Page 256 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Social Aspects of Traditional Economy

groups and families, while in other raids the element of economic
gain and the hope for booty were at least equally strong.
Several such incidents were reported in the year 1931 alone. In
March some people from Fujairah received news that their caravan
would be attacked by 'Awamir beduin; so they sent off the caravan
with only three guards, and when the 'Awamir attacked, killing one
man, the rest of the members of the caravan fell upon the 'Awamir,
killed three of them, took one prisoner, and saved the caravan.75
There were many reports of beduin raiding the outskirts of Dubai,
Sharjah, and Ra’s al Khaimah towns, such as the following: “The
Ruler of Ra’s al-Khaimah is . . . fighting with Awamir beduin who
recently killed one man and carried off another from a garden in the
suburbs."70 In May 1931 a caravan of the shaikh of Buraimi (Na'Tm)
was attacked outside Dubai by subjects of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi
(either Manaslr or Bani Yas). In Umm al Qaiwain some 'Awamir were
“reported to be looting the suburbs of this place. They cut down the
unripe fruit of 20 trees in retaliation for the punishment meted out to
them by the Ruler of Umm al-Qawain. ”77
Trading in slaves
While the pearling industry expanded, there was an ever-increasing
demand on the Trucial Coast for slave divers as well as for domestic
slaves. After the 1847 agreement on the ban on transport of slaves by
boat, it became virtually impossible to bring new supplies from the
traditional sources. During the first two decades of this century the
British authorities in the Gulf began to manumit domestic slaves who
applied to the Residency Agent in Sharjah for liberation. The internal
trade in slaves remained the occupation for a few daring individuals
whose activities were frowned upon by the British authorities but
were nevertheless tolerated by the Rulers because the business of
many a pearl-boat owner in the coastal towns had grown to depend
almost exclusively on slave divers. A new source of supplies had
opened because Baluchistan was suffering from a period of internal
strife and famine during the 1920s, and many people who emigrated
to the coasts of Batinah and Shamailfyah seeking employment in the
gardens and on the pearling boats were abducted into slavery.
The decline of the pearling industry put a temporary stop to these
activities, and during the early 1930s the British authorities believed
that trading in slaves had ceased on the Trucial Coast. But when
eastern Saudi Arabia began to prosper with the start of oil company
231