Page 149 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Three

between a member of a beduin tribe which inhabits the fringes of his
shaikhdom and a member of a tribe living under the authority of
another shaikh, the former turns to him for protection and justice.
This would indicate that the former considers himself to be a subject
of that Ruler, and such cases were extensively used to prove that the
A1 Bu Falah Rulers and their representatives had authority over all
the tribes living in the area which was claimed by Saudi Arabia. It
proved that the extent of A1 Bu Falah jurisdiction was well known to
and respected by the other Trucial Rulers and local shaikhs.98
The decentralised system of jurisdiction, where the majority of
cases were never brought to the hukumah (government) of a Ruler,
demonstrates most impressively the tribal structure of the society in
the Trucial Stales. The families, tribal units and village communities
are basically self-sufficient and self-reliant; but there are occasions
when they are compelled to turn to a more distant tribal leader or a
Trucial Ruler for peace within the community, for external assist­
ance or for new economic opportunities.
In an industrialised society certain obligations may be undertaken
by the State within the social security system, whereas in the society
under discussion such matters are dealt with in the first instance
within the family and the tribal structure. Orphans, widows and
disabled people would usually be provided for by their relatives or by
members of the tribal unit. In the rare cases of failure in this system
the responsibility for the welfare of such persons would devolve on
the wali of the district or even on the Ruler himself.

5 Conclusion
To sum up the manifestations of administrative authority over a
small population, spread over a large area in a tribal shaikhdom, one
may enumerate the ‘civil servants’ within the system: there is the wali
(or amir as in Dalma or na’ib as he was often styled in al ’Ain), a
general representative of the Ruler, sometimes one of his relatives,
but in the case of Abu Dhabi not a fief; there is the muzakki, who
collects the taxes and customs duties; there are the mutarzlyah (or
fidawlyah) who are the Ruler’s own retainers and may be sent on
special missions of all kinds; there are the 'askars, salaried but
untrained armed tribal men; there are the guards at the gate to the fort,
haras; there is a duri, a camel guard in the LTwa;99 there is a secretary,
frequently an educated man from the Iranian coast; there is the ’arlf

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