The Tunaij ( ar, الطنيج), also spelled as Tanaij (singular Tunaiji ar, الطنيجي), is an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Tunaij have mostly settled in
Dhaid
Dhaid, or Al Dhaid ( ar, ٱلذَّيْد, Adh-Dhayd), is the capital of the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. An oasis town, it has extensive irrigated date palm plantations with water channelled from the near ...
, the inland oasis town of
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital o ...
, and the
Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...
town of
Rams
In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Hamriyah.
At the turn of the 19th century, there were some 4,000 Tunaij in the Northern Emirates, of whom 1,500 were
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
. Influential in tribal politics because they could raise a force of some 500 fighting men, the Bedouin Tunaij used Dhaid as a centre and a fortified tower protected the 70-odd Tunaij houses there (the
Na'im
The Na'im () (singular Al Nuaimi ) is an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries.
The Na'im is divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban, the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Sham ...
maintained a similar arrangement at Dhaid). The Tunaij have been linked to the
Bani Qitab The Bani Qitab ( ar, بني كتب) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The singular form of the name, Al Ketbi, is a common family name in the Northern UAE today. Consisting of a settled southern section and a nomadic northern section, t ...
.
The Tunaij of Rams were mostly involved in pearl fishing and, during the pearling season, both Bedouin Tunaij and Shihuh would come to the coast to work as seasonal labour.