax payments on crops,
but otherwise did not involve many mutual commitments. The
question of who should benefit from the granting of petroleum
concessions gave the leaders of the many independent tribal sections
strong bargaining positions. For instance, it was alleged that the
leader of the beduin Al Bu Shamis visited the Sultan in Muscat in
about 1948 and offered complete loyalty of his followers for the sum
of 10,000 Maria Theresa Dollars, but that the Sultan turned the deal
down while giving a considerably smaller sum as a present to the
shaikh.
Usually the NaTm were on bad terms with most of their
neighbours, particularly the Bani Ka’ab, the Bani Qitab and the Al Bu
Falah. But the Al Bu Shamis, although Ghafiri like the rest of the
NaTm, came to be steadfast allies of the Al Bu Falah, possibly since
Shaikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut had helped them to regain Qabil and
Sanainah in Dhahirah some lime before 1833. The Al Bu Shamis were
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