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Territorial Claims: Saudi Arabia and Iran 133

had dwindled considerably and the Saudis were encountering little
opposition to their missions there. The Manasir, especially those
living in Dafrah, forgot their past lies with Abu Dhabi and gradually
came under the influence of Ibn Jaluwi; in 1934, for example,
the Residency Agent reported that the Manasir of Dafrah wished
to remain under Saudi protection.
That same year, however, the zukat collector in Dafrah, Muham­
mad al-Sahli al-‘Ayf, and his colleagues were treated with total
disrespect and beaten up by the Hawamil section of the Bani
Yas, who, together with some of the Manasir, refused to give
any form of tribute. The Bani Yas complained to Shakhbut about
the intrusion of the collectors; Shakhbut in turn complained to
Ibn Jaluwi, who backed down, saying that there had been a misunder­
standing. After that, no zakat was paid in the south of Dafrah,
although the collectors continued to ask politely for it. They were,
however, able to obtain it from groups of the Manasir: primarily
the Al-bu-Mundhir, but also the Al-bu-ShaT and the Al-bu-Rah-
mah.32
It is clear, then, that during the 1920s there existed some form
of Saudi control of the Dafrah and Buraimi regions; it is also
clear that the extent of that control was in inverse proportion
to the strength and stability of Abu Dhabi. But the ability to
enforce zukat was variable, as were the boundaries of Saudi Arabia
with Abu Dhabi and Muscat: both depended on the political
conditions, which were different under different rulers. The Na‘im
were the gauge by which the strength of the Al-bu-Falah in Abu
Dhabi town, and thus their authority in the Buraimi oasis, could
be measured: when, after Tsa bin Salih’s expedition, they took
a pro-Saudi line, it was a sign of a decline in the power of
the Al-bu-Falah. But the accession of Shakhbut radically altered
the situation.
In 1931 the animosity that had been building up between the
rulers of Abu Dhabi and the Na‘im erupted into an armed confron­
tation that at one point threatened to become a full-scale war.
The outcome of the struggle re-established the supremacy of Abu
Dhabi in Buraimi, and left no doubt as to Shakhbut’s determination
to regain the power that had been held by his grandfather.
The confrontation had its origin in a raid by twenty men of
the Manasir who came under the overlordship of Abu Dhabi and
ten men of the Bani Yas subject to the ruler of Dubai. In April
1931 they attacked and killed a cousin of Muhammad bin Sultan,
shaykh of Buraimi. Muhammad protested to both Abu Dhabi and
Dubai. Sa‘id bin Maktum of Dubai said that he would be willing
to compensate for the loss if it could be proved that the ten
men of the Bani Yas were his charges, but Shakhbut disclaimed