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24-793: The Na'im is divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban , the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Shamsi). It is from the former section that the current Rulers of the Emirate of Ajman are drawn. Of the three sections, the Al Bu Shamis has become virtually independent and associated closely with the Al Bu Falasa of Dubai . The traditional heart of Na'im territory was the oasis town of Buraimi and nearby Al Ain , where Na'im expansion came at

48-640: A boiling point when an armed force sent by Abdullah Al Thani, numbering in the hundreds, confronted around 60 armed men of the Naim who were encamped inside Ath Thaqab Fort. According to Rashid bin Mohammed, upon encountering the Qatari loyalists, he and his troops surrendered, but four of his men were shot and killed anyway. Abdullah Al Thani's forces continued to capture the fort and occupy the villages of Ath Thaqab, Freiha , Al `Arish and Al Khuwayr , whose inhabitants were among

72-814: A further 90 townsfolk and 90 Bedouin at Hamriyah (today a part of Sharjah). He also notes a number of Al Bu Kharaiban in Buraimi village itself, as well as in Su'arah in the Buraimi Oasis , and that it is from these members of the tribe that the Ruler of Ajman was drawn. Lorimer identifies the Na'im in general as 'the most powerful Ghafiri tribe in the Dhahirah district of the Oman Sultanate' and identifies Ajman and Hamriyah as particular strongholds of

96-746: The Bani Yas in a tribal confederation which united to drive Wahhabi forces from Buraimi. Despite their alliance under the Bani Yas, the Bani Kaab were rivals to the Na'im and Bani Qitab , and had pushed sections of the Na'im north as far as the Jiri plain . In an area and time of shifting alliances, a century later the Bani Kaab were in alliance with the Saudis , the Sheikh of the tribe at

120-655: The Manasir in the mid-late C19th, adopted Wahhabism as a doctrine. Following the Saudi withdrawal in 1871, they submitted to Muscat . Holding the fort in Buraimi, the tribe was powerful in that area but would rally behind Zayed bin Khalifa both there and in Hatta, where they asked for his support in interceding in a conflict with the Bani Qitab in 1905. The village neighbouring Hatta, Masfut,

144-754: The United Arab Emirates , a subsection of the Na'im and the tribe from which the Rulers of the Emirate of Ajman are drawn. Lorimer , in his 1908 Gazeteer of the Persian Gulf, recorded some 140 Al Bu Kharabian living in Hafit village near Buraimi , noting they were semi-settled, cultivating dates in the summer and roaming to find pasture for their flocks in the winter. He also observed some 700 Al Bu Kharaiban in Ajman town and

168-780: The Al Bu Kharaiban Ruler of Ajman. Bani Kaab The Bani Kaab ( Arabic : بني كعب ) (singular Al Kaabi Arabic : الكعبي ) is an Arab tribe in Oman and the United Arab Emirates , also evident in other Gulf countries. The tribe is associated with the area around and to the north of the Omani Wilayat of Mahdah , and to areas of the Emirates to the East of Buraimi , including the Wadi Khadra, Wadi Hatta and Wadi Qor . Subsections of

192-631: The Al Bu Shamis leader of Al Heera – Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi was often at loggerheads, if not war, with the Ruler of Ajman. The Na'im was one of the several bedouin tribes to move to Bahrain in 1783 after the Al Khalifa conquered the island . The tribe were reported as being one of the most powerful tribes in Qatar in an 1890 report by the British government. In J.G. Lorimer's Gazetteer of

216-589: The Bani Kaab include the Drisah, Makatim, Misaid, Miyadilah, Miyalisah, Mizahamiyin, Nawaljiyin, Salalat, Sawalim, Shwaihiyin, Yidwah and Zahairat. Of these, the Drisah and Shwaihiyin were nomadic while the other sections had settled by the turn of the 20th century, a population of some 7,250 of whom 1,150 were Bedouin. By 1844, the tribe had allied itself (in common with other tribes of the interior of southeastern Arabia) with Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut Al Nayhan of

240-719: The Na'im once again came under Saudi influence, leading to their participation in the Buraimi dispute . In 1818, according to the 'British Assistant Political Agent in Turkish Arabia', Captain Robert Taylor, the Na'im numbered some 20,000 men in Buraimi and 400 in Ajman. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Na'im were spread across much of the area of the modern-day UAE, with families settled in Ajman , Dhaid , Hamriyah , Sharjah , Hafit , Heerah and Ras Al Khaimah . Some 5,500 Na'im at

264-459: The Naim supporters. After the Naim had conceded defeat, Abdullah Al Thani confiscated most of their weapons, including 40 rifles from the people of Ath Thaqab, and some of their livestock. As a result of this conflict, about 1,000 members of the Naim tribe went into exile in Bahrain, with some returning after the second World War . Al Bu Kharaiban The Al Bu Kharaiban is an Arab tribe of

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288-663: The Persian Gulf published in 1904, he described the Na'im as "a Bedouin tribe who grazed their cattle on pastures surrounding Zubarah in 1873." He stated that 60 or 70 of the tribe's branch in Qatar had a hereditary attachment to the Bahraini emir. In 1937, a dispute over Zubarah took place between Bahrain and Qatar. The Naim in Qatar split into sections, the Ramzan, who supported the Qatari Emir Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani , and

312-775: The Wadi Hatta, had long been home to the Na'im. They found themselves under threat in 1905 when the Bani Qitab built a fort in the wadi and started to harass caravans passing through the pass to the Omani Batina coast. Appealing to Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyah of Abu Dhabi, and following a meeting of the Trucial Sheikhs in Dubai in April of that year, they gained Zayed's support (against

336-549: The expense of the Dhawahir tribe, but also rubbed up against the Bani Yas and the allied Manasir . Although the Na'im were linked to the growing Wahhabi influence in the Buraimi area and adopted the doctrine, they allied with other forces to evict the Wahhabis from Buraimi in 1871 and subsequently occupied many of the forts around Buraimi. However, following the death of Zayed the Great ,

360-531: The main section, Al Jabr, who had pledged allegiance to the ruler of Bahrain. In July 1937, Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani reported to the British agency that he was to take action against the Naim who were residing in Ath Thaqab over their perceived violation of the country's laws. For their part, the leader of the Naim claimed that Abdullah Al Thani had "stolen their cattle" and had set fire to the Naim's houses and villages before and after his decree. Hostilities came to

384-562: The rulers and tribes eventually led to the Buraimi Dispute . At the turn of the nineteenth century, the Na'im were arguably the dominant force in the area West of the Hajar Mountains , with some 13,000 members and the ability to raise at least 2,000 fighting men. By the 1940s, this had dropped to just 300–400 rifles and the tribe was split into factions. Competition for grazing and other resources often spilled over into conflict between

408-410: The taking of the fort by Rashid. Faction fighting between the Na'im subsections wasn't limited to Masfut, however, and with the continuing decline of the larger Na'im tribal federation beyond Buraimi, the Al Bu Shamis maintained an almost completely separate identity and, in fact, the Al Bu Shamis leader of Al Heera – Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi was often at loggerheads, if not war, with

432-507: The time lived in and around the Buraimi oasis. A further 660 houses of Na'im were located at Dhank, in Dhahirah , Oman . At the time, the Na'im were mostly settled in towns or in pastoral communities, although the Khawatir were Bedouins , roaming a dar consisting of the Jiri plain and the Hafit area with 800 camels, 1,500 sheep and goats and some 100 cattle. Masfout , a mountainous village in

456-630: The time, Obaid bin Jumah, confirming to the Governor of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province , "Our territories are yours." Although the Na'im and Bani Kaab were frequently opposed to each other, in the 1940s they came together when the prospect of oil concessions loomed. In this, they were opposed to the oil companies, the imposition of the rule of the Trucial Sheikhs, the Sultan of Muscat and the British alike. When

480-592: The tribe, whose Bedouin he describes as 'warlike and predatory.' The Na'im in Buraimi (including the Khawatir and Al Bu Shamis ) were led by the Al Bu Kharaiban and were originally loyal to Shakhbut bin Khalifa of Abu Dhabi, and would be again to Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, but their relationship with the Al Bu Falah was often fractious and, resentful of the encroachment of the Al Bu Falah and their allies

504-505: The tribes and the Na'im were often involved in disputes and open warfare with other tribes, including the Bani Kaab , Bani Qitab and Al Bu Falasah. However, the Al Bu Shamis remained generally on good terms with other tribes, particularly the Duru and Bani Qitab. With the continuing decline of the Na'im tribal federation, the Al Bu Shamis maintained an almost completely separate identity and, in fact,

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528-741: The young and ambitious Sheikh of Umm Al Quwain , Rashid bin Ahmad Al Mualla , who supported the Bani Qitab) and retained Masfout. The Na'im of Masfout were in almost constant conflict with the people of Hajarain, which later became a dependency of Dubai - today known as Hatta . However, they considered themselves independent of the Rulers of Ajman. In 1948, Masfout was seized from its Nuaimi Sheikh, Saqr bin Sultan Al Hamouda, by Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi III of Ajman , when Hamouda

552-577: Was originally dependent on the Na'im of Buraimi but fell to the Al Bu Kharaiban ruler of Ajman, Rashid bin Humaid III , in 1948. Al Bu Kharaiban Nuaimi rule in Ajman effectively began with Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi who, with some fifty followers, took control of the coastal settlement of Ajman from members of the Al Bu Shamis Nuaimi in a short conflict. This was sealed in 1816/17 by

576-571: Was unable to raise a force of men to oppose Rashid. Masfout has been part of the Emirate of Ajman since, albeit an exclave . A period of uncertainty followed as the various Sheikhs of the region attempted to jostle for influence in order to sign petroleum concessions, with the Sultan in Muscat and the Saudis paying tribute to the Na'im in Buraimi and other local tribes in the area in return for fealty which often turned out to be short-lived. This activity among

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