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Administering « Tribal Society

        which could be identified by the names of the subsections, sections
        and tribes. It also meant that they were as a rule affiliated to the
        beduin population of the hinterland, because most of these tribes
        also had nomadic branches.
          Whether people lived in the coastal towns near Sharjah or Ra’s al
        Khaimah, or in a small hamlet at the head of a steep wadi, they went
        about their daily life, hardly aware of government or of administra­
        tive interference wherever it might come from. Only the annual
        payment of taxes would have reminded them once a year of the
        distant overlords.
          An authority higher than that of the village headman would
        become obvious to them only at limes of crises, raids, disputes over
        wells, gardens or fishing rights.
          In most intra-community law cases, offences, and disputes, and in
        almost everything else concerning the economic, social, religious and
        moral behaviour in these tribal communities, the people referred first
        to the family, then to the sub-tribe and the tribal group, not to a
        distant, albeit sometimes useful, political unit headed by a Trucial
        Ruler.
          A tribal group did not recognise a spokesman just because he
        declared himself leader, nor only because he belonged to the family
        which had produced the community’s leaders in the past; he had to
        be outstanding in more than one respect, in strength, determination,
        or in wealth to distribute, and thus appear to the majority of the
        community to be a better choice than anyone else at hand. Any
        tribesman who did not agree with this choice was, in theory, free to
        use “the democracy of the feet" and to go to live with a community
        whose leader he could accept. However, in practice each family
        depended much more on the entire tribal group for their well-being
        than on good relationships with whoever was the tribal leader, so
        such an exodus of individuals or families to another community did
        not happen often; whereas the exodus of an entire subtribe under its
        leader has always been a feature of politics on this coast.
          The same spirit of intrinsic independence coupled with voluntary
        submission under certain circumstances dominated the relationship
        between a Ruler, whether recognised by the British authorities or
        not, and the tribal population living under what might be termed his
        jurisdiction. The authority of any Ruler over tribal groups has always
        implied a certain amount of give and take. A community which has
        been harassed and raided by another tribe looks around for the most
        likely help, but if a shaikh who came to their assistance, using either
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