Coll 30/159 'Ownership of Hawar Islands.'

Title:

Coll 30/159 'Ownership of Hawar Islands.'

Date:

1936/1942

Description:

Abstract: The file concerns the disputed claims of the rulers of Bahrain and Qatar to sovereignty over the Hawar Islands. The issue arose afresh in 1936 in response to a request from Petroleum Concessions Limited to settle the issue of ownership, in order that the Company could claim oil concession rights over the island as part of the concession not previously allocated to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) (the Bahrain Unallotted Area).The papers contain statements of evidence on both sides, and correspondence discussing the question from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Foreign Office; Petroleum Concessions Limited; the Government of Bahrain; and the two rulers concerned. The British Government decided in 1939, after examining the evidence, that the islands belonged to Bahrain (folio 44). The papers show that the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior, challenged the validity of this judgement in 1941, stating that the case had been decided 'according to western ideas, and no allowance has been made for local custom and sentiment' (folios 6-8). However, a subsequent letter on the subject from the Government of India to the India Office concluded that it was then too late to reverse the decision (folio 4).The Arabic language content of the papers consists of approximately five folios; these include photographs of judgements (with translation, folios 57-58) submitted by the Government of Bahrain to the British Government, showing that the Bahrain Court had exercised jurisdiction in legal cases concerning residents of Hawar (folios 130-133).The file also includes photographs of places in Hawar (folios 126-127).The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.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 181; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 3-179, and ff 48-88; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Language:

English

Type:

Archival file

Type (Narrower):

Other Texts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Concessions, Oil, Bahrain
Sovereignty

Geographic region:

Hawar Islands

Rights:

غير معروف

Identifier:

81055/vdc_100000000648.0x0001d0_ar
81055/vdc_100000000648.0x0001d0_en
IOR/L/PS/12/3895
IOR/L/PS/12/3895

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