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97. ‘File 13/31 Middle East Air Services’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains copies of correspondence sent between the Political Agency in Bahrain, the Political Residency, the British Legation in Damascus, and Foreign Office officials. The correspondence relates to the set-up of reciprocal air routes between British and Syrian authorities; specifically, permission requested by Syrian Airways representatives to fly from Damascus via Baghdad and Kuwait to Bahrain, and a reciprocation of routes through Syria for the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and Cyprus Airways. Telegrams, sent between the Political Resident and the Bahrain Political Agent refer to a need to obtain the Ruler of Bahrain’s (Sheikh Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah) permission. A telegram from the Foreign Office dated 13 June 1948 (ff 5-6), provides details of the routes into and through Syria desired by BOAC.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 2-7; these numbers are also written in pencil, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence, but they are not circled.
98. 'File 17/1-II Posts and Telegraphs. Radio Station Bahrain.'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman, Reginald George Alban, Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, Tom Hickinbotham), Political Resident in Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Charles Geoffrey Prior), Officer-in-Charge of the Bahrain Branch of Cable & Wireless (Norman Luke Penfold, George William Watson, Cecil Edward Gahan, John William Millest), other Cable & Wireless representatives (Sir Edward Wilshaw, Fred W Humphrey, Harold Aubrey Merchant), HM Minister Tehran (Sir Reader Bullard), and the India Office (Roland Tennyson Peel, John Percival Gibson) regarding provision of telegram services to and from Bahrain and the wider region.The main subject of the correspondence is the work of Cable and Wireless in Bahrain, including work to replace the aerial lines that connected Bahrain’s wireless service to the submarine cables; notifications from the Bahrain telegraph station regarding interruptions to cable services in the Persian Gulf; the Company’s desire to obtain formal concessions for telegraph services both in Bahrain and Kuwait which had to be postponed for the duration of the Second World War; and discussions around the potential implementation of a dislocation scheme issued by the Army to prevent enemy forces taking control of wireless services in any territory they were successful in capturing.Also included in the volume are discussions regarding a Parliamentary white paper titled the ‘Empire Scheme’ which was a proposal to introduce a flat rate of charges for telegrams between any two points in the Empire. The discussion relates to the question raised by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf of whether Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat could be included in such a proposed scheme and the response from Cable and Wireless Limited that it would result in considerable loss to them given the cost of maintaining and operating the strategic cables located in the Persian Gulf.Correspondence also relates to the presence of the Army and Royal Navy in Bahrain and their need for wireless services. Included are the decision by naval authorities to establish a wireless station at the Jufair [Al Jufayr] Naval base and the Royal Air Force (RAF) to establish a wireless station on Muharraq Island. Subsequent correspondence related to the unsuitability of the Royal Navy’s wireless service at Jufair and the need for a new plot of land to establish a better service. The correspondence includes negotiations relating to the potential purchase of land at Ummul Hassan and the Shaikh of Bahrain (Salmān bin Ḥamad)’s decision to offer the land for free in exchange for part of a plot of land at Qozaibia owned by the RAF.The final matter discussed in the volume is the decision taken by the Iranian Government in 1938 to cease transmitting telegrams from Iran to Bahrain and subsequent discussions and negotiations with the Iranian Government from 1941 onwards to resume the service, including the need to settle the rate charged for telegrams so that they could be shared equally by Cable and Wireless and the Iranian Government.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 300-325.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 332; 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 mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 5-298 and between ff 300-329; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
99. 'File 18/1 Remissions to Prisoners'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file consists of two items of correspondence, with a related note:a demi-official letter from Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser to the Government of Bahrain to Lieutenant-Colonel Percy George Loch, Political Agent, Bahrain dated 23 January 1935 expressing his concerns about the early release of prisoners on the instructions of Sheikh Hamad [Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah];letter from H A F Metcalfe, Foreign and Political Department, Simla to Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 1 July 1935 explaining the decision to commute three death sentences passed by the Sessions Judge in Bahrain.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 5 on the last folio before the back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, and can be found in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio.
100. 'File 18/6 II Trucial Coast Order in Council'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file relates to proposals for, and the drafting of The Trucial States Order in Council, 1950. The file includes correspondence from the Residency Agent, Sharjah; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Government of India; the Foreign Office; and rulers of the Trucial States (also referred to as the Trucial Coast and Trucial States of Oman) and Bahrain (also referred to as Bahrein).The papers include:correspondence with individual rulers of the Trucial States on the question of their agreement to the legal cession to the British Government of jurisdiction in their territories over British subjects and foreigners, July-August 1945;papers concerning the preparation by the Government of India of a draft version of the Order in Council based on the Qatar Order in Council, 1939, November-December 1945;papers relating to the status of Persians domiciled on the Trucial Coast, May 1946;papers relating to a request by the United States Consul, Saudi Arabia for details of the treaties and agreements that underlay the British Government's claim to be entitled to hold jurisdiction within the territories of the Trucial States, June-September 1947;correspondence concerning the rejection by Sheikh Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah, the Ruler of Bahrain of a proposal by Cornelius James Pelly, the Political Agent, Bahrain that prisoners sentenced for offences within the Trucial States be allowed to serve their sentences in the Bahrain Government gaol, July-August 1948;papers concerning amendments to the final draft of the Trucial States Order in Council, 1950, October 1950.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 212 on the last folio. The numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. A second foliation sequence, numbered 1-180, is present between ff. 2-183. These numbers are written in a combination of pencil (not circled) and blue ink, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. There are also three printed pagination sequences in the file. They can be found between ff. 61-76, ff. 106-117, and ff. 152-166.The following folios need to be folded out to be read: ff. 194-206, ff. 208-210.
101. 'File A/1 Al Bu Sumait'
- Description:
- Abstract: The correspondence in the file concerns repeated requests from the Āl Bu Sumait tribe of Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], communicated via Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah, the chief of Bahrain, to emigrate to Bassidore on the island of Qeshm, then under British jurisdiction. The first request was made in 1901, and discussed between the Political Resident Colonel Charles Kemball, and the Political Assistant at Bahrain, John Calcott Gaskin. In 1906 a further request was made, and again discussed between the Resident and Bahrain Political Agent (now Major Percy Cox and Major Francis Prideaux respectively). A third request was made by Shaikh Muḥammad bin Ahmad Āl Bu Sumait via Shaikh ‘Īsá in 1917, when Major Arthor Trevor was Resident and Captain Percy Loch was the Political Agent.The Āl Bu Sumait tribe wanted to move away from Bandar-e Lengeh because of the discrimination they faced at the hands of the Persian authorities there. Bassidore was most desirous to them because they wished to become British subjects, and hence be protected from Persian persecution. Representation was made via Shaikh ‘Īsá of Bahrain because the Āl Bu Sumait tribe were historic allies of the Āl Khalīfah. However, successive Political Residents rejected the their requests to move to Bassidore. In his letter to Loch of 8 June 1917, Trevor stated that “the Bu Sumait have been settled in Persia for generations and are to all intents and purposes Persian subjects although of Arab extraction.” (folio 20). A potted history of the migrations and movements of the Āl Bu Sumait tribe was written by Gaskin in 1901 (folios 3-5).Physical description: Foliation: The file is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. An earlier pagination sequence, using uncircled pencil numbers in the top-left corner of versos and the top-right corner of rectos, runs through most of the file, marking only those pages containing text. Foliation anomalies: 10a.Some of the pages in the file show signs of insect damage, but the extent of the damage is not sufficient to impair the legibility of any text.
102. 'File A/4 Persian pretentions to Bahrain'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and other papers related to Persia’s claims of sovereignty over Bahrain. The first part of the volume (up to folio 44) contains confidential correspondence between the years 1906 and 1907, in which Persia’s claim over Bahrain is discussed between high-ranking British Government officials. Much of this correspondence discusses Persia’s insistence of its claim on Bahrain, which is rooted in the 1822 agreement between the Fars authorities and the then British Political Resident Captain William Bruce, which subsequent British officials insisted was “not formally ratified by the proper authorities” (folio 21).The next part of the volume (folio 45 onwards) contains correspondence from 1910 to 1913 and involves British officials’ investigations into allegations that the Persian authorities were charging Persians reduced passport rates to travel from Persia to Bahrain. These reduced rates were of a level usually reserved for persons travelling from one Persian port to another, and the levelling of the same fee on Persian travellers headed for Bahrain, was seen by British officials as a manifestation of Persian claims of sovereignty over Bahrain. British officials particularly objected to the actions of one Bahraini resident, Haji Abdul Nabi, who signed passports of Persian travellers, “thereby arrogating to himself the functions of a consular or passport official” (folios 108-09). Most of the correspondence in this part of the volume is between the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Cox), and the Political Agent (Captain Francis Prideaux until 1909, Charles MacKenzie 1909 to 1910).Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. Foliation anomalies: 1a-1f, 55a, 111a. The following folios are fold-outs: 49, 66, 67, 93.
103. 'File A/5 Pearl fisheries of Persian Gulf'
- Description:
- Abstract: The contents of the file relate to the British Government’s concerns over growing British and international interest in the Gulf’s pearling industry, hitherto almost exclusively exploited by the region’s indigenous inhabitants.1) The first half of the file (folios 2-13) comprises copies of Government of India correspondence published in 1904 and 1905, which discuss Britain’s historic role in the Gulf in relation to the pearling industry. Themes covered include: Britain’s duty to protect the pearl banks for the benefit of the Arab pearl divers, acknowledgement of growing national and international interest in the pearl banks, the extent of territorial waters, and the likely result of any legal challenges to Britain’s refusal to allow foreign interests the opportunity to exploit the Gulf’s pearl banks.2) Correspondence relating to an enquiry by a German businessman, concerning the pearl trade in the Gulf (folios 15-17).3) Printed copies of correspondence (folios 20-23) from the Persian Gulf Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Cox) and the Bahrain Political Agent (Captain Charles Mackenzie), dated 1910, concerning the increasing trade in oyster shells in the Gulf, used for the production of mother of pearl. A drop in the numbers of oysters being fished is attributed to the mother of pearl industry. A German firm based in Bahrain, Wonckhaus & Co., is identified as a key exporter of oyster shells at Bahrain.4) A letter (folio 27) intercepted by the Political Agency in Bahrain, from the Secretary of the Wolverine Motor Works, U.S.A., to Robert Wonckhaus & Co., dated 3 February 1915. The letter and accompanying leaflet (folios 28-29) relates to Wolverine Motor Works’ new combined compressor and propelling motor, designed specifically for use in the pearl fishing industry.5) A typewritten extract from the Times of India Illustrated, dated 19 [month missing, presumed June] 1918 (folio 30) reporting on rumours that German financiers are buying up all the pearls available in Britain and France.Physical description: Foliation: The file is foliated from its front cover to inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. There is an additional pagination system running throughout the file.Folio 29 is a fold-out.There is minor insect damage to papers throughout the file.
104. 'File A/6 Nasir bin Mubarak's claim to Bahrain'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to Shaikh Nāṣir bin Mubarak Āl Khalīfah's claim on Bahrain, and his subsequent attempts at reconciliation with the Bahrain ruler Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah. The principal correspondents in the file are Captain Francis Prideaux, Political Agent at Bahrain from 1904 to 1909, Major Percy Cox, Political Resident from 1904 to 1909, and Shaikh Nāṣir bin Mubarak Āl Khalīfah.In letters sent to the Bahrain Political Agent in 1903 and 1904, Shaikh Nāṣir, who was the grandson of the deposed Shaikh ‘Abdullāh of Bahrain, asserted his right to land on the islands formerly owned by his grandfather; a right that he had maintained since the 1890s. In May 1905 he threatened to give up his land rights to the Turkish Government if the British Government continued to ignore his claims (folios 7-7a). A chance meeting between Prideaux and Shaikh Nāṣir, at Shaikh Jāsim bin Thānī’s camp at Bu Hasa in December 1905, prompted a change in tone, as a result of Prideaux recommending to Shaikh Nāṣir that the British would be more prepared to support a reconciliation between himself and Shaikh ‘Īsá (folios 15-16). Numerous letters sent by Shaikh Nāṣir to Shaikh ‘Īsá throughout 1906 were, however, ignored, leading to Shaikh Nāṣir sending numerous letters to Prideaux, asking for his help. However, the official British line, obtained by Cox from the Government of India in May 1906, was that there were insufficient grounds for British intervention in seeking a reconciliation between Shaikh Nāṣir and Shaikh ‘Īsá (folio 19). Subsequent British attempts to settle Shaikh Nāṣir at Fuwairat on the Qatar coast, with the support of his father-in-law Shaikh Jāsim bin Thānī, were likewise unsuccessful (folio 35). In a letter to Cox, dated 26 June 1908, Prideaux suggested that Shaikh Nāṣir should resign himself to never being reconciled to Shaikh ‘Īsá, and that he should live out the rest of his life quietly as a Turkish subject, without recourse to “rebellions or piratical activity”. (folios 51-53).Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a-1f, 7a, 16a, 36a. The following folios are fold-outs: 2, 12, 17, 20, 22, 23, 28, 31, 37, 39, 43, 44, 46, 56, 58, 59, 68-70.
105. 'File A/7 Draft of slave treaty with Bahrain'
- Description:
- Abstract: The contents of the file relate to British jurisdiction over the slave trade in the Gulf. Folios 1b-11 are a letter dated 28 January 1914 (with enclosures dating back to June 1913) from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (John Lorimer) to the Political Agent in Bahrain (Major Arthur Trevor). The letter refers to a proposal from the India Office in London, that the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent in Bahrain be given legal jurisdiction in slave trade cases arising in the Gulf. A number of the enclosures included with the letter are memoranda exchanged between officials in the India Office and Foreign Office in London, noting the legal difficulties in providing jurisdiction over the slave trade in the Persian coast and Bahrain courts, because neither are in His Majesty’s dominions, or are an East African court, which already had jurisdiction in slave trade matters (folio 8).To circumvent these difficulties, a new slave trade treaty with the Shaikh of Bahrain was proposed, under instruction from the Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey. Drafts of the new treaty (in English and Arabic, folios 15-18), which was in part based on the 1873 Slave Trade treaty with Muscat and the 1882 Slave Trade Convention with Persia, were forwarded by Trevor to the Resident in March 1914.Physical description: Foliation: The file is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 1b. There is no folio 1 (the front cover is numbered 1a).There is evidence of insect damage, in the form of holes, throughout the file. This damage is not sufficient to impair the legibility of the file's contents.
106. 'File A/9 II Bahrain Order in Council'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to the introduction of the Order in Council in Bahrain on 3 February 1919. A printed copy of the Order in Council is included at the front of the volume (folios 2-9), and marked with red, blue and black pencil annotations, marking incorrect or important aspects of the text. The main correspondents in the volume are the Political Agent, Captain Norman Bray, and the ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah. Numerous letters were exchanged between the two men directly before and after the introduction of the Order in Council. Bray’s correspondence prior to this introduction seeks to smooth the way and seek Shaikh ‘Īsá’s full acceptance of the Order in Council. Correspondence after the introduction of the Order in Council is largely comprised of negotiations over the Shaikh’s relinquishment of khidmah(a ten per cent judicial fee payable to the Sheikh of Bahrain's treasury), and expressions of thanks and mutual appreciation between the two men. Bray's letter to the Deputy Political Resident at Bushire and the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, dated 14 February 1919, includes diaristic reports on the negotiations and meetings that took place between himself at Shaikh ‘Īsá during the introduction of the Order in Council (folios 28-47). A English text of the notification of the Order in Council, issued by the Political Agency, is included on folio 18.Folios 102 and 103 are loose pages containing office notes. The correspondence described in these two pages, which refer to the administration of the Majlis [al-Urfi], are annotated as dating from 17 March 1941 to 8 April 1942. It is likely, therefore, that these two pages were misplaced at a later date into the current volume.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence runs from the front cover to the inside back cover, using pencil numbers positioned in the top-left corner of each recto. Most of the foliation numbers are written in blue pencil. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a-1f. Folio 100 has been omitted or is missing.The following folios are fold-outs: 34, 61, 62, 69-82, 84, 87, 89, 95, 97, 102, 103.
107. 'File A/12 Status of converts from Islam to Christianity in Bahrain; Christian marriages'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to an enquiry made by the Reverend Samuel Zwemer of the American Mission in Bahrain, to the Political Agent (Captain David Lorimer), over the legality in Bahrain of the marriage of two non-Bahraini subjects (one being Turkish, the other Persian), both of whom have converted from Islam to Christianity (folio 2). Lorimer replied that the marriage certificate may be registered at the Agency, citing a previous marriage in 1909 as a precedent. He did, however, state that the Agency would take no responsibility for the consequences of the legality of the marriage being challenged (folio 3).Lorimer wrote to the Political Resident (Colonel Percy Cox), asking for further guidance on the legal status of the couple, and whether their status as Christians afforded them protection from the British Government (folios 7-8). Cox replied that the Political Agent’s notarial functions were being considered by Government, and that the couple’s conversion to Christianity should not relieve them of their obligation as subjects of Bahrain (folios 10-11). Cox referred the matter to the Government of India for further clarification (folios 13-14).Physical description: Foliation: The file is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 1b. There is no folio 1 (the front cover is numbered 1a).
108. 'File A/13 Correspondence between Shaikh `Isa and Turkish officials'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence, exchanged between the Political Agent in Bahrain and the Political Resident, concerning letters received by the ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah, from Turkish authorities, and chiefly from the Wali [governor] of Busreh [Basra]. Some items of original correspondence between the Turkish authorities and Sheikh Isa is included in the file. There are in total seven individual cases of correspondence received:In July 1909, the Mutasarrif [administrative authority] of Nejd wrote to complain of prohibited articles (presumed by British officials to be arms and alcohol) being secretly exported from Bahrain into Nejd via a place called Hisn (folios 2-10)In January 1910 the Wali of Basra wrote to Shaikh ‘Īsá regarding the estate of a Turkish man named Abdul Hamid al Attar Baghdadi, who died in Bahrain, and is alleged to have left debts, records of which could not be found by British officials (folios 11-18)In June 1911 the Wali of Basra wrote to Shaikh ‘Īsá to complain of the delay to post sent from Basra to Hasa, in Bahrain quarantine (folios 19-31)In November 1911 the Wali of Basra wrote to Shaikh ‘Īsá requesting that a man who was alleged to have robbed and murdered in the bazaar in Basra, and who had subsequently fled to Bahrain, be returned to Basra. Enquiries were made by the Political Agent with the American Mission in Bahrain, where it was rumoured (but subsequently found to be not true) that the man was staying (folios 32-47)In April 1912 the Wali of Basra wrote to Shaikh ‘Īsá demanding the return of eight Turkish soldiers who had deserted and allegedly fled to Bahrain (folios 48-74)In April 1914 the Wali of Basra wrote to Shaikh ‘Īsá requesting that he apprehend a Jewish man said to be a deserter from the Turkish Redif [reserves] (folio77)In May 1914 the Wali of Basra wrote to Shaikh ‘Īsá regarding a claim made by two women on a share of some date gardens in Bahrain (folio 83).In each case most of the correspondence between the Bahrain Political Agent and the Political Resident relates to the nature of the discussions between the Turkish authorities and Shaikh ‘Īsá, and how they should deal with it. According to the existing treaty between the British Government and the Shaikh of Bahrain, if the correspondence was deemed to be political (for example, in extradition cases), then the matter should by default be referred to the Political Agent. In a telegram sent to the Government of India, dated 13 July 1913, the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Cox) wrote that he and his colleagues regarded Turkish officials’ direct contact with Shaikh ‘Īsá as being an inconvenience, and would rather the Shaikh not reply directly himself, but instead refer all matters to the Political Agent (folio 71).Physical description: Foliation: The file is foliated from the front cover to the inside back back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. A second foliation sequence is also present between ff 1B-87; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1A, 1B and 1C; 30 and 30A. There is evidence of insect damage, in the form of small holes in the pages, throughout the volume. However, this damage is not sufficient to impair the legibility or comprehension of the volume's items.