Page 465 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

Notes to Chapter Five
Ahmad bin 'Abdullah bin Ghumailat (Rumaithi), and from 1936 lo 1940
for 350 Rupees to 'Abdullah bin Murshid, brother of the present head of
the Rumaithat and an influential businessman in Abu Dhabi. See UK
i
Memorial II. Annex G, no. 6, p. 283, where further examples are listed.
19 Dugong are a species threatened by extinction. The community which
lived on Umm al Nar five thousand years ago left many bones of the
dugong, and there is reason to believe that they were once so numerous
in the Gulf as lo form a staple diet for the fishermen. Currently there are
about sixty to seventy dugong a year brought into the fish-market in
Abu Dhabi. They are usually caught alive in the net, and it is now hoped
that a preservation order will be issued, as has been the case with
gazelle.
20 See Dowson, V.H.W., "The Date Cultivation and Date Cultivators in
Basrah" in Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, vol. 26,1939, pp.
247-60.
21 For construction with mudbrick and coral stones, imported chandel
wood from Malabar or East Africa was preferred.
22 For a description of such houses in the LTwa, see Heard-Bey, Asian
Affairs, 1974, p. 275.
23 For the method of pollinating see Heard-Bey, op. cit., pp. 276 and 278ff.
24 See Lorimer, Histor., p. 2296.
25 The most detailed studies of the aflaj in Eastern Arabia were made by
J.C. Wilkinson, Water. For details of the characteristics of a covered
falaj see pp. 76ff. Two interesting accounts of how such underground
water channels are constructed are given by Noel, E., "Qanals", in
Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, vol. 31. 1944, pp. 191-202,
and Beckett, P., "Qanals round Kirman", ibid., vol. 40, 1953, pp. 47-58.
An excellent graphic description of the anatomy of a small falaj can be
found in Birks, J.S. and Letts, S.E., "Diqal and Muqayda: Dying Oases in
Arabia", in TijcJschrifl voor economische en sociale geografie (TESG:
Journal of Economic and Social Geography), 68,1977, no. 3, pp. 145-51.
26 The settled ’Awamir of Adam are now almost the only people who
repair and extend old a/ldj, and who would be able to build new ones;
see Birks, J.S. and Letts, S.E., "The 'Awamr: Specialist Well- and Falaj-
Diggers in Northern Interior Oman", in Journal of Oman Studies, vol. 2.
1976. See also Wilkinson, Water, pp. 195ff; he states that there is no
record of the 'Awamir constructing a major new falaj. Wilkinson
concludes from a variety of written and physical evidence that the aflaj
of Oman are a heritage from the periods of Persian occupation.
27 See Gibb, Sir Alexander, & Partners, Water Resources Survey. Final
Report, December 1970, p. 22. The Interim Report to the Government of
Abu Dhabi of April 1970 provides data on the availability of water, its
flow, the rock formations, and the productivity of certain crops and of

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