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Chapter Three

                projects are proposed for the island. Thus, Dalma, like the LTwa and
                Bida* Zayid and the al 'Ain area, entered the era of departmentalised
                administration, co-ordinated by government institutions in Abu
                Dhabi town.
                  Nowadays the authority oT government is manifest in a multitude
                of administrative measures effected by anonymous civil servants. In
                the days when the Ruler’s representatives (wali, amir or nd’ib), the
                lax collector, a customs official and a qacli were all appointed and
                maintained personally by the Ruler, his sovereignty in times of peace
                was manifest in a limited number of rights, privileges and duties
                which his tribal subjects would have found difficult to deny him. In
                the event of an armed dispute the extent of a Ruler’s authority
                became measurable in the amount of fighting support he obtained
                from his own people and from neighbouring tribes.




                4 Manifestations of administrative
                     sovereignty—with an emphasis on
                     examples from Abu Dhabi69

                Taxation
                In every community the Ruler’s right to impose taxation is a symbol
                of his authority. The different relationships between the tribes and
                the Trucial Rulers were illustrated by the fact that some tribal groups
                were never expected to pay tax while others had to pay taxes and
                some even paid an additional tribute. Some of the collected lax was
                used to provide funds for community projects such as maintaining
                the falaj, but the income from most taxes became the property of the
                Ruler, and a wise Ruler would know well the value of being generous.
                The Ruler was expected to reciprocate the payment of taxes by
                supporting the cause of his subjects, be it a just one in his eyes or not.
                In more loose relationships where no regular taxation was collected,
                a Ruler was not necessarily obliged to involve himself in a dispute.
                  The principal source of revenue for all the Trucial Rulers
                throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century was
                the pearling industry. The growth of the town population was in step
                with the economic growth and decline.70 This in turn was reflected in
                the income of the Ruler of a pearling port. In all the ports of the coast
                the shaikhs derived revenues, not from rent or royalties on the pearl

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