Page 83 - UAE Truncal States
P. 83

Chapter Two

               living in I he ports of the Trucial Coast; but also the tribes of the
               hinterland relied on the coastal towns for many needs in their
               precariously-balanced economy. Some beduin came to the coast to
               work on the pearling boats, others needed supplies from there such
               as dried fish; the carrying trade which formed the livelihood of some
               camel-breeders depended on a healthy trade between the ports and
               the villages in the interior. Buraimi or Daid could play their role as
               centres for trade and barter for the tribes only if supplies could come
               through unhindered.
                  Since none of the Trucial Rulers had more than at the most a few
               dozen armed men permanently employed, among other duties, to look
               after their security, the only further source of fighting-men available
               to any of the Rulers in a dispute were the beduin groups. The A1 Bu
               Falah usually were in a position to rally large numbers of beduin
               armed men to help them to fight their wars without formal
               arrangements regarding remuneration. The Rulers in the other
               shaikhdoms could sometimes rely on voluntary tribal fighters, but on
               most occasions they had to find the money to pay beduin to fight for
               them. This necessity to hire fighting-men, rather than to persuade
               them by more subtle means of tribal politics to adopt the cause,
               seems to have come to the fore during the first decades of the 20lh
               century.
                 The Sultan in Muscat was equally interested in the politics of the
               tribes in the hinterland of the Trucial Coast. Almost all these tribes
               declared at one time or another their loyalty to him and paid taxes to
               the authorities in Muscat. Some remained for decades steadfast
               subjects of the Sultan; others exploited the fact that communications
               between Muscat and the western slopes of the Hajar mountains were
               difficult, and they called themselves subjects of Muscat mostly in
               order to discourage other Rulers from trying to exert authority over
               them.
                 During the lime under consideration, life in this area was very
               deeply affected by the inter-tribal politics of three distinguishable
               “circuits". One was the shaikhdom of Abu Dhabi, where tribal
               politics were largely concerned with the two settled inland centres,
               the LTwa and the Buraimi villages. Abu Dhabi was also concerned
               with the politics of tribes living in the Dhahirah or roaming as far as
               Hadhramaut, the Rub' al Khali, and Qatar. The second “circuit"
               consisted of the settlements of the north-eastern Trucial Coast and
               the mountainous areas close by, which were within relatively easy

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