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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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