17. Allegiance
The loyalty of the whole Bani Yas tribe to the Ruling Familyof Abu Dhabi cannot be doubted. With few recent exceptions wheremembers of the tribe have accepted presents of money from theSaudis, or paid zakat), their loyalty to their hereditary Rulerremains unchallenged. The only statement from a Bani Yas obtainedby the Saudi authorities in support of their Memorial in theArbitration proceedings was from Shaikh Faris bin Ghanim of theMazari'; he has since died. Those Mazari' who, with some of theManasir, were at one time living in Sa'udi Arabia, have now allreturned to Abu Dhabi territory. The Sa'udi contention, in their
Memorial, that the Mazari' are a Sa'udi tribe cannot be supported;
nor can the statement that they are not an integral part of theEani Yas. Although groups of Mazari' are found in 'Omān and inthe Trucial States of Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah, Lorimer's statement that "the majority are found in Abu Dhabi territory, wherethey are regarded as a section of the Bani Yas tribe"!), stillholds good today.18. The Sa'udi government has not itself seriously contested theallegiance of the Bani Yas and in a work recently published underits auspices the true position is clearly stated:
'While the seafarers of the tribe of Bani Yas generallyconsider the Ruler of bu Dhabi as their lord, they holdIbn Sa'ud in high esteen as the great ruler; but it should notbe understood from this that they owe their direct loyalty to anyother than the Ruler of Abu Dhabi.....'
'Nevertheless there is no cause to doubt that the Bani Yasof Al-Dhafrah, or at least the majority of them, owe allegianceto Āi Bū Falāh of Abu Dhabi 3).
/19.
(1)
For particulars of the few occasions on which Bani Yas paid
zakat, see Annexure 00 to Chapter 00.(2)
op. cit., Vol. II, p. 1204.
(3)
The Eastern Reaches of al-Hasa Province, (1950), produced bythe Arabian-American Oil Company. pp. 19,53.
