Page 59 - UAE Truncal States
P. 59

Chapter Two

                  is within this tribal confederation considerable difference in the way
                  of life between those sections which rely on the sea for their
                  livelihood and those who are predominantly nomadic. And yet this
                  tribal confederation was the basis for the creation of a nation-state
                  within a large and geographically very varied territory.33 The
                  coherence of the confederation was due to certain characteristics of
                  the Bani Yas. First of all, the subsections and allied groups did not
                  live separate existences; they shared, mingled and intermarried in
                  the villages of the Llwa, they had arrangements by which the nomads
                  of one section cared for the camels of another section, and those who
                  had no pearling boats of their own went on the boats of others.
                  Secondly, most families of the Bani Yas had some members living
                  permanently in Abu Dhabi town, so that all the sections mixed there
                  easily at all times. During the summer the Liwa and Dalma Island
                  were further meeting points where the common bonds were yearly
                  renewed by close contact and common concern for the few sources of
                  livelihood. The interchange between Abu Dhabi, the Llwa, Dalma
                  and Buraimi, although it meant time-consuming journeys by camel or
                  sailing boat, was by necessity very frequent, with daily new arrivals
                  and departures in all these places particularly before and after the
                  date harvest and the pearling season. It is therefore not surprising
                  that it became a characteristic of the Shaikhdom of Abu Dhabi that
                  their ruler could almost without fail rely on the loyalty of all Bani Yas
                  sections in times of war.34 This in turn meant that he was invariably
                  made responsible for and had to stand by any Bani Yas group which
                  had created or got into trouble. Last but not least the policy of the
                  Bani Yas not to claim exclusive possession of any of their traditional
                  ddr, of the wells therein or of the pearling banks near Abu Dhabi’s
                  coast, resulted in their winning for themselves a number of strong
                  allies, who in the course of time became undisputably subjects of the
                  A1 Bu Falah Rulers and eventually citizens of the modern State of
                  Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
                  Manasir
                  The Manasir are, after the Bani Yas, the most important of the tribes
                  which constitute the local population of the Shaikhdom of Abu
                  Dhabi. This numerous tribe contributed many fighting men and the
                  Rulers of Abu Dhabi could usually count on their support; also the
                 Manasir co-operated closely with some of the Bani Yas in the use of
                  the scant economic resources.35

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