Page 119 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Three

withhold allegiance as well as tribute, and from 1866 control over
Fujairah gradually slipped from the Qawasim’s hands.
In 1901 Shaikh Hamad bin ’Abdullah, the headman of the
Sharqiyln in Fujairah, declared his independence, and this time this
move was recognised as an irreversible fact by everyone concerned
with the exception of the British Government.351
Other leaders of tribes in the ShamailTyah also played important
roles in local politics. The support of the shaikh of the Naqbiyln was
an essential factor in the protracted process of settling the succes­
sion in Kalba in 1937. By that time the position of the wali in Kalba had
become that of an independent Ruler recognised also by the British
Government, but the extent of the territory had been diminished
because Hamad bin 'Abdullah now ruled all the surrounding
Sharqiyfn territory and was in possession of Bithnah in the Wadi
Ham. which commanded the direct route between Sharjah and the i
east coast. While asserting their independence, successive leaders of
the Sharqiyln in Fujairah antagonised each of the Qawasim Rulers in
turn,40 but relations with Kalba were particularly bad because the
Rulers in Kalba resented their loss of sovereignty over the Sharqiyfn,
while the shaikhs of Fujairah still felt that they needed to consolidate
their positions particularly vigorously so near home. Thus, despite
the intermarriage during the first decade of this century between the
shaikhly families of Fujairah and Kalba,41 there was constant tension
between the populations, which often erupted into acts of violence,
accusations, half-hearted agreements and reconciliation, followed by
another round of disputes. In the British Government’s records of
incidents involving the subjects of these two Rulers during the
present century, Fujairah frequently appears to have taken every
opportunity to provoke its neighbour. This may be partly due to the
fact that the single-minded Ruler of Fujairah repeatedly alienated the
British Government, which in turn may have been influenced in its
reporting of the incidents. However, Fujairah had in fact become
powerful enough to deny Kalba, the seal of the rightful wali of all
ShamailTyah, any right to the territory adjacent to the town of
Kalba.42
The formal recognition of the Ruler of Fujairah (then Muhammad,
the son of the forceful Hamad bin ’Abdullah) by the British
Government in 1952 almost coincided with the extinction of Kalba as
an independent shaikhdom. Like Dibah, the towns of Kalba and
Khaur Fakkan have remained dependencies of Sharjah until today.

94