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Journal of Arabian Studies
Arabia, the Gulf, and the Red Sea
Volume 5, 2015 - Issue 1
205
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ARTICLES

Town Politics in Eastern Arabia in the 1950s

Pages 1-14 | Published online: 21 Aug 2015
 

Abstract

This article analyses the traditional political institutions of the Arab shaikhdoms of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States (later the United Arab Emirates). Based on anthropological fieldwork during 1953–6, as well as historical research, it links the political authority prevailing in the Gulf in the 1950s with earlier political developments in the nineteenth century. It argues that political change in the shaikhdoms, both past and present, has never involved a change in the system of government, only a change of rulers. It also finds that tribal migrations or secessions between shaikhdoms played a key role in political alliances and the formation of shaikhdoms in Eastern Arabia: these movements were both a source of conflict between, and cohesion among, the shaikhdoms' various communities.

Notes

1 When Peter Lienhardt wrote this article in the 1950s, he used the term “shaikhdoms” rather than “emirates” to designate the small Gulf Arab states of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States (now the UAE). His usage is maintained here.

2 Peter Lienhardt's relationship with the ruling families was one of integrity and mutual respect. However, in 1961 he felt obliged to resign his post and his important responsibility as Advisor to the late Shaikh Shakhbūṭ bin Sulṭān Āl Nahyān, Ruler of Abu Dhabi (r. 1928–66). At that time, Shaikh Shakhbūṭ was reluctant to consider the introduction of the much-needed changes that Peter had recommended and although Shaikh Shakhbūṭ wanted him to return to his position, Peter was not inclined to accept the Shaikh's conservatism and volatility. For further details of the reasons regarding the lack of development in Abu Dhabi at the time see: Maitra and Al-Hajji, Qasr Al-Hosn: The History of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi 1793–1966 (2001), pp. 249–52; Mann, Abu Dhabi: Birth of an Oil Sheikhdom (1964), pp. 106–19.

3 Professor Max Gluckman (1911–75) was Professor of Social Anthropology at Manchester University (1947–71).

4 For discussion of “rebellion” and “revolution”, see: Gluckman, “The Frailty in Authority”, Custom and Conflict in Africa (1955), pp. 27–53.

5 Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, 3rd edn, vol. 1: The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings (1906, reprinted 1920), pp. 44–51.

6 The “various Shaikhdoms” are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Qaiwain, which joined together on 2 Dec. 1971 to form the United Arab Emirates.

7 The British Govt of India summarised much of this correspondence in two extensive publications: Thomas (ed.), Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, new ser., 24 (1856) and Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Omān, and Central Arabia 1: Historical (1915). Although Peter Lienhardt does not cite these works, he appears to have drawn on them for this article, as well as the Gulf Residency files (R/15) in the India Office Records of the British Library, London.

8 Malcolm, The History of Persia: From the Most Early Period to the Present Time, vol. 2 (1815), p. 121.

9 Dubai's population today is about 2.2 million [see Dubai Statistics Center, www.dsc.gov.ae].

10 In 1820, the Shaikh of Dubai at the time, Muḥammad bin Haza bin Zaʿal, signed the General Treaty of Peace between the British Govt of India and the various rulers of the Trucial Coast.

11 In the spoken Arabic of the Gulf shaikhdoms, the “j” (ج) is pronounced “y” (ي) and thus the name of the tribe is actually written al-Jalāhmah.

12 Peter Lienhardt appears to have based the following account on Taylor, “Extracts from Brief Notes, Containing Historical and Other Information Connected with the … Islands of Bahrein … and Other Places in the Persian Gulf” (1818), Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, ed. Thomas, pp. 27–9. Capt. Robert Taylor served on the staff of Britain's Political Residency in the Persian Gulf.

13 Peter Lienhardt intended to develop further his discussion of political changes and the succession of shaikhs, as suggested by his note in the margin: “most changes of government have come about by sudden murder and coup d'état, not by civil war.”

14 Peter Lienhardt appears to have based his account of Dubai's 1938–9 Majlis Movement on one or more of these files in the India Office Records at the British Library: L/P&S/12/3827 (Trucial Coast: Dubai Affairs, 1929–40); R/15/2/1882 (Disturbances on Trucial Coast, 1936–9); R/15/2/2009 (Dubai Reforms, 1938–9); R/15/2/2010 (Dubai Affairs, 1939–40). The most comprehensive account of this incident is Said [Zahlan], “The 1938 Reform Movement in Dubai”, Al-Abḥāth: A Quarterly Journal for Arab Studies 23.1–4 (Dec. 1970), pp. 247–318, parts of which were republished in Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates: The Political and Social History of the Trucial States (1978), chap. 10: “The Reform Movement of Dubai: The Beginnings of Democracy”, pp. 150–61.

15 See Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar, rev. edn (1995), pp. 47–55: “The Majlis Movement of 1938”.

16 Durkheim, “Review of G. Salvemini, La Storia Considerata come Scienza; B. Groce, La Storia Considerata come Scienza; and G. Sorel, Storia e Scienze Sociali”, L'Année Sociologique 6 (1901–02), p. 125. Peter Lienhardt translated this quotation from the French.

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