Al Mualla

The Al Mualla (Arabic: المعلا) family is the ruling royal family of Umm Al Quwain, one of the seven emirates that together comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The family was traditionally at the head of the Al Ali tribe. The Al Ali (singular, Aliyi), were some 6,750 strong at the turn of the 19th century and were almost all settled either at Umm Al Quwain (1,000 families) or the inland town of Falaj Al Ali (later to be known as Falaj Al Mualla). Some 200 settled Al Ali families lived in Sharjah and 150 in Ras Al Khaimah, although there was also a small Bedouin section of some 140 families who roamed a dar between Jazirat Al Hamra and Falaj Al Ali. There was a Persian group of Al Ali, who referred to the Umm Al Quwain section as 'Al Mualla'. The tribe originated in Nejd.