Page 126 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

Administering a Tribal Society

which could be identified by the names of the subsections, sections
and tribes. It also meant that they were as a rule affiliated to the
beduin population of the hinterland, because most of these tribes
also had nomadic branches.
Whether people lived in the coastal towns near Sharjah or Ra’s al
Khaimah, or in a small hamlet at the head of a steep wadi, they went
about their daily life, hardly aware of government or of administra­
tive interference wherever it might come from. Only the annual
payment of taxes would have reminded them once a year of the
distant overlords.
An authority higher than that of the village headman would
become obvious to them only al times of crises, raids, disputes over
wells, gardens or fishing rights.
In most intra-community law cases, offences, and disputes, and in
almost everything else concerning the economic, social, religious and
moral behaviour in these tribal communities, the people referred first
to the family, then to the sub-tribe and the tribal group, not to a
distant, albeit sometimes useful, political unit headed by a Trucial
Ruler.
A tribal group did not recognise a spokesman just because he
declared himself leader, nor only because he belonged to the family
which had produced the community’s leaders in the past; he had to
be outstanding in more than one respect, in strength, determination,
or in wealth to distribute, and thus appear to the majority of the
community to be a better choice than anyone else at hand. Any
tribesman who did not agree with this choice was, in theory, free to
use “the democracy of the feet” and to go to live with a community
whose leader he could accept. However, in practice each family
depended much more on the entire tribal group for their well-being
than on good relationships with whoever was the tribal leader, so
such an exodus of individuals or families to another community did
not happen often; whereas the exodus of an entire subtribe under its
leader has always been a feature of politics on this coast.
The same spirit of intrinsic independence coupled with voluntary
submission under certain circumstances dominated the relationship
between a Ruler, whether recognised by the British authorities or
not, and the tribal population living under what might be termed his
jurisdiction. The authority of any Ruler over tribal groups has always
implied a certain amount of give and take. A community which has
been harassed and raided by another tribe looks around for the most
likely help, but if a shaikh who came to their assistance, using either

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