Sharqiyin

Sharqiyin
Arab tribe
EthnicityArab
LocationUnited Arab Emirates
LanguageArabic
ReligionIslam

The Sharqiyin (Arabic: الشرقيون, singular Al Sharqi Arabic: الشرقي) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[1]  

The Sharqiyin were long the dominant tribe along the East coast of the Trucial States (and the second most numerous in the area around the start of the 19th century), an area known as Shamailiyah.[2] A 1968 census showed 90% of the tribal population of Fujairah was Sharqiyin.[3] They were traditionally dependents of Sharjah and, over the centuries, made several attempts to secede and declare independence, finally practically managing this from 1901 onwards[4] and finally gaining British recognition as a Trucial State, Fujairah, in 1952.[5]

They settled all along the East Coast of the Trucial States, from Kalba to Dibba, as well as in the Wadi Ham and Jiri plain and by the turn of the 20th century they were some 7,000 strong. Three sections of the tribe are notable, the Hafaitat (from which the ruling family of Fujairah derives), the Yammahi and the Hamudiyin.[1] After the Bani Yas, the Sharqiyin were the second most numerous tribe in the Trucial States.

  1. ^ a b Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf Vol II. British Government, Bombay. p. 1769.
  2. ^ Heard-Bey, Frauke (2005). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates : a society in transition. London: Motivate. p. 72. ISBN 1860631673. OCLC 64689681.
  3. ^ Heard-Bey, Frauke (2005). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates : a society in transition. London: Motivate. p. 73. ISBN 1860631673. OCLC 64689681.
  4. ^ Bey, Frauke (1996). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates. UK: Longman. pp. 92–94. ISBN 0582277280.
  5. ^ Bey, Frauke (1996). From Trucial States To United Arab Emirates. UK: Longman. p. 296. ISBN 0582277280.