Page 89 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Two

usually also on good terms with most of the other tribes of the region,
including the Duru' and the Bani Qitab.
Balush
The Balush of Dhahirah formed an important clement of the settled
population in the land between theTrucial Coast and the Sultanate.
These Balush are not to be identified with the people who had come
from the former Omani possession Makran, now part of Pakistan, to
serve in the Sultan’s army as mercenaries, nor are they descended
from the Baluchis who settled in Muscat, the coastal towns of the
Balinah and the Trucial States (according to the Gazetteer the latter
had about 1,400 Baluchis) as traders and fishermen. While these
groups retained the use of their language, the Balush of Dhahirah
have a tribal organisation, an exclusive dar around their capital
Mazam; they are Sunni and speak Arabic. 100
On his journey from Abu Dhabi to Muscat in 1902, Major Cox
noted particularly that the Balush of Dhahirah had no communi­
cations with the Batinah but that their import and export trade was
conducted entirely with Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This explains their
usually good relationship with the Bani Yas and in particular their
shaikh’s co-operation with the A1 Bu Falah in the Buraimi area.
At a time of realignment of tribal loyalties during the first decade
of this century, the Balush of Mazam had a dispute with and were
attacked by their erstwhile protectors the Bani Qitab. When the
beduin Bani Qitab converged on Mazam and hostilities there had
claimed some victims, the Balush turned to Zayid bin Khalifah for
help.101 In February 1906 he collected his forces with the intention of
supporting the Balush of Mazam and extracting blood money from
the Bani Qitab on behalf of the Balush. The Bani Qitab had difficulty
finding support, but the young Rashid bin Ahmad of Umm al Qaiwain
eventually adopted their case as an opportunity to challenge Shaikh
Zayid’s influence over the tribes in the hinterland. A general war over
the Balush dispute was, however, prevented by a meeting of Trucial
Rulers and shaikhs of the hinterland, convened in Khawanlj near
Dubai in April 1906. It resulted in the written agreement, already
mentioned, regarding the Rulers’ spheres of influence among the
beduin. Shaikh Zayid bin Khalifah assumed the responsibility for
following up all the claims, “important or trifling’’, which the Balush
had against the Bani Qitab, and he instructed his wali Ahmad bin
Hilal accordingly.102 In the 1950s, however, the Balush followed the

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