Page 102 - UAE Truncal States

The Tribal Structure of Society

It is, however, necessary to recall that although the majority of the
northern, mountain-bound tribes did not move into either Dubai or
the desert shaikhdom of Abu Dhabi, some of the principal tribes of
the latter two Bani Yas shaikhdoms have had tribal relatives in many
of the towns and villages of the northern area. There were Sudan at
Sharjah town, on Abu Musa island, in 'Ajman and on Sirri island;
Mazarf, who in Abu Dhabi were regarded as part of the Bani Yas,
were widespread throughout the entire Qasimi area and Dubai. As
mentioned earlier, some Manasfr and 'Awamir and other beduin
groups were at certain limes quite numerous in the north.
Shihuh and Dhahuriym
The life-style of the inhabitants of the mountains and shores of the
Musandam peninsula, where the precipitous mountains of Ru’us al
Jibal in the north reach some 1,700 metres only a very short distance
from the sea, is very different indeed from that of the beduin tribes in
the desert and on its fringes. The differences are, in fact, so marked
that the inhabitants of the inaccessible and inhospitable parts of the
promontory are believed by many to be of non-Arab origin. This
tribal group is collectively called Shihuh, and is distinguished from
all the other tribes in the area by social, economic and linguistic
characteristics. The Dhahuriyln share these characteristics but are
nevertheless a separate tribe which claims to be related to the
Dhawahir of the Buraimi area.
Recent research carried out by the Austrian anthropologist Walter
Dostal has helped to dispel the legends which have been in
circulation among Arab tribes and European travellers regarding the
origin, behaviour and language of the Shihuh.125 It is now fairly well
established that the Shihuh are a composite tribe, essentially of Arab
origin, which has absorbed elements of Persian origin. The latter
component, which forms the entire Kumzarah subsection of the Bani
Hadiyah section of the Shihuh, speaks a dialect similar to the
language used by the Baluchis. The Shihuh do not claim to have one
common ancestor, but the Arab majority element is linked by
historians to the immigration wave which brought Malik bin Fahm
groups from Yemen to south-east Arabia in the second century AD. 126
In trying to trace the origin of the name “Shihuh", Dostal supports the
theory that the behaviour of these people, who had to eke out a
meagre existence in an inhospitable environment, made them appear
avaricious in the eyes of other Arab tribes; the Arabic root of their
name, SH H H, means “to be avaricious".
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