Baloch people in the United Arab Emirates

Baloch people in the United Arab Emirates

امارات متحدہ عرب مردم بلوچ
Total population
709,080
Regions with significant populations
Dubai · Sharjah (Kalba, Khor Fakkan) · Ras Al Khaimah • Al-Ain
Languages
Balochi · Arabic Persian, widely spoken as second/third languages Urdu, widely spoken as second/third languages
Religion
Sunni Islam (Mostly Hanafis and few Hanbalis)

Baloch people in the United Arab Emirates comprise citizens and residents of the United Arab Emirates of Baloch ancestry, whose ancestral roots lie in Balochistan like Balochs in other Gulf states. They often bear the surname Al-Balushi or Al-Baluchi, As some of them bear surnames of Baluchi tribes such as Al-Raeesi, Al-Huoti, Al-Ameeri or Taherzai.

Culture

The Baloch speak Balochi. The Gulf dialect of Arabic is also natively spoken by those who have been settled in the region for generations. A Balochi literary society under the name Balochi Labzanki Sarchammag is active in the UAE. In Balochi folklore, the Gulf is frequently referenced as a land of opportunities and employment. Poetry, lullabies or songs sung by women at weddings for instance contain references to the economic prosperity offered in Dubai. Some Baloch speak Persian and Urdu as languages from countries such as Iran and Pakistan.

History

The texts in this section of the article are based on the book “From Trucial states to United Arab Emirates: A society in Transition by Frauke Heard-Bey (1996)” Only.

Sa'id bin Rashid, the son of the shaikh of the Balūch at 'Arāqi

The tribes on the fringe of the Trucial Coast

Map 4b The Western Area (The Tribes)

The Balūch of Dhahirah formed an important element of the settled population in the land between the Trucial Coast and the Sultanate. These Balūch are not to be identified with the people who had come from the former Omani possession Makrān, now part of Pakistan, to serve in the Sultan's army as mercenaries, nor are they descended from the Balūchis who settled in Muscat, the coastal towns of the Bāținah and the Trucial States (according to the Gazetteer the latter had about 1,400 Balūchis) as traders and fishermen. While these groups retained the use of their language, the Balūch of Dhāhirah have a tribal organisation, an exclusive dār around their capital Mazām; they are Sunni and speak Arabic.

On his journey from Abu Dhabi to Muscat in 1902, Major Cox noted particularly that the Balūch of Dhahirah had no communications with the Baținah but that their import and export trade was conducted entirely with Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This explains their usually good relationship with the Bani Yas and in particular their shaikh's co-operation with the Al Bū Falāḥ in the Buraimi area.

At a time of realignment of tribal loyalties during the first decade of this century, the Balūch of Mazām had a dispute with and were attacked by their erstwhile protectors the Bani Qitab. When the beduin Bani Qitab converged on Mazām and hostilities there had claimed some victims, the Balūch turned to Zāyid bin Khalifah for help. In February 1906 he collected his forces with the intention of supporting the Balūch of Mazām and extracting blood money from the Bani Qitab on behalf of the Balūch. The Bani Qitab had difficulty finding support, but the young Rashid bin Ahmad of Umm al Qaiwain eventually adopted their case as an opportunity to challenge Shaikh Zāyid's influence over the tribes in the hinterland. A general war over the Balūch dispute was, however, prevented by a meeting of Trucial Rulers and shaikhs of the hinterland, convened in Khawānīj near Dubai in April 1906. It resulted in the written agreement, already mentioned, regarding the Rulers' spheres of influence among the beduin. Shaikh Zayid bin Khalifah assumed the responsibility for following up all the claims, "important or trifling", which the Balūch had against the Bani Qitab, and he instructed his wāli Ahmad bin Hilal accordingly. In the 1950s, however, the Balūch followed the example of neighbouring tribes and tried to use as political bargaining points or to obtain handsome subsidies, the keen interest which the Sultan of Oman and the King of Saudi Arabia had in the allegiance of these tribes at a time when prospecting for oil commenced in their dār.

Bani Qitab

While the tribe was still more unified it was more than once in recent history the catalyst for a general re-arrangement of spheres of influence between the Trucial Shaikhs. For instance, in the Wadi Hatta dispute of 1905, of the two villages in the Wadi Hattā, Masfūt and Hajarain, the latter had become a virtual dependency of Dubai while the former was under the protection of the Na'im of Buraimi. 106 With the consent of the people of Masfut, the Bani Qitab built a fort at the head of the wādi and stopped passing caravans. The Na'im of Buraimi and the Ruler of Dubai understandably objected to this interference, while the young Ruler of Umm al Qaiwain, Shaikh Rashid bin Ahmad, saw his opportunity to gain a voice in the beduin matters of the Trucial Coast's hinterland. At a meeting of the Rulers in September 1905 in Dubai the actions of the Bani Qitab were condemned by the participants, but Shaikh Rashid bin Ahmad's challenge of the venerable Shaikh Zayid bin Khalifah's leadership in beduin affairs continued and flared up again at the next outbreak of hostilities in the region. This also involved the Bani Qitab, and it was their previously-mentioned dispute with the Balūch of Mazām which led to the written agreement, between the Rulers, of April 1906 in which the Bani Qitab were among the tribes assigned to the Ruler of Umm al Qaiwain. But the contest between the Rulers of Umm al Qaiwain and Abu Dhabi smouldered on. The British Government of India, contrary to its general policy, let itself be drawn into this dispute, which had its roots in the hinterland; in February of 1907 the Political Resident in Bushire, Major Cox, arrived off Sharjah in HMS Lawrence and mediated between the two parties, who were by then once again at daggers drawn near Umm al Qaiwain's oasis of Falaj al 'Ali.

The tribes of the northern area

The Naqbiyin, who numbered about 1,800 souls in 1905 and 1,889 in 1968, were the natural rivals of the Sharqiyin, with whom they lived at close quarters almost wherever they settled in Shamailīyah, the Wādi Hām, Khatt, and in the vicinity of Dibah. Only in Khaur Fakkān the Naqbiyin in 1905 constituted the tribal majority (150 houses), dominating a non-tribal immigrant minority from the Persian coast. In Kalba (earlier called Ghallah) the Naqbiyin lived with Sharqiyin, Kunūd, 'Abādilah, Balūchis and Persians, but they became the principal "power behind the throne" in Kalba's successful bid for independence in 1937. There were no nomadic Naqbiyin; the entire tribe was engaged in the settled occupations of fishing and agriculture.

Recent research carried out by the Austrian anthropologist Walter Dostal has helped to dispel the legends which have been in circulation among Arab tribes and European travellers regarding the origin, behaviour and language of the Shihūḥ. It is now fairly well established that the Shihūh are a composite tribe, essentially of Arab origin, which has absorbed elements of Persian origin. The latter component, which forms the entire Kumzārah subsection of the Bani Hadīyah section of the Shihūḥ, speaks a dialect similar to the language used by the Balūchis. The Shibūḥ do not claim to have one common ancestor, but the Arab majority element is linked by historians to the immigration wave which brought Mālik bin Fahm groups from Yemen to south-east Arabia in the second century AD. In trying to trace the origin of the name "Shihūh", Dostal supports the theory that the behaviour of these people, who had to eke out a meagre existence in an inhospitable environment, made them appear avaricious in the eyes of other Arab tribes; the Arabic root of their name, SH H H means "to be avaricious".

Other members of the household, servants and slaves

Domestic servants were also considered to be part of the family. They used to be almost exclusively slaves, later liberated slaves and their offspring. Most of them-or their parents-were originally brought during the last century from pagan east and central Africa by Omani slave-dealers to Oman, where they were needed to work on the land. On the Trucial Coast very few families could afford to have domestic slaves as opposed to locally available helpers for work in the date gardens. During the 20th century slaves were more frequently imported from Makrān and Balūchistan. Only the growing wealth of the families living in the coastal towns, due to the boom in the market for pearls, enabled them to purchase and keep several slaves.

The Muslim system of life on this coast during the first half of the 20th century

At the main mosque of the larger towns an imam was employed who led the prayers and delivered the khutbah on Fridays. In most other mosques the imams were not specially-trained people who had no other occupation, they were mutawwa' who led the prayers-as in fact in the absence of an imām anyone could do. But by unspoken common consent the eldest, most respected or best-read person in a congregation would do this. In mosques which were built by or for ethnic or religious communities, for instance the Balūch communities on the east coast or the Shi’ah of Dubai, the leader of that community was often also the leader in prayer. Such minorities did not necessarily gather in their own mosque on Friday morning, but also came into the town's big mosque-with the exception of the Shi’ah of the Bastakīyah.

Changing population pattern of Abu Dhabi town

These non-tribal Sunni Muslims were assimilated without great difficulty while this process of relative urbanisation continued and the economic expansion lasted, creating the need for more divers, more shopkeepers, and more craftsmen; even tailors, bakers, butchers and builders were now required. Although domestic ser- vants were usually slaves or at a later date their freed descendants, Balūchis from Makrān were also employed in increasing numbers.

Trading in slaves

While the pearling industry expanded, there was an ever-increasing demand on the Trucial Coast for slave divers as well as for domestic slaves. After the 1847 agreement on the ban on transport of slaves by boat, it became virtually impossible to bring new supplies from the traditional sources. During the first two decades of this century the British authorities in the Gulf began to manumit domestic slaves who applied to the Residency Agent in Sharjah for liberation. The internal trade in slaves remained the occupation for a few daring individuals whose activities were frowned upon by the British authorities but were nevertheless tolerated by the Rulers because the business of many a pearl-boat owner in the coastal towns had grown to depend almost exclusively on slave divers. A new source of supplies had opened because Balūchistan was suffering from a period of internal strife and famine during the 1920s, and many people who emigrated to the coasts of Baținah and Shamailīyah seeking employment in the gardens and on the pearling boats were abducted into slavery.

The decline of the pearling industry put a temporary stop to these activities, and during the early 1930s the British authorities believed that trading in slaves had ceased on the Trucial Coast. But when eastern Saudi Arabia began to prosper with the start of oil company activities there, the demand for domestic slaves in al Hasā grew. The economic situation in the Trucial States in the 1940s was going from bad to worse, general security outside the towns was low, and some unscrupulous individuals were tempted to snatch Balūchis, ex- slaves, and even Arabs, and sell them through the channels which soon opened up. Thesiger recounts that while he stayed in al 'Ain in October 1949 a well-known slave dealer from al Hasa, 'Ali al Murri, had recently started trading between Hamasah and al Hasā, and Thesiger's companions claimed that when 'Ali al Murri visited a well just before Thesiger's party arrived there, he had forty-eight slaves with him.

Many incidents of kidnappings of Balūchis, Persians and negroes and their being transported from or via the Trucial States to al Hasā are reported during the period before the Saudi force was evicted by the Trucial Oman Levies in October 1955, thus ending a dispute which had hindered the oil company's activities. During the late 1950s the patrols of the Trucial Oman Levies, who were in 1956 renamed the Trucial Oman Scouts, made the transport of any sort of contraband difficult; however, the quickening pace of the economic development concentrated the minds of people on the new opportu- nities at home on the Trucial Coast, and the supply of slaves from the Trucial States to al Hasā dried up completely.

Social stratification in villages

The same work was also performed by people of slave origin who remained in the households of their masters as servants; but while a bīdār performed only these particular duties in date gardens, servants could be asked to do all the other tasks which needed attention in a garden as well as in the houses or elsewhere. In the date gardens of the east coast, immigrants from the Persian coast, there summarily called balūch, frequently worked in the date gardens, drew water from wells and helped with building houses. Some of the balūch were paid in kind but most of them earned a wage. In most village communities balūch could not marry Arab tribal girls.

Establishing new gardens

Allowing for many exceptions one may say that in general black servants worked in the gardens near the coastal towns, balūch servants in the gardens of the east coast, bayādīr in many places including Dibah, Buraimi and Ra's al Khaimah, and tribeless but settled immigrants and original inhabitants of uncertain ethnic background worked in places where agricultural labour, other than date gardeners, was needed." During the date harvest, when a few extra hands were welcome, beduin helped with this seasonal work. Payment for such work was usually only in kind, but in some cases it consisted of a share of the crop as well as money.

Even in the very small villages in the mountains of the Trucial States, some outsiders, such as Balūch and other recent immigrants from the Persian coast, in the case of Buraimi also some Zațūt, and a varying number of people of slave origin owned houses. Most such foreign elements lived apart from the settled tribesmen in their own quarters of the village, except for the domestic servants, who were largely people of slave origin and resided with and shared the lives of their tribal masters. Another group of outsiders in the village might be the absentee landlords and even the people who worked in their gardens, remitting a large part of the crop to the landlord; this obligation was invariably expressed in terms of a share of the crop and never in terms of a fixed amount.

Enumeration of Ghafiri and Hināwi tribes of the area later called "Trucial Oman"

The Hināwi tribes of the Trucial States, the most prominent of whom are the Bani Yas, live chiefly in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Shamailīyah. The traditional allies of the Bani Yās are also Hināwi, the 'Awamir together with the 'Afar and the Manāşir. The Dhawahir of the Buraimi oases and northern Dhahirah, who declared their loyalty to the Al Bū Falāḥ leading sub-section of the Bani Yas in the 19th century, are also Hināwi; so are the Bani Ghafir of Dhāhirah and several other smaller tribes in the same area, such as the Abbāb. The important tribe of the Bani 'Ali who traditionally supported the Hināwi Al Bū Sa'id Sultan, live in the Wadi Dhank and Yanqul near the Al Bū Falāḥ-dominated area of al 'Ain. The Balūch of Dhahirah have also traditionally supported the Hināwīyah. Outside this strong Hināwi grouping west of the Hajar range, there was an important link with tribes in the north, because the Shihūh, the Habūs and the Za'abs are also Hināwi, but the largest Hināwi tribe apart from the Bani Yas are the Sharqiyin of Fujairah on the east coast.

Making the countryside secure

The old problem of arms and ammunition being smuggled through the Trucial States to Balūchistan and to Oman also obliged the British Government to step up control, or else to risk being accused of tacitly assisting the secessionist movements in Balūchistan and Makrān against the Persian Government and in Oman. The source of the relatively old arms was usually East Africa, from whence they were shipped to the Baţinah or to Saudi Arabia and reached the coastal towns, particularly Dubai, from Hamasah in the Buraimi oasis, to be shipped north across the Gulf. Probably the most compelling reason for the British Government to involve itself in the problem of security in the Trucial States, to the extent of setting up a British-officered force, was the odium attached to the slave trade, which had again become very profitable during the late 1940s. News of incidents in which former slaves from Africa and Balūchistān and even free people were taken to Hamasah, and sold to be domestic servants in Saudi Arabia, had leaked out. Britain, already some- what on the defensive before a world audience which had made anti- colonialism and the responsibility of former colonial powers for newly independent States a burning issue, felt compelled to concern itself with these internal matters in those States for which she was responsible in the eyes of the outside world.

People

Sportspeople

• Ali Salmeen, footballer
• Khalid Al-Baloushi, footballer
• Hamad Al-Blooshi, footballer
• Mohammed Abbas, footballer
• Walid Abbas, footballer
• Yaqoub Al-Blooshi, footballer
• Mansour Al-Blooshi, footballer
• Ayesha Al-Blooshi, weightlifter
• Khalid Abdulla, footballer
• Issa Ali, footballer
• Issa Al-Houti, footballer

Politicians

• Ibrahim bin Uthman, former governor of Al-Ain
• Ahmed bin Mahmoud Al Blooshi, political advisor
• Muhammad bin Issa bin Hussein, former governor of Khor-Fakkan
• Jamadar Al-Baluchi, Representative of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in the Al Ain region in 1925 AD.
• Mirza bin Barakat Al-Ameeri, former ruler of western coast of Makran and supporter of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, ruler of the Dubai, against his opponents 1939

Miscellaneous

• Baluchi (unknown), builder of Al-Mārrīyah Al Gharbiyah
• Musallam bin Hamad, former Major in Abu Dhabi Police and poet
• Ahmed Bisho Al Balushi, Major General and Director of the Office of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
• Salama bnt Rashid, Folk tale narrator

See also

• Oman Baloch
• Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates
• Iranians in the United Arab Emirates