Page 91 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

Maintenance of Power: Political and Social fabric 67

This system of policing the sea and leaving the land to look
after itself has been carried on successfully during the last half
century. If a Shaikh murdered his brother it a heeled us not
at all. As long as he held his power, we recognised him and
shook him by the hand. When he in turn was murdered by
another brother, we greeted the new power with equal readiness.
It was none of our business and the Shaikhs were as anxious
to keep us out of their lands as we were anxious to avoid
being drawn into their quarrels on shore.40

The Resident noted that times had changed, and that another power
could easily be drawn into the internal politics of the Trucial
Coast. The power to which lie explicitly referred was Saudi Arabia,
which he thought could lake advantage of the turmoil in Abu
Dhabi to encroach on its territory inland. He urged the Government
of India to concern itself with suppressing such violent dynastic
struggles, which exposed the entire Coast to great insecurity.
But the Government of India opposed Haworth’s proposals, and
Saqr was left to fend for himself. Three years later, the policy
of non-interference was overlooked, and the Political Resident refused
to sanction the appointment of Mani‘ bin Rashid as ruler of Dubai,
even though the majlis had elected him. At the same time, in
1926, the British had interfered so far in the Coast’s internal affairs 1
as to exile ‘Abd al-Rahman of Hirah. It was thus extremely
difficult for a ruler to maintain a stable relationship with the
British authorities; he had to rely on his wits and political intuition.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECLINE OF A RULER’S
AUTHORITY

The continued decline of the ruler of Sharjah led to secessionary
movements within the territory over which he claimed authority.
After the independence of Ras al-Khaimah, the towns of Kalba
and Fujairah also began to press for independence. In this section,
the complex processes that preceded the secession of these two
towns will be described, together with the roles played by the
sultan of Muscat, the British authorities and some of the leading
figures of the Trucial Coast. The conflicts that occurred can be
viewed as power struggles between a ruler and his subordinates,
and formed part of the last wave of armed conflicts to take place
on the Coast, in the 1920s. After that the region came under
closer control from outside, owing to its oil potential and its location
on the imperial air-route to India.

1