[1] Nomadic, warlike and fiercely independent, they roamed between Buraimi and Qatar, the Persian Gulf coast to Liwa and also settled in the Northern emirates.
One of the most important tribes in the emirate of Abu Dhabi (together with the Bani Yas, with whom they cooperated and coexisted closely),[2] the tribe was traditionally predominant in the desert areas between Buraimi and Qatar and the Persian Gulf coast to Liwa, but Manasir families had settled Abu Dhabi, Buraimi, Al Khan and Jumeirah by the turn of the 20th century.
[4] The Manasir were fiercely independent and, unlike their settled counterparts the Bani Yas, did not necessarily consider themselves dependents of the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi.
Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd had 40 Manasir on its payroll, but they only took work for as long as it took to pay off their immediate economic need, a date garden or perhaps a new wife.
[10] As this pattern of working for oil companies turned into longer term employment, and the Buraimi Dispute began to show how tribal affiliations could turn into territorial claims, the government of Abu Dhabi started to regulate this movement of labour and Manasir who stayed away longer than a year were liable to find their date plantations confiscated.
[12] The Manasir frequently formed an important part of Abu Dhabi's fighting force, and always fought alongside the Bani Yas.
The Manasir also played a key role fighting for Zayed the Great in the 1870 Battle of Dhank (which established the primacy of Turki bin Said as Sultan of Muscat) and in the period following that battle, culminating in January 1875 in a further attack by Zayed against Dhank and the area south of the town, the Dhahirah, by a mounted force of 200 Manasir and Bani Hajir Bedouins.