'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎547] (578/1050)

DIB—DIB
547
worsliip in the Jami' mosque. The town was once walled, but the wall is now in ruins ;
on the landward side, however, there are a number of towers of defence. The water
supply for Shandaghah is obtained from wells on the plain at a place called Jumairah
some three miles distant. These wells are really water-holes which are dug and then
filled up again when no longer required. Water is found at a depth of 4 to 6 feet. The
supply for Dairah is obtained from 5 or 6 wells which are situated near some date groves
5 or 6 miles out. These wells are apparently dug in hard ground, and contain water at
about 12 feetv The water is carried into the town in skins on donkeys or camels, and
in earthenware vessels by women. It is of good quality considering the nature of the
country, and there is never any scarcity of it.
The population of Dibai town, in all about 15,000 souls or rather more, consists of the
following elements: Bani Yas of the AlBu Falash and Sabaissections, A1 Bu Mahair,
mixed tribes, chiefly Arabs and including Mazari' and natives of Bahrain and
Kuwait, Persians, from various districts of Persia, 250 houses; Sudan Baluchis,
natives of the Hasa Oasis, houses ; Marar, and Shwaihiyin. Nearly all of these are
Sunnis of the Maliki sect. There are also many settled Hindus and Khdjahs, British
subjects, inclusive of women and children, and in the pearl season many other Hindus
visit the place.
Date trees number about 4,000, but the yield is scantly : the only other cultivation is
a little lucerne. Dibai town is reckoned to possess 1,650 camels, 45 horses, 380
donkeys, 430 cattle and 960 goats. About 335 pearl boats, 50 fishing boats and 20
sea-gonig vessel, the last being chiefly Sambuks and Badans, belong to the place, and
10 to 12 boats are built annually.
The ruler of Dibai is Shaikh Sa'id Ibn Maktum, who succeeded his cousin But! Ibn
Suhail in 1912, and is at feud with the latter's family. He is a wealthy chief, owing to
the commercial importance of his capital, a but his relations with the Indian Govern
ment have not been uniformly good ; in August 1913 he had to be warned because a
boat of H. M, S. Sphinx was fired on from the town. There had been trouble under
previous rulers, chiefly owing to the use of Dibai by smugglers of arms.
The trade of Dibai is considerable and is rapidly expanding. Dibai has now sup
planted Lingeh as the chief entrepot of the foreign trade of Trucial 'Oman. Dibai is
now a port of call for the steamers of the British India and of the Bombay and Persia
Steam Navigation Companies, the vessels of the former calling regularly once a fortnight
and those of the latter at intervals as opportunity offers. The only exports of local
origin are pearls, mother-of-pearl shells and dried fish. The imports are dates from
Basrah, Minab and Batinah; also rice, wheat, piece-goods, spices, metals, coir-rope and
timber, chiefly from India, The town contains some 400 shops and 200 warehouses,
A large portion of the imports are destined for the interior, particularly for the Baraimi
Oasis. Of the local merchants 23 are Hindus and 7 are Khojahs under British protec-
tion.— {Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; Murphy.)
DIBAI PRINCIPALITY—
An independent Arab Principality on the coast of Trucial 'Oman; its political position
is explained in the article on that country, Dibai is situated between the Shaikhdoms
of Sharjah on the north and Abu Dhabi on the south, meeting Sharjah on the coast at
Abu Hail which lies partly on one side of the border and partly on the other, and Abu
Dhabi at Khor Ghanadhah, a creek described in the article on the Abu Dhabi Princi
pality, which runs inland for many miles and divides the principalities one from the
other. Jabal-al-'Ali, the only hill on this coast, is in Dibai territory : it is 220 feet high,
flat-topped, and lies 19 miles south-west of Dibai Town and 4 miles inland, being sepa
rated from the sea by a strip of low desert. It is often called Jabail.
The people are Biyadiyah.
Inland the extent of the influence of the Shaikh of Dibai is doubtful. The village of
Hajaram, 50 miles south-east of Dibai Town in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Hatta, at the present time recog
nises him as overlord; but the origin of the connection is exceptional and the place
must be regarded as an isolated dependency, for there are villages nearer to Dibai
Town which do not acknowledge the Shaikh's authority.
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