Page 186 - Arabian Studies (II)

178 Arabian Studies II

bitterly criticised in many poems. This wish for a secure urban way
of life was a strong factor in the development towards a modern
society. Internal reform, justice and modern education were praised
while stagnation within society was denounced. The reform move­
ment of 1938 in Dubai, headed by Shaykh Mani‘ b. Rashid, also
provides a good example of the changing spirit of the period.

[This study is based mainly on personal interviews with the elders in the
United Arab Emirates, on the rich data of the Annual Reports of this period
of the Residency Agent in Sharjah in the India Office Library in London, and
on Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. ]