Page 320 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

337
•i .LlO I’KIXCI L’AEITI ES

Thk Prin-cipamtirs

I. Abu Dhabi

mcipaiiuy is the largest in area and only second m P
This principality
Shariah y It stretches along the coast from the creek of
tance to i
the N. to that of 'Odeid on the W., a distance
Ghanadhah on
Towards the interior the boundaries are ill
of over 200 miles,
the E. to the Bireimi oasis, and
defined ; they aro said to extendon
of the Ruba‘ ol-Khali desert. The settled
on the S. to the margin '
______ be between 10,000 and 15,000, while the
•population is believed to
.............. . (chiefly Beni Yas and Manasir) may number nearly 4,000
Bedouins
The ruling Sheikh is Hamdati ibn Zeicl el-Khallfah, who succeeded
his brother Tahnun in 1912, and is described as a firm ruler, able to
maintain order. During the period of anxiety following the Y1C-
tories of Ibn Sa'ud of Nejd in 1913, he endeavoured to introduce
arms and ammunition on the plea that the Emir might invade his
territories (see above). In the same year he negotiated a truce
between the Sultan of Oman and the rebel chiefs. He appears to
be a worthy descendant of his predecessor Zeid ibn Khallfah, who
in 190S was the most powerful personality in Trucial Oman. The
principality consists of the following districts from E. to W. : Abu
Dhabi, Dhafrah (including Beinunah and Llwah) Sabkhah Matti,
Mijan, and 'Aqal, with the possible addition of Khatam. It further
includes the islands of Arzanah, Dayvlnah. Dalmah, Das, Qarnein i
Salali, Yas, and Zirko.
i. Abu Dhabi, the ‘home district’, consists of undulating sandy
desert, with scanty grazing and poor water-supply; there are,
however, wells on or near the routes to the Bireimi oasis at Bui
l, Alasheirif, and Juhar, and at Silmii/ah, 20 miles SSE. of
i
Abu Dhabi town. Suq Iblis, about 25 miles E. of the town, is
a *!3Sti™.lly. s*}aPecl outcrop of sandstone forming a landmark on
the mam Bireimi road. Sameih, 6 or 7 miles E. of Khor el-Ghana-
Sameih, 6 or 7 miles E. of Ivhor el-Ghana-
* a Place "'ith 7 wells of poor water used as a rendezvous
ml ri')esmen of Abu Dhabi and Dibai when preparing for war.
inlet°r!f f’uV1 age of coasequence is Batin on the N. shore of the

Dhabi toum Sar name’ H miles SW- of tl10 nearest part of Abu
A1 Bn a? i •’ lt consists of 130 date-branch huts belotunno- to the
^«5£tri,’tS ; “ hi'3 S0,n° lUUe I'lantStionl0^

S'^f,Steri'hA^l.ph#“ iS fr,Cdf°“ the CDaat' ab0l,t 8S mite#
about 1 S filiation of over 0,000. It extends for
AKAund alouS the shorc> and consists chiefly of mat huts

L