Duru (tribe)

The Duru (

Although the Duru were on good terms with the Al Bu Shamis^[2] and considered themselves dependents of Dubai, they were in conflict with the warlike Awamir, who encroached on their dar or territory. In the 1920s, in Liwa and Buraimi, fighting broke out between the Bedouin tribes, with the Manasir and Bani Yas fighting a southern confederation of Awamir, Duru and Al Bu Shamis. An ally of the Wahhabis, Hamdan managed to broker an uneasy truce.^[3] However, fighting broke out again in the Buraimi oasis, between the Duru, Manasir and Bani Qitab.^[3] The escalating conflict provided an early challenge for the new Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who marched against the Duru in December 1923.^[4] Word got out of his movement and the Duru and Awamir raised a force, together with the Bani Qitab of Falayah, which met a party of 20 riders from Abu Dhabi and killed seven of them and captured the rest. Raising a force of 200 men, the Northern confederation raided Buraimi while Sultan's forces raided Falayah. The Duru, understanding that men from Dubai had been supporting Sultan, raided Dubai in revenge.^[4]

Saudi influence

A concerted effort at conciliation followed, as the various Trucial Rulers recognised that the ongoing conflicts were threatening to descend into a state of general war. The Duru, as well as the Al Bu Shamis, sought the protection of the Wahhabi agent, Ibn Jaluwi, who was only too pleased to extend his influence among the tribes of the Trucial States and Oman.^[5]

This led to an ongoing and bloody conflict and in the 1940s, fighting led the headman of the Bedouin Awamir, Salim bin Hamad bin Rakkad, to lead his people to