Al Bu Kharaiban

The Na'im in Buraimi (including the Khawatir and Al Bu Shamis) were led by the Al Bu Kharaiban^[3] and were originally loyal to Shakhbut bin Khalifa of Abu Dhabi, and would be again to Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, but their relationship with the Al Bu Falah was often fractious and, resentful of the encroachment of the Al Bu Falah and their allies the Manasir in the mid-late C19th, adopted Wahhabism as a doctrine.^[4] Following the Saudi withdrawal in 1871, they submitted to Muscat.^[5] Holding the fort in Buraimi, the tribe was powerful in that area^[6] but would rally behind Zayed bin Khalifa both there and in Hatta, where they asked for his support in interceding in a conflict with the Bani Qitab in 1905.^[7] The village neighbouring Hatta, Masfout, was originally dependent on the Na'im of Buraimi but fell to the Al Bu Kharaiban ruler of Ajman, Rashid bin Humaid III, in 1948.

Al Bu Kharaiban Nuaimi rule in Ajman effectively began with Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi who, with some fifty followers, took control of the coastal settlement of Ajman from members of the Al Bu Shamis Nuaimi in a short conflict. This was sealed in 1816/17 by the taking of the fort by Rashid,^[8] who was to be a signatory of the 1820 General Maritime Treaty with the British.^[9] Faction fighting between the Na'im subsections wasn't limited to Masfout, however, and with the continuing decline of the larger Na'im tribal federation beyond Buraimi, the Al Bu Shamis maintained an almost completely separate identity and, in fact, the Al Bu Shamis leader of Al Heera – Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi was often at loggerheads, if not war, with the Al Bu Kharaiban Ruler of Ajman.^[10]