Special Features
Camel Racing
Historically, the desert culture of the Arabs has been divided into two categories -- the Bedouin, or those who wander, and the Fellahin, or the settled ones.Throughout the Arab world the Bedouin culture is revered for its freedom of movement, its emphasis on close family and tribal ties, its closeness to the natural beauty of the desert and its interdependent relationship to the camel.
Known throughout the world as "the ship of the desert," the dromedary, or one-humped camel, with its enormous endurance and high tolerance for heat and drought, is what makes the Bedouin culture and lifestyle possible. Camelus dromedarius is historically the Bedouin’s transportation and his source of milk, meat, wool, leather, and fuel from dried manure.
The Holy Koran says: "The Almighty in making animals created nothing preferable to the camel." So it should be no surprise that Bedouin children learn to ride camels not long after they can walk and from an early age are at ease at a gallop. Informal camel races across the desert sands date back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
But the modern form of camel racing in the United Arab Emirates dates back only to the 1960s, after the discovery of oil launched the country on a massive program of urbanization and modernization.
It was largely settled Arabs along the coast who brought about this dramatic transformation, launching one of the world’s greatest building booms and importing thousands of skilled workers from through Asia to accomplish it. Dubai led the way in developing a dazzlingly modern Arab state whose gross domestic product from tourism, trade and finance now eclipses its oil revenue.
The Bedouin found themselves on the fringes of this new society, but their culture and lifestyle remained highly revered not only by the typical urban Emirati, but by the UAE’s ruling families. The Maktoum family of Dubai began to patronize camel racing so that the camel culture of the Bedouin would endure.
"Camels are in the same stage as horses," Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, once told Saudi Aramco World magazine. "The only thing keeping them surviving is racing, which gives them a modern value. And it gives them a future." As the dramatic skyline of modern Dubai rose on the desert shores, many Bedouin settled into camel camps on the outskirts, drawn by the great wealth in prizes offered to the winning camels. In doing so, they found a satisfying role to play in UAE society and stayed in one place where their children could be provided with education and healthcare.
A sophisticated camel racing industry took root, employing veterinarians, camel trainers and creating many other jobs. More sophisticated breeding techniques were employed and the training of racing camels became an art, with the use of training pools and other advanced techniques.
But the camel races, even today, are nothing like the major spectator sports of soccer and horse racing. There was no "gate" driving the economics. Rather, it was the largesse of the sheikhs, who offer large cash prizes and cars, all with the intent of preserving Bedouin cultural and camel husbandry in UAE’s ever modernizing society.
"Our interest in camels is not because it is a good sport or because it is economically important to us, but because the camel is part of our heritage, part of the Arab environment," Sheikh Mohammed told the audience at the opening of the first International Camel Symposium in Dubai in February 1992.
As a tool to give Bedouins a place in modern Dubai, the races were an unqualified success. In the early years, Bedouin children served as camel jockeys, because of their lighter weight. But increasingly, young ex-patriots were sought from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and other nations where camel riding is common place. A trend was established that led to younger and younger, and lighter and lighter, ex-pat children taking on the role of racing jockeys.
Many young camel rider
