Abstract: The file contains Government of India circular letters, memoranda and notices issued mainly by the Home and Finance Departments and also by the Office of the High Commissioner for India, London and others. These were regularly forwarded by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire to the Political Agent, Bahrain and others for information and guidance. The circulars contain rules, procedures and other instructions relating to the conditions of service of Indian Government employees, particularly pensions, as follows:Premature Retirement Rules and amendments made 1927-1929;Government of India policy on the re-employment of former officers who had already retired on a proportionate pension under the Premature Retirement Rules;Amendments made 1928-1929 to the Civil Pensions (Commutation) Rules, 1926;Procedures dated 1928, for dealing with applications for commutation of pensions under the amended Civil Pensions (Commutation) Rules, 1926;Policy and procedure dated 1928, for handling appeals made by incapacitated officers, against recommendations of the India Office Medical Board that they should be retired from further service in India, on grounds of their invalidity;Policy, application forms and procedure to be followed under Civil Service Regulations, regarding the grant of pensions to dependants other than widows and children, 1929-1933;Procedures dated 1930 for dealing with applications from Indian students for admission to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, under a Government of India scheme aimed at providing educational facilities for officers of the Indian Medical Services;Amendments made 1927-1930 to the Superior Civil Services (Revision of Pay, Passage and Pension) Rules, 1924;Amendments, interpretation and procedures under the Passage Rules, 1925 regarding the payment of sea and air passages for serving officers out of Government funds, 1925-1929.The file also contains:Government of India circular issued by the External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations Department, about the procedure for dealing with applications from officers of the Indian Political Service choosing to leave the service and take pension, after the transfer of power, 1947;A British Government, Ministry of Pensions booklet entitled
War Pensions and detention Allowances (Mercantile Marine etc.) Scheme, published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), London, as No.225 of Statutory Rules and Orders, 1941;A British Government, Ministry of Pensions booklet entitled
Improved Rates of Pensions, etc. for members of H.M. Forces, and Others, Disabled, and for the families of such Persons deceased, in consequence of the Present War, published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), London, as a Command Paper (Cmnd. 6342), 1942.Physical description: Foliation: numbered 1A-1D, 2-28, 28A-28F, 29-42, 95-100, 106-111, 112A-112C, 113-116, 122-125, 129-130, 135-136, 139-141, 149-150, 155-158, 167-314. The numbers 43-94, 101-105, 117-121, 126-128, 131-134, 137-138, 142-148, 151-154, 159-166 have been omitted. The numbering is written in pencil in the top right corner of the folio, starting at the front of the file, on the file cover (f 1A) and ending on the inside cover at the back of the file (f 314). Folio 1C is blank.In an incomplete, secondary foliation sequence, folios 39 to 42 are also numbered 29 to 32 in pencil in the top right corner. These earlier numbers have been crossed out.Condition: folio 178. Some of the text is visible on the verso, but unreadable, because the words are reversed.
Abstract: The file contains several Government of India memoranda dating from 1939 to 1941, mainly from the Labour Department and the Office of the Controller of Printing and Stationery, India. The memoranda stress the need for economy in the use of paper and other stationery by all government employees due to war-time conditions, which had caused domestic shortages in paper production, increased costs and difficulty in securing imported stationery requisites. The memoranda announce a reduction in stationery budgets and provide detailed practical instructions for staff about how to both limit their use of stationery and reduce their need for government printing and publications.The file also contains Office Order No.11 dated 6 February 1942, compiled and circulated by the Secretary to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to all Residency and Agency staff in the region. This document contains detailed instructions on the economic use of paper and other stationery by local staff, when carrying out their normal duties.Physical description: The main foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A second foliation sequence can be found between ff 2-27; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. A third foliation sequence runs alongside the second sequence, but has been crossed out. Circled index numbers can be found throughout the file, written in a combination of red crayon and ink. Foliation errors: no folio 15, 20, 20A and 20B.
Abstract: The file contains mainly Government of India circular letters, memoranda and notices from the Finance Department and the Office of the Accountant-General, Central Revenues, New Delhi about the Defence Savings Provident Fund. The circulars contain instructions and guidance about Fund rules and procedures as follows:Creation and constitution of the Fund, 1940;Arrangements for Government of India employees wishing to subscribe to the Fund, 1940;The Defence Savings Provident Fund Rules, 1940 as published in the Government of India Finance Department Notification dated 10 August 1940;Fund rule amendments, 1941-1944;Eligibility of a government servant who is re-employed after retirement, to continue to subscribe to the Fund, 1944-1945;Following the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), provision of a temporary period during which no subscriptions would be payable and Fund subscribers would have the option to convert their Fund deposits into National Savings Certificates, 1946.The file also contains:Applications from several clerks employed at the Bahrain Agency, for admission to the Defence Savings Provident Fund, 1943 and 1945;Correspondence between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Office of the Accountant-General, Central Revenues, New Delhi about the individual accounts of Fund subscribers employed at the Bahrain Agency, with regard to reductions, increases, non-payment and recovery of arrears of subscriptions, cancellation of subscriptions and withdrawals of Fund deposits on retirement, resignation or transfer to another post, 1946-1948.Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Black, blue and red circled index numbers, which are written in a combination of ink and crayon can also be found throughout the file. Foliation errors: 1 and 1A. Foliation omissions: 8, 10, 50, 71, 77, 80 and 82.Condition: a correction slip (folio 9A) is partly stuck down and obscures text on folio 9.
Abstract: The file’s papers relate to the appointment and activities of the Security Officer (initially referred to as a Staff Officer Intelligence) in the Persian Gulf. The principal correspondents in the file are the Security Officer at Bahrain (Captain C G Campbell) and the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham).The file includes:correspondence dated early 1941 relating to the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel G W Manson as Staff Officer Intelligence at Bahrain, including details of his background, movements and tasks, and correspondence relating to secret questionnaires to be despatched to various places around the Persian Gulf, which are too sensitive to be sent by normal mail (ff 3-4);copies of correspondence and directives, dated from 1943, issued by PAIFORCE [Persia and Iraq Force], relating to the post of Security Control Officer responsible for the sea and air ports of the Persian Gulf, with details of the role’s remit, responsibilities and duties (ff 20-21, ff 26-30, ff 92-94);copies of various reports prepared by the Security Officer, issued from January 1944 on a fortnightly basis, and covering: a) port security (including security ID discs for port labourers, details of the departure and arrival of dhows; ff 35-37 onwards); b) security of oil installations (including assessments of security checkpoints, security precautions, storage of explosives, reports of suspected incidents of sabotage, employee morale, including reports of strikes, trade unionism, suspected subversive activities, and occasional ‘test periods of tension’; ff 41-48 onwards);PAIFORCE instructions for the anti-locust campaign in Saudi Arabia, 1943-44, dated 20 April 1944 (ff 89-90), and the later cancellation of the instructions in July 1944 (f 114);an application for work from Abdul Aziz Shamlan, dated 20 September 1944, an interpreter, with references enclosed from the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf (Major H T Hewitt) and staff at the Office of the Air Liaison Officer, Bahrain, and a letter from the Political Agent to the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, asking for information on Shamlan (ff 121-126);a letter from the Security Officer, Bahrain, to the Political Agent, dated 23 November 1944, announcing that orders have been received for the permanent closure of the Security Office from 6pm that day (f 146).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 156; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-19 and a mixed foliation pagination sequence between ff 20-149; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to the work of Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited, a subsidiary of Petroleum Concessions Limited, in Qatar. The correspondence is principally between the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Political Residency in Bushire [Persian Gulf Political Residency], representatives of Petroleum Concessions Limited (at their offices in Bahrain and the United Kingdom) and Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited (in the field in Qatar), the Foreign Office, the India Office, the Government of India, the ruler of Qatar, Abdulla bin Qasim al Thani [‘Abdullāh bin Qāsim Āl Thānī], and the ruler of Bahrain, Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah.The papers contained in the volume cover the following matters:the employment of foreign workers within the oil industry in Qatar, particularly that of Americans, Portuguese Goans, and Bahrainis;the expansion of drilling operations during the early stages of the Second World War;plans for a sea terminal on the Qatari coast, and a pipeline to any such port;the striking of oil at a new second well in March 1941;the form and method of payment of the concession royalties to the Shaikh of Qatar by the oil company;measures taken by the Oil Control Board to ensure continuing supplies of oil during the Second World War;the reopening of the Qatar oil fields following a short closure due to war;rates of pay and provision of meals for oil workers.Also within the volume is a report by the Acting Political Resident, William Rupert Hay, on his visit to Qatar on 13 November 1941 (folios 64-66) and a petition to the ruler of Bahrain (folios 148-52) signed by thirty-six Bahraini pearl merchants and boat captains; it complains that higher wages in the Qatar oil industry are attracting essential divers away from the pearling boats (folios 148-52).At the back of the file (folios 224-37) are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 5-223; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to the oil concession in the Sharjah territories. The correspondence is between: the Political Agent at Bahrain; representatives of Petroleum Concessions Limited and Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited, in London, Bahrain, and the Trucial Coast [United Arab Emirates]; the Residency Agent at Sharjah; the Political Residency at Bushire (later Bahrain) [Persian Gulf Political Residency]; the India Office; Sultan bin Saqr [Sulṭān bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī], the Ruler of Sharjah; and the Government of India.The majority of the file covers an amendment to the 1937 concession agreement between the oil company, Petroleum Concessions Ltd, and Shaikh Sultan that was made in February 1946. This amendment was made in order to extend the permitted drilling period following the Second World War, during which no drilling was carried out. Permission to open negotiations over the matter was sought from the British Government by the company. There is a copy of the agreed amendment on folio 72.Other matters covered by the file include:the desire of Shaikh Sultan to open a bank branch in Sharjah in order to receive royalty payments;confirmation of the initial 1937 concession agreement;the presentation by Petroleum Concessions Limited of a gift of motor vehicles to Shaikh Sultan;payment of the annual concession payment by the company to Shaikh Sultan;the arrival of a geological party in the Trucial Coast in early 1946;the correct channels of communication with the British Government to be used by the company.Folios 19-28 is Memo B 467 of the India Office and includes a copy of the commercial agreement between the company and Shaikh Sultan, a copy of the 'political agreement' between the company and the British Government, and copies of correspondence relating to both.Folios 76-80 are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-75; these numbers are also written in pencil, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence, but they are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to Petroleum Concessions Limited's operations in the territories of Dubai. The correspondence is between the Political Resident at Bushire (later Bahrain) [Persian Gulf Political Residency], the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Political Officer at Sharjah, and E V Packer, Manager of Petroleum Concessions Limited at Bahrain.The papers within the file cover the matter of the suspension of operations in the region during the Second World War and the initiation of drilling in Dubai in 1950.Folio 8 contains internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An addition foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-7; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to the oil concession in Muscat, Oman, and Dhofar. The principal correspondents are: the Political Resident at Bushire (later Bahrain) [Persian Gulf Political Residency]; the Political Agent at Bahrain; the Political Agent at Kuwait; the Political Agent at Muscat; the India Office; the Foreign Office, Sultan Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Sa‘īd], the ruler of Muscat and Oman; and representatives of Petroleum Concessions Limited and its subsidiary, Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited.Matters covered by the file include:
the ambition of Petroleum Development Concessions for the concession over Rub al-Khali, the desert region that spans the territories of Oman and Saudi Arabia;Standard Oil's interest in the Muscat concession;Lermitte's visit to Muscat in the summer of 1937 to discuss the agreement with the Sultan;the suspension of oil operations during the Second World War;the company's attempts to extend the period within which they have the option to drill by 2-5 years;company plans to begin exploration in Oman during the winter of 1947/48;and Richard Bird's dealings with the Al Bu Shamis tribe in Buraimi in March 1948.Folios 3-7 is a memorandum produced by the Petroleum Department (of the British Government) giving an overview of the current situation regarding oil concessions in Arabia and the Persian Gulf.Folios 9-19 is the record of a meeting between representatives from the Colonial Office, Foreign Office, India Office, Admiralty, Petroleum Department, and Indian Political Service, held at the Colonial Office on 3 May 1933. The meeting covers similar topics to that of the memorandum above.Folios 107-111 are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-91; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The volume details motor transport (‘M.T.’) routes in Persia [Iran]. The volume, which is numbered I, covers the main routes in Persia, and was produced by the General Staff, India. It was printed by M Abdul Hameed Khan, Manager of the Feroz Printing Works, Lahore, in 1942. An introduction (folio 3) states that the volume has been updated on the basis of reports received in the wake of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia in August 1941.The volume comprises details of sixty-five routes, listed on the contents page, between various towns and cities in Persia. Details given for each route include:an overview (distance, number of stages, references to maps);a general report (classification of route, surface and grading, character of adjacent country, climatic effects, exceptional features, repair and supply facilities, water, fuel, fodder and grazing supplies);a detailed report (villages and other landmarks encountered, road classifications, distances).A handwritten annotation on folio 5 (author unknown) states that ‘distances are somewhat overestimated throughout this report.’ The volume includes a map in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folio 246).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 247; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The volume comprises tables detailing the volumes (given in tons) of food supplies in Bahrain and on the Trucial Coast. There are five tables at the front of the volume for stores kept by the Bahrain Government, Trucial Coast and UKCC (United Kingdom Commercial Corporation). Foodstuffs are arranged in columns at the top of each table (wheat, flour, barley/millets, rice, sugar, tea, coffee, pulses), with dates ranged down the left-hand edge of the table. Entries for the Bahrain Government run across three tables, from 15 November 1943 to 1 June 1945 (ff 2-3), from 15 June 1945 to 5 May 1948 (ff 5-6), and from 3 May 1948 to 9 January 1950 (ff 12-13). Entries for the Trucial Coast run across two tables from 15 November 1943 to 1 September 1947 (ff 3-4), and from 1 October 1947 to 9 January 1950 (ff 6-7). Entries for the UKCC are confined to one table, covering the dates 15 November 1943 to 1 April 1946 (ff 4-5). On all tables, an additional column labelled ‘reasons for change’ contains occasional notes that explain fluctuations in the supply levels. A final column on all tables is labelled ‘initials’, and contains the initials of the entry writer and the date the entry was made.On the last page of the volume (ff 81-82) are a series of column headings, written upside-down at the bottom of the page, which were intended for use in a table designed to log commodity licenses. Headings include commodity, name of merchant, quantity (given in tons), and name of merchant. The table contains a single entry, registering a consignment of 80 tonnes of coffee, imported into Aden by Haridas Jaminal and Sons. Enclosed at the end of the volume are five loose, typewritten sheets, detailing: monthly commodity quotas for Bahrain, and re-export to Saudi Arabia and the Trucial Coast (f 77); a proposed list of established shippers to Bahrain for rice, wheat flour, barley and other grains and pulses from Karachi (f 78); a list of established shippers to Trucial Oman for rice, wheat flour and barley from Karachi, rice from Calcutta [Kolkata], and sugar from Bombay [Mumbai] (ff 79-80); a list of officers at the Middle East Supply Centre (for Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Persia/Iraq Command, and Persia), dated 1 March 1943 (f 81).Folios 14 to 75 are blank.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 83; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-18; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence from the Government of India, External Department, the Foreign Office, the Comite National Francais in London, the Ministère des Affaires étrangères de Belgique, the British Embassy in Belgium, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands Foreign Office, the Polish Embassy in London, the British Embassy in Yugoslavia, and the Ministère des Affaires étrangères du Royaume de Yougoslavie, to secure facilities for the entry into and departure from Egypt of members of the Allied forces. There is correspondence, in English and French, requesting extension of the agreements to French, Belgian, Norwegian, Czechoslovak, Polish and Yugoslav forces.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 28; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence and telegrams from the Government of India, External Department, the Foreign Office, the Secretary of State for India, the British Minister of State in Cairo, and the British Embassy in Washington, regarding a tour conducted by General Hurley (USA Minister to New Zealand) in support of the development of a war strategy for the Pacific. Hurley visited London and subsequently toured Egypt, Syria, Persia, Iraq, and Russia, before travelling to Australia and New Zealand.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 14; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.