Page 68 - UAE Truncal States

The Tribal Structure of Society
camels. The decisive factor for forging together and keeping intact
such strong links between the various groups which shared this
pattern of migration and for growing into a confederation using one
name, was most probably the establishment of a centre close to
Dhafrah where they all spent the summer. This centre is the string of
Llwa oases, where water from dew and occasional rain gathering in
the huge sand-dunes is sufficient to provide relatively sweet water in
quantities enough to raise dale palms and to water large herds of
camels in the vicinity. A legend which is told by some Bani Yas may
point to the fact that the newly found (or redeveloped) settlement
area, the Llwa, became so strong a common bond that a common
tribal leader was also recognised, most likely at a time when the
tribes’ new settlements had to be defended against invaders. This
legend has it that someone by the name of Yas dug the first water-
hole in the Llwa and all the tribes who came to use it called
themselves after his well. For most of these beduin groups it was
probably the first time in generations that they had built themselves
a home near their date gardens to which they returned at least during
the date harvest in the summer.50
The occupation of Dhafrah with the Lfwa oases was a gradual
process which may have coincided with the formation of the Bani
Yas confederation. Its beginning cannot be dated with accuracy but
there are several records which confirm that the Bani Yas were
certainly in possession of most of the territory of the contemporary
I Stale of Abu Dhabi by the middle of the 17th century. The Arabic
chronicle with the misleading title of Kashf al Ghumma (‘‘Dispeller of
Grief”), which describes the history of Oman from the earliest times
until the year 1728 AD, mentions an incident occurring some time
after 1633 when Nasir bin Qahtan raided every year the borderlands
of Oman, and the wali of the Imam of Oman, together with a force of !i
beduin and settled tribesmen, fell upon him in a fort in Dhafrah
where the Bani Yas had afforded refuge to Nasir.00 The fact that the
Bani Yas possessed forts in Dhafrah, which could only be in the Llwa
part of it because of readily available water supply, is mentioned
elsewhere, and another source confirms the theory that the Bani Yas
had become the dominant tribe in that area more than three hundred
years previously.61

Increasing presence on the coast
The earlier generations of the Bani Yas who lived in and around
Dhafrah were beduin, as had been their fathers in and around Najd.
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