'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎66v] (137/180)

122
BARAIMI
VILLAGE*
\
Some of the best varieties of date are grown, including the Fard, Khalas and
Mibsali sorts; but they are not held in equal estimation with the produce of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Samail and Badiyah in the 'Oman Sultanate. The palms of the oasis number
about 60,000. Fruits other than dates are lemons, sour and sweet limes,
pomegranates, water melons, musk melons, bananas, mangoes, grapes, figs and
olives: the papai also exists. Cereals are wheat and barley in spring, and jowari
and millet in autumn; vegetables include sweet potatoes, radishes, brinjals, beans,
onions and garlic. Pulse, cotton—both of the white and the red flowered varieties
—and lucerne yielding 8 to 9 crops a year are among the other products.
Leguminous plants are not here sown among cereals, but follow them in rotation
on the same ground; stubble, too, is ploughed in and never burnt. It is said that
coffee was once cultivated on the slopes of Jabal Hafit, but the plantations, if any
ever existed, have now disappeared.
Livestock. —Horses are only seen in the possession of Shaikhs, and cattle too
are somewhat scarce; but camels are cheap and abundant, and donkeys are largely
in use both as riding animals and as beasts of burden. The villages of the oasis
are reckoned to possess in the aggregate about 50 horses, 550 camels, 300 donkeys,
300 cattle and 2,500 sheep and goats. Besides these a number of horses, said to
be as many as 100, are ordinarily kept by the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi in the Oasis.
Trade. —There are few or no professional traders, but a primitive local market
is held each afternoon in one of the quarters of Baraimi Village; here commodities
mostly change hands by barter. The foreign trade of Baraimi passes chiefly
through the port of Sharjah, which is distant nearly 80 miles north-north-westwards,
but also to some extent through the other coast towns of Dhabi, Dibai and Sohar.
Political position. —fiarajmi is independent, but the influence of the Shaikh of
Abu Dhabi in the district is strong and increasing. The ruins of the fort at
Muraijib bear witness to the hereditary connection of his family with Baraimi, and
he has recently acquired (and is now engaged in developing) an estate at Jahali,
while Mas'udi is being formed into a village by his eldest son. Moreover a regular
tribute, of which the form and amount are mentioned in the article on the Abu
Dhabi Principality, is paid him by the Dhawahir who are numerically a majority in
the oasis. At the present time the Shaikh could probably seize Baraimi if he
wished to do so, but his policy appears to be one of pacific penetration. The
Na'im are the original owners of the oasis, and possession of the fort in Baraimi
Village still gives them prestige and a local superiority over the Dhawahir. A few
Manasir of the Abu Khail subsection frequent the Baraimi Oasis or its neighbour
hood in summer.
The original and most central village of the Baraimi Oasis. It consists of
9 quarters stretching northwards from a fort which may be regarded as one of
them. The quarters are given below in alphabetical order; they are mostly
inhabited by Na'im of the Qaratisah and other sections, and the population may
be estimated at 500 souls altogether.
Name of quarter.
Houses and inhabitants.
Remarks.
'Azzazinah (Harat-al-)
7 houses.
Daramikah (Harat-ad-)
11 houses.
This is the quarter furthest from the fort.
Fudhah (Harat-al-)
17 houses.
Hillah or Suq
7 houses of Khidamah
This quarter contains the market place, where
of the Na 'im.
there are a few booths of the ubiquitous
Persian shopkeeper, but most of the wares
are displayed on the ground; they include
grain, handkerchiefs, lungis, matches,
locks, bottles, etc. Several hundred people
collect here in the afternoon and the sight
is an interesting one.
Kunud (Harat-al-)
9 houses of Kunud.
Muhammad-bin-'Ali (Harat)
17 houses.
Qasr
Contains a few houses
A fort. Described below: its possession is
the source of the strength of the Na'im in
occupied by a tribal
garrison of Na'im.
Baraimi.
Shindaghah
16 houses.
...
* Authorities. Reports by Major P. Z. Cox, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , from personal
observation, also Col. Miles in his Route between Sohar and el Bereymi in 'Oman.