Page 127 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Three

force or diplomacy, then tried to dominate that community by
imposing one of his men as wcili, or by levying a new lax, the
relationship would be short-lived and the community would soon be
seeking another protector. The Ruler who is strong and wise, who is
wealthy but not greedy, who is influential with many neighbouring
tribes, who is patient and generous, and who has a reputation of
personal courage is a Ruler who docs not find it difficult to increase
his influence among the tribes and thereby to enlarge the territory of
his realm. When a tribe was subdued by force, it was always difficult
for any Ruler to maintain permanent control by force, because none
of them had more than a few salaried guards Coskars). In a major
armed conflict a coastal Ruler usually had to rely on mercenary
beduin tribesmen, thus being faced again with the necessity to
establish and maintain good relations with important neighbouring
tribal groups, in competition with other Rulers.
To facilitate the administration even of undisputed outlying
districts, a Ruler had to try to establish, if not complete sovereignty
over them, at least a modus vivendi with the beduin tribes which
frequented the area. The beduin in turn needed access to markets to
buy their provisions and to sell camels, goats and their few other
products. In the northern part of the Trucial Coast few nomads
owned pearling boats, but a large number of them signed on as divers
and haulers with boats belonging to one of the villages along the
coasts, and while the pearling industry was expanding during the
first two decades of this century, beduin from the hinterland were a
very welcome additional source of labour. In order to gain the
support of beduin tribes the Rulers of the northern Trucial Stales
had to rely to a large extent on subsidies and favours, while most of
the Bani Yas Rulers were able to command at almost any time the
loyalty of large beduin contingents.

3 Abu Dhabi: a tribal confederation’s means
of absorbing change

The setting
The shaikhdom of Abu Dhabi provides a number of examples of how
remote areas were administered in the tribal society of the Trucial
Coast. The key to the lasting cohesion of Abu Dhabi as a shaikhdom
under one Ruler was good management of the beduin and the semi-
nomadic tribes. As was described above, the largest number of

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