Complex sentence: The sheikhs of the prominent rural landowning clans, based their power ultimately on violence or the threat thereof, although force was rarely used due to the durability of patronage networks, whereby the sheikhs offered the local peasantry protection in exchange for loyalty.
Split into simpler sentences: The sheikhs of the prominent rural landowning clans ultimately based their power on violence or the threat thereof. However, force was rarely used due to the durability of patronage networks, whereby the sheikhs offered the local peasantry protection in exchange for loyalty.