Page 78 - UAE Truncal States

The Tribal Structure of Society

oasis to the extent that his opinion had to be consulted on matters
concerning even distant areas such as the Wadi Jizi, the Batinah in
Oman, and Fujairah on the coast of the Indian Ocean. This state of
affairs was no coincidence or mere filling of a power vacuum, but the
deliberately pursued aim of Shaikh Zayid bin Khallfah; and . . the
Shaikh of Abu Dhabi was still anxious to convince the Bani Qitab of
the impossibility of opposing his wishes and the Shaikh of Umm-al-
Qaiwain of the folly of attempting to compete with his influence in
Bedouin affairs”.00 The other Trucial shaikhs could see the necessity
to curb Zayid’s ambitions, and in April 1906, after another clash of
vital interests, negotiated with him a formal agreement on spheres of
influence over the beduin tribes.
This agreement was, however, soon quite far from reality, because
most of the tribes concerned had not even been consulted, and the
additional influence which Zayid had, with the Sultan’s blessing and
continued payment of a regular subsidy, over the beduin and the
settled tribes of the Dhahirah as far as 'Ibri87 and over tribes under
the administration of the wali of Suhar, in turn increased his
standing with those beduin who lived chiefly in Trucial Oman and
whose alliance and assistance in case of war were constantly sought
after by the Rulers of the coast.

Developments since the first decade of this century After the death
in 1909 of Zayid bin Khallfah, four of his sons followed him in such
quick succession that a less well-founded system of maintaining the
newly-established A1 Bu Falah authority in the oasis would have
collapsed. As it was, only the extent of the political influence over the
tribes in Oman fluctuated considerably, but the possession of the six
villages was not contested by any of the concerned parties from the
area—only by a renewed claim from Saudi Arabia.
The Abu Dhabi part of the oasis was administered on behalf of the
A1 Bu Falah by Ahmad bin Hilal al Dhahiri until his death in 1936,
well into the period of Shaikh Shakhbul bin Sultan’s rule. During the
latter’s long rule from 1928 to 1966 more Bani Yas bought property in
the oasis, which had finally become the favourite retreat during the
hot humid summer months for those families who otherwise lived in
Abu Dhabi town. Many other families of the Bani Yas and the
Manasir could not afford to move permanently into the Buraimi oasis,
and retained the old pattern of returning to their houses in the Liwa
for the summer if they were not on the pearl banks.

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