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Chapter Two
lo the Polilical Resident in Bushire in 1839, “you are aware that the
country of Zuweir (Dhawahir) belongs to my father Shakbool, and
that the dale groves are common lo them and us.”71 But for the period
from 1800 until 1869, the political conditions in Buraimi were
anything but inviting for such ventures. The reason was the five
successive invasions of Wahhabi troops into parts of Oman, which
affected Buraimi first and foremost.72 During the interim periods
when the Wahhabis were forced to withdraw their garrison and
while the Sultan was hard put to reassert his authority over this
distant part of his large territory, other powers in the area tried to
gain influence in the oasis and over its inhabitants. Thus, for
instance, the Ruler of Sharjah, Sultan bin Saqr, the traditional rival
of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi for influence over the beduin of all of
Trucial Oman, broke an agreement which he had concluded with the
Sultan regarding the neutrality of the forts at the oasis. Another
agreement was, however, forced upon him in 1824, of which the Ruler
of Abu Dhabi, Shaikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut, was a signatory.
Furthermore, Shaikh Tahnun’s rightful interests in Buraimi were
implicitly recognised in the conditions of this agreement. The Ruler
of Sharjah was obliged to destroy the forts he had occupied in the
Imam’s territory in Buraimi in exchange for the destruction of a fort
which the Ruler of Abu Dhabi had built on the fringe of Sharjah’s
territory in Dairah with the intent of counteracting Sharjah’s
expansion in the direction of al Jau.73
Meanwhile the town of Abu Dhabi had continued to grow, and
attracted an increasing number of tribesmen from the hinterland
including the oasis of Buraimi and its vicinity. They flocked in large
numbers before the beginning of the pearling season, but at other
times of the year there was also an increasing amount of coming and
going between Buraimi and Abu Dhabi. Caravans brought dates74
and other goods from the interior of Oman to the growing coastal
market and took dried fish and imported goods back to the
hinterland. This increasingly close contact and the fact that some
Bani Yas already owned gardens in the oasis made it necessary for
the Rulers of Abu Dhabi to involve themselves in the affairs of the
oasis; over and above that, successive Rulers of Abu Dhabi from the
1820s onwards deliberately worked at increasing their influence in
the oasis. Thus, by 1829 the Ruler of Abu Dhabi had effected peace
between the Na'Tm of the oasis who had been in alliance with their
relative, the Ruler of 'Ajman, and the breakaway Al Bu Shamis
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