Page 140 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

Administering a Tribal Society

profit. I Ie does not recover anything on pearls which are not precious,
except the usual diving tax.”70
In the early 1950s Dalma island was still very much the centre for
pearling of the desert based population of Abu Dhabi; of the 40-50
houses only 8 were inhabited the year round (by Qubaisat families),
the others belonging mostly to people who also owned houses and
date gardens in the Liwa. Some Bani Yas owned houses on other
islands; they also converged on Dalma for the pearling season.77 Most
of the approximately 65 boats reported to be based on Dalma
belonged to LTwa-based Bani Yas. A statement made in 1954 by a
Qubaisi pearl-boat owner from Qutuf shows that of the 14 crew in his
boat several of the divers were either Qubaisi or other Bani Yas from
Qutuf, one was a Mazru’i from Maqab where some of the haulers
came from, and one of the haulers was the servant of a Qubaisi of
Dalma. This particular nukhada had taken on some Manaslr as
crew in previous years.
In 1955 the previous amir of Dalma gave a written description of
the taxation system which was then still in use on the island.78 It
involved six types of dues: 1. At the beginning of the pearling season
a sack of rice, junlyah, and four Rupees tuman were collected from
every boat: half of both amounts were taken from small boats. 2. A
share equal to the season’s income of one rope-puller, saib, was
collected as hasilah. This amount was calculated. The remainder was
shared between divers and saibs at the proportion of three for the
former and two for the latter, after adding an imaginary saib. The
share of that saib was the tax due to the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. 3. At the
end of a season a tax of two Rupees was levied on every qallah (pair,
a diver and a hauler). 4. On every pearl valued 2,000 Rupees or more a
tax of 200 Rupees was taken by the Ruler. 5. Naub was at that time
the term for the tax levied on every pearl merchant or other merchant
in Dalma or the islands and coastal tracts administered by the amir.
The tax varied between 2 and 200 Rupees a year for an individual,
depending on the size of his business. 6. 'Azlmah was a voluntary
contribution of the pearl merchants towards the cost of a feast
traditionally given in honour of the Ruler when he or a close relative
came to Dalma at the end of every diving season.
Compared to the taxes relating to the pearling industry, taxes on
agricultural produce amounted to very little almost everywhere in
the Trucial States. This type of tax was collected in kind, so that the
Ruler or in some cases the wali could feed the members of his

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