Līwā

Liwa is a chain of oases among the dunes of southern Arabia, the ancestral home of the Bani Yas. Its inhabitants cultivated date palms and raised camels and other livestock, while many travelled to the coast for the summer pearl-diving season. The oasis remained important after the Bani Yas rulers moved their seat to Abu Dhabi in the 1790s. Forts protected its settlements and water sources; Al Meel Fort is thought to date from the short reign of Sheikh Mohammed bin Shakhbut in 1816–18.