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A City Stale - Example Dubai

         into the creek unobserved by night; guardhouses on the creek at
         Shindaghah and other points were manned throughout the night,
         and the guards would communicate by shouting to the boat’s captain
         (nuhhada) to establish the identity of the boat. All other marine
         facilities were organised by Gray Mackenzie & Co., shipping agents
         who have been operating in Dubai since 1891.18 For example, this
         company put out buoys to mark the entrance of the creek; and before
         battery-powered lights and fog sirens were introduced, a man was
         paid to row with his ’abrah out to a certain buoy, tie up at it and keep
         a warning lamp alight all night.19

         Collection of customs duties
         Unlike the various pearling taxes which were seasonally collected by
         someone appointed and employed by the Ruler, the collection of
         customs duties in Dubai was not done by an official. The Ruler gave a
         contract to a merchant who agreed to remit a certain yearly sum to
         the Ruler; the surplus was his earnings. This system of tax-farming
         of customs dues was predominant in Iran but was also in use in
         Muscat and several other Arab ports. The flat rate of 2 Annas on each
         bundle, sack, case or parcel was changed after the Second World
         War to 3* per cent on all imports. A special building called locally the
         jumrah was built on the Dubai side of the creek. The Ruler used as his
         office the first floor of that building which was next to his creek-side
         summer palace. The last person to have a tax-farming contract was
         Muhammad al Musa. Then in 1955 the British Bank of the Middle
         East, which had opened a branch in Dubai in 1946, was appointed to
         handle the collection of customs due on goods imported by bigger
         ships with proper documents. The rate was then fixed at 4.625 per
         cent, of which 0.025 per cent was generally considered to be the
         bank’s fee.20 Dhow trade and overland trade, however, remained
         under the old system, which was eventually also streamlined in 1955
         by a new customs clerk, Muhammad Mahdi Tajir, who was seconded
         through the influence of the Political Resident in Bahrain from the
         Government of Bahrain.
           Fresh food was landed close to either of the two markets and
         carried over the sand if need be. But everything else, from barges as
         well as from dhows, was landed in the vicinity of the office of the
         Ruler. In 1951 Gray Mackenzie & Co. found it necessary to put a crane
         there, and the area where boats could come alongside was gradually
         extended by building up the bank behind with some rock binding.
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