They have long had a strong alliance with the Ruling family of Abu Dhabi, the Al Nahyan, and the Bani Yas confederation.
The tribe's traditional area of influence is the Oasis of Al Ain, where at the turn of the 20th century, they owned most of the cultivated land and property with the exception of Buraimi village itself.
Numbering 4,500, the tribe consisted of three subsections: the Daramikah, who populated Hili, and Qattara; the Jawabir in Al Ain and the Bani Saad who lived in Jimi.
Sheikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan commanded the loyalty of many of the Bedouin families in the area ('You will be aware that Dhahirah belongs to us' he told the British in 1839) and established his primacy there when, in 1824, an agreement was forced on Sharjah in which Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi recognised Tahnun's claim to Buraimi, and then demolished the forts he had built there.
His popularity with the tribes was also enjoyed by his son, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnun Al Nahyan, when facing incursions by the Wahhabis.
[7] The strong and longstanding alliance between the Bani Yas and the Dhawahir was relatively unusual, with most of the tribes of the interior keen to assert their independence.