PAPER ABSTRACT

PAPER TITLE: / The Bedouins and the Creation of New Towns in the Eastern Gulf in the Days of Ibn Saud
NAME: / Dr Saeed M. S. Alqahtani
PANEL: / 4
POSITION: / Assistant Professor
INSTITUTION: / King Khalid University
COUNTRY: / Saudi Arabia / EMAIL:
ABSTRACT:
This study mainly intends to investigate and describe the role played by the state during the time of Ibn Saud in forming and changing the tribal institutions of the Arab nomads (Bedouins) with special reference to the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsular which now comes under the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In fact, new towns were created by the Government for these Bedouins.
The beginning of the twentieth century was a period when the Saudi Government’s centralization efforts gained momentum. No doubt, in the eastern part of the Arabian gulf this entailed a struggle for the central government to gain control over these Bedouin tribes. Till 1914 the Saudi Government was using military power to end the internal strife among these tribes. However, from 1916 onwards, the Government began to use more sophisticated means and tactics in order to secure control and encourage the integration of Bedouin element in this Gulf empire. The creation of new towns in this Gulf desert, the changing apparatus of administration, the construction of public buildings in the desert, all meant that the Government slowly penetrated the nomad’s way of life.
The Saudi Government as a rule supported the peasantry against nomadic tribes as the nomads were seen an active threat to the imperial economic welfare that mainly depended on agricultural production. This does not mean that there has always been a protracted struggle between the state and its nomadic subjects. The Saudi Government did not try to turn all nomads into settled peasants. On the contrary, the nomads were protected by specific laws and regulations designed to regulate their migratory routes and guarantee their livelihood and safety. Some remarks on the terms used by Saudi central Government in dealing with the Bedouins and other nomadic tribes are useful in explaining the changing strategies during the period under consideration.
NOTE: The archival research in the public record office (London) for this study was made available through the grant of Ibn Saud. I wish to express my gratitude for their financial support