Page 75 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Two

another attempt of the Wahhabis to resume their occupation of
Buraimi. He captured his own two forts back from the Wahhabi
commander in 1848 with the help of Dhawahir as well as 'Awamir
tribesmen. Under his command the Bani Qitab, the Ghafalah, the
'Awamir and the Bani Yas assembled in Khatam and the Manaslr
and the Mazarf section of the Bani Yas from the Liwa waited in
Dhafrah to fall upon the relieving Wahhabi force under the command
of Sa'ad bin Mutlaq. When the Wahhabis were eventually evicted
from their positions in the oasis itself by 1850, Shaikh Sa'Id again
had all the tribes of the area behind him, including the Na'Fm, and he
cooperated closely with the Sultan of Muscat and—for once—also
with the Ruler of Sharjah.
The last attempt of the Wahhabis to invade Oman in 1853 resulted
in failure in 1869 and in a further consolidation of the Ruler of Abu
Dhabi’s influence in the oasis. The Sultan of Muscat,'Azzan bin Qais,
who had together with the Na'im defeated the Wahhabi garrison of
Buraimi, appointed his wali to the fort of Buraimi, which was held by
the Ruler of Abu Dhabi on behalf of the Sultan for a short while. The
other forts were returned to the Na'im. Shaikh Sa'id obtained an
allowance from Sultan 'Azzan in return for his defending this distant
area of the Sultanate. This allowance, called farldah, continued
under the successors of the Sultan and the Bani Yas Ruler, and
during the rule of Zayid bin Khalifah (1855-1909) amounted to 3,000
Maria Theresa Dollars. The money was collected by the Sultan from
the people of Suhar and the Wadi Jizi as a tax called shufah, because
they were the people who benefited from this arrangement.

The role of Shaikh Zayid bin Khalifah It was under the most
remarkable and long-living Ruler, Shaikh Zayid bin Khalifah, that
the A1 Bu Falah influence on the politics of the oasis developed into
undisputed possession of a large part of it. Thus the foothold which
was gained during the first half of the 19th century became a position
of pre-eminence for at least some of the Bani Yas, their allies and
certainly their Ruler. The strongest lever to obtain political and
strategic gains for Abu Dhabi’s Ruler was still the hereditary feud
between the Dhawahir and the Na'im, as it had been throughout at
least a century with brief periods of cordial relations vis-a-vis a
common enemy. The actual annexation of those parts of the oasis
which had previously belonged to the Dhawahir was, however,
effected peacefully by purchase. Shaikh Zayid and his sons, espe-

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