Page 110 - UAE Truncal States
P. 110

Administering o Tribal Society

        uncle Khalid. When Sultan bin Saqr died in 1951 his brother
        Muhammad failed to become the Ruler, and Saqr bin Sultan was
        recognised by the British Government in 1951. He was deposed in
        1965 and lived in exile in Cairo. He returned in early 1972 and in an
        unsuccessful attempt to wrest the leadership from his nephew
        Shaikh Khalid bin Muhammad in a coup d’etat he killed the
        incumbent Ruler of Sharjah. Since February 1972 Sharjah has been
        ruled by Shaikh Sultan bin Muhammad A1 Qasimi.
        Ra’s al Khaimah as a wali’s seat and as an independent Trucial
        State.
        The importance of Ra’s al Khaimah stems from its natural harbour,
        which has, however, been silting up within living memory; from the
        long narrow peninsula parallel to the mainland on which the town is
        built and which is easy to defend; and from an extensive well-         I
        watered fertile plain opposite the town on the mainland. Most of the
        population of the town of Ra’s al Khaimah, 1,000 households at the
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        turn of the century, used to engage in both agriculture and pearling.10
        The latter industry was, however, with 33 boats, on a much smaller
        scale than in Sharjah or in Abu Dhabi; a certain amount of trade in
        rice, sugarand othergoods wascarried on by some 15 sailing baghlahs
        and sanbuks, hence the necessity for a customs house. The suq
        served also as a centre for the population of the mountainous
        hinterland, but trade was less lively than in Sharjah or in Dubai;
        there were no resident Hindu traders, and apart from seven
        Khojahs11 all the merchants were Arab.
          The revenues of Ra’s al Khaimah during the first decade of this
        century amounted to some 6,300 Rupees from pearling and 800
        Rupees from customs duties, as compared to 23,400 Rupees from the
        former and 8,000 from the latter in Sharjah. There was also the tax in
        kind on dates, which was of considerable value since there were an
        estimated 15,600 trees belonging to the inhabitants of the town of
        Ra’s al Khaimah alone.
          According to one local source there was, at least during the rule of
        Salim bin Sultan in Ra’s al Khaimah, a wali appointed to supervise
        day-to-day administration within the town, including the collection
        of taxes and customs duties by the mutarzTyah, and to organise the
        defence of the town against attacks by plundering beduin or during
        disputes with other shaikhs.12 The main task of the Ruler of Ra’s al
        Khaimah himself was to be available to the inhabitants to deal with

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