Sudan (tribe)

The Sudan (Arabic: السودان) (singular Al Suwaidi Arabic: السويدي) is an Arab tribe of in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and other Gulf states, traditionally close associates of the Bani Yas of Abu Dhabi.

At the turn of the 20th century settled Sudan numbered some 405 houses in Abu Dhabi and Batin, 250 houses in Dubai, 300 in Sharjah and 12 in Ajman. The family also settled the islands of the Persian Gulf, with some 20 houses on Abu Musa and 40 families living on Sirri Island. Some 5,000 strong, the tribe was mostly settled in the coastal areas of the Trucial States. The Sudan mostly subsisted on fishing and pearling and did not own date gardens in the inland oases.

Association with Bani Yas

The tribe was embroiled in conflict in 1824, when members of a dissident faction of Sudan in Sharjah built a tower in Deira, then a part of Sharjah, encouraged by Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan. Tahnun was himself jostling with Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi for control over Buraimi and Sultan had built two towers there. An attempt to arbitrate in the dispute by the British Residency agent in 1824 failed when Sultan sent a force against the Deira fort, expelling the Sudan. The move led to the failure of either Abu Dhabi or Sharjah to send boats to the pearling in 1825, a grave economic shock to both.

However, in 1829, the area of Deira, on the opposite side to the creek to Dubai, was settled by some 400 Sudan who had left Sharjah in 1826 following an argument with the ruler, Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi.