Ghafalah

Last updated
The Jiri Plain of the northern United Arab Emirates, the dar, or roaming territory, of the Ghafalah tribe. Jiri Plain Camel.jpg
The Jiri Plain of the northern United Arab Emirates, the dar, or roaming territory, of the Ghafalah tribe.

The Ghafalah (singular Al Ghafli) is an Arab tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). [1]

Origins

An entirely Bedouin tribe at the turn of the 20th century, the Ghafalah roamed the Jiri Plain inland of Ras Al Khaimah and particularly Umm Al Quwain, [2] but did not extend their dar, or roaming territory, into the Hajar Mountains or even their foothills. [3] At the time numbering some 500 in strength, by 1968 their numbers had dwindled to 197 people living in the five northern Emirates. [4]

A Ghafiri tribe, the Ghafalah were close to the Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and often supported them in conflict. They claimed precedence over a number of wells inland, often sharing these with the Khawatir. [5] They subsisted mainly by selling firewood and charcoal in the coastal towns, and by the produce of their 700 camels, 1,000 sheep and goats as well as cattle and donkeys. [3] They also carried goods such as dates across inland routes to service coastal traders. [6]

The Ghafalah were one of a number of tribes opposed to oil exploration taking place inland of the Trucial States, particularly in the late 1940s, [7] frequently allying with the Khawatir, who frustrated the coastal Qawasim rulers in granting oil concessions and access to the interior. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khatt</span> Place in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Khatt is a mountainous village south-east of the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Famous for its hot springs, and latterly home to a spa hotel, there is evidence that Khatt has been a site of constant human settlement since the stone age – a record of over 5,000 years of occupation.

Rams is a suburb of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Once a pearl diving and fishing community that frequently disputed the rule of Ras Al Khaimah, today it forms the northern coastal settlement of the city.

The Tunaij, also spelled as Tanaij, is an Arab tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Tunaij mostly settled in Dhaid, the inland oasis town of Sharjah, and the Ras Al Khaimah town of Rams. A small number of Tunaij also settled at Hamriyah.

The Shihuh is an Arab tribe living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. In the singular, the name is Al Shehhi, a common family name in the UAE and Oman today. Inhabiting the northern part of the Hajar Mountain range, specifically in the Ruus Al Jibal, the tribe has long been influential in the affairs of both the east and west coast settlements of the northern UAE and Oman and has fiercely maintained both its identity and independence.

Al Fahlain is the name of a settlement in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, traditionally mostly settled by members of the Naqbiyin tribe.

Bani Shatair is a tribal name, originating in Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in areas of Northern Oman.

The Naqbiyin is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They are mostly settled within the emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah and have long been influential in the tribal politics of both emirates.

The General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was initially signed between the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Great Britain in January 1820, with the nearby island state of Bahrain acceding to the treaty in the following February. Its full title was the "General Treaty for the Cessation of Plunder and Piracy by Land and Sea, Dated February 5, 1820".

Maktoum bin Butti was the joint founder and first ruler of Dubai, today one of the United Arab Emirates, alongside Obeid bin Said bin Rashid, with whom he led a migration of the Al Bu Falasah from Abu Dhabi, seceding from the Bani Yas.

Sheikh Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi was Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah from 1921–1948. His long and turbulent rule was characterised by internecine family and tribal disputes and he was finally removed as Ruler in a 1948 coup.

Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmad Al Mualla was the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain from 1904–1922, one of the Trucial States and today one of the seven emirates forming the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He gained influence over the tribes of the interior at the expense of the pre-eminent Trucial Ruler of the time, Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Hamad bin Ibrahim Al Mualla was Ruler of Umm Al Quwain from 1923 to 1929, one of the Trucial States which today forms part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi was the Ruler of Ajman, one of the Trucial States which today form the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from 1816–1838, leading a force of 50 men to take control of the town from members of the Al Bu Shamis tribe who had settled there and also at Al Heera. At the time, Ajman was a dependency of Sharjah. Five years after his establishment at Ajman, the fort was taken by the Darawisha Bedouin who were removed by the action of the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiri plain</span> Place in Sharjah Ras Al Khaimah Fujairah, United Arab Emirates

The Jiri plain is an area of gravel plain extending across areas of Southern Ras Al Khaimah, Eastern Sharjah and Western Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The area, some 15 miles in length and 8 miles in breadth, is triangulated with the villages of Khatt and Habhab to the North; Adhen to the East and Dhaid to the South. To the West the plain is enclosed by sand dunes.

The Sharqiyin is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

Wadi Qor is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. The wadi runs from the mountain village of Al Qor, near the Dubai exclave of Hatta, through the villages of Huwaylat, Rafaq and Al Nasla before crossing the Omani border and fanning out to the Batinah plain and the Gulf of Oman north of the Omani coastal village of Bu Baqarah.

The Habus is an Arab tribe of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They mostly settled the area around Khatt, Fahlain and the Hajar Mountain wadis to the East of the city of Ras Al Khaimah. They are often associated with the Hajar Mountain tribes of the Shihuh and Dhahuriyiin, with whom the Habus were frequently neighbours and with whom the Habus shared a number of cultural similarities and traditions. The Habus have also adopted the distinctive Shehhi dialect of Arabic, which is thought to have Himyarite Yemeni origins dating back to the second century BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musaibat</span> Village in the UAE

Musaibat is a small agricultural and livestock village, located in the northeast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the Hajar Mountains, Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khawatir</span> Bedouin tribe of the United Arab Emirates

The Khawatir is an Arab tribe of the United Arab Emirates, a subsection of the Na'im.

The Maraziq is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

References

  1. ↑ Heard-Bey, Frauke (2005). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates : a society in transition. London: Motivate. p. 71. ISBN   1860631673. OCLC   64689681.
  2. ↑ William Lancaster; Fidelity Lancaster (2011). Honour is in Contentment: Life Before Oil in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE). Walter de Gruyter. p. 132. ISBN   978-3110223392.
  3. 1 2 Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf Vol II. British Government, Bombay. p. 572.
  4. ↑ Heard-Bey, Frauke (2005). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates : a society in transition. London: Motivate. p. 76. ISBN   1860631673. OCLC   64689681.
  5. ↑ William Lancaster; Fidelity Lancaster (2011). Honour is in Contentment: Life Before Oil in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE). Walter de Gruyter. p. 512. ISBN   978-3110223392.
  6. ↑ William Lancaster; Fidelity Lancaster (2011). Honour is in Contentment: Life Before Oil in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE). Walter de Gruyter. p. 135. ISBN   978-3110223392.
  7. ↑ William Lancaster; Fidelity Lancaster (2011). Honour is in Contentment: Life Before Oil in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE). Walter de Gruyter. p. 371. ISBN   978-3110223392.
  8. ↑ Heard, David (2013). From pearls to oil: how the oil industry came to the United Arab Emirates (Reprinted ed.). Dubai Abu Dhabi London: Motivate Publishing. p. 380. ISBN   978-1-86063-311-9.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.