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4 The Origins of the United Arab Emirates

society. When conditions in Sharjah stopped being conducive to
socio-economic growth, Dubai and, to a lesser extent, Abu Dhabi
became the new centres of the Trucial Coast. The people acted
within the confines of the existing situation and responded to the
economic changes by migrating to nearby towns. Thus, despite
their long isolation and the poverty in which they lived, it is
inaccurate to say that the people of the Coast had become atrophied.
On the contrary, they had an innate sense of survival that defied
the harshness of the conditions of life on the Coast.
Socially, they were divided into the bedouin (badu) and the
settled people (hadar), the organisation of both being based on
the tribe. The bedouin made up only io per cent of the total
population, but the role they played far outweighed their actual
numbers. They roamed the inland regions, with their camels, sheep
and goats, in search of grazing land, moving about among the
numerous wells that existed there. Their migratory habits were
determined by the aridity of the land and the harshness of the

Table i
Population of Principal Towns

1908 *939
Sharjah town 15.000 5,ooo
Abu Dhabi town 6,000 10.000
Dubai town 10.000 20.000

climate, yet their mode of life provided ideal conditions for the
strengthening of their tribal ties. As a rule, each bedouin tribe
had its dir ah, the land it habitually roamed, and the tribe roamed
as a group. The leader of the tribe, the shaykh, was responsible
for the welfare of his people in peace and wartime, and, depending
on the size and strength of his following, was regarded as an
independent leader, answerable to no one else; indeed, his friendship
was usually sought by the rulers on the coast, for his control
over a section of the hinterland and its people placed him in
a position of great strength.
The hadar lived in rural areas and towns. In the rural settlements
in the inland oases, such as Dhayd and Buraimi, in the coastal
region around Ras al-Khaimah, and in the Shimayliyyah on the
Gulf of Oman, the cultivation of date and other fruit trees, some
barley and vegetables were the main occupations. In the coastal
towns, by contrast, the economy was centred on fishing and pearl-div­
ing. The towns resembled each other, and generally were formed

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