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         long history of attempts on the part of his cousins to depose him.31
         At the time Shaikh Sa'Td bin Maktum could only see another
         cleverly-concealed attempt to grasp the reins of power, whatever the
         moves of the A1 Bu Falasah and their supporters. He was supported
         in this view by the officials of the British Government, who valued the
         greatly moderating influence Shaikh Sa'Td and his brother had on the
         Rulers of the other Trucial States during crises, and did not want to
         see him replaced.


         2 The Reform Movement


         The new Majlis
         During the periods of economic growth the different communities
         living side by side in Dubai rarely begrudged the customary
         privileges which some groups enjoyed. But during the 1930s
         smouldering dynastic squabbles within the ruling family combined
         with general discontent among the Arab element of Dubai’s merch­
         ants with their reduced wealth and status. The resulting reform
         movement was more than a palace revolution, it was an attempt to
         bring into harmony the paternalistic authority structure of the City
         State with the requirements of a multinational merchant society.
           The background of the movement which culminated in the setting
         up of the advisory Majlis with the power to veto decisions of the
         Ruler was a combination of four factors: the decline of the pearling
         industry, the comparative prosperity of those residents of Dubai who
         engaged in illicit trade with Persia, the influx of egalitarian ideas
         from outside, and a history of disputes and armed incidents between
         the Ruler and his cousins.32
           The development came to a head in October 1938, when the town
         of Dubai became divided into two armed camps: the Dubai side was
         held by Shaikh Sa'Td and his followers, and the A1 Bu Falasah were
         in Dairah. As was common in cases of confrontation between two
         parlies in the Trucial States, other shaikhs came to mediate. Shaikh
         Shakhbut, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and the Shaikh of the Bani Qitab
         helped to arrange a five-day truce between Shaikh Sa'Td and the A1
         Bu Falasah. When the Political Agent of Bahrain, Weightman,
         arrived in Dubai on 15 October the Ruler’s position had weakened,
         and after lengthy discussions an agreement was signed on 20
         October by which a consultative council, the Majlis, was set up. The
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