Abstract: The file contains weekly reports on the affairs of Saudi Arabia, compiled by the Political Agent at Bahrain and distributed to the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf at Bushire and the Political Agency at Kuwait. The reports, marked secret, consist of brief summaries of intelligence gathered in Bahrain on the social and political affairs of Hasa, the Saudi-Yemeni conflict in Asir [ʻAsīr], the activities of Standard Oil Company of California, and other miscellaneous items of news.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 20; 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 2-20; these numbers are written in a combination of blue crayon and pencil, are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence and telegrams sent and received by the Political Agent at Bahrain, Hugh Weighman, mostly from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political agent at Sharjah, regarding arrangements and programmes for his official visits to the Trucial Coast and Qatar. Some visits were carried via HMS
Shoreham, so there is also correspondence with its Captain, G H Faulkner, and with British Overseas Airways Corporation representatives, regarding the fares to be paid by the Agent when staying in their Fort in Sharjah.The file also contains:correspondence with the Adviser to the Government at Bahrain regarding special authorization to land on Muharraq;correspondence with the Political Agent at Kuwait regarding his visit to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and other visits by British officials;reports of visits.The documents in the file are mainly in English. There is correspondence in Arabic with English translation, with Shaikh Abdullah bin Qasim al Thani, Ruler of Qatar, regarding the Political Agent at Bahrain's visit to Qatar.Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 235; 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 4-234; 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 American influence and activities in the Persian Gulf. The correspondence is mostly between the Political Agency at Bahrain, the Political Residency at Bushire (later at Bahrain), and the India Office.The file opens with a copy (folio 3) of correspondence on the subject of American influence in Saudi Arabia, between the British Ministry at Jeddah and the Foreign Office, dated 4-10 May 1944.The file contains a report, dated 1 March 1945 (folios 5-9) by Tim Hickinbotham, Political Agent at Bahrain, on American activities in the fields of politics, commerce, aviation, and wireless and telegraphic communications.The file also contains a letter (folio 13) from the Persian Gulf Residency, Bahrain, to Doctor W H F Storm of the American Mission Hospital in Manama, dated 12 November 1949, regarding medical work in the Hadhramaut region of Yemen.At the back of the file (folio 14) are internal office notes.On the front cover of the file there is reference to 'File 18/8 and 1 A/20'. These files are believed lost or destroyed.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 3-14; 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 notes, memoranda, and correspondence relating to the visits and treatment of Japanese and Italian subjects and agents in the Persian Gulf. The correspondence is mostly between the Political Agency at Bahrain, the Political Residency at Bushire, the British Ministry at Jeddah, the India Office in London, the Home and Foreign Departments of the Government of India, and representatives of Imperial Airways Limited in Sharjah.The file covers the following matters:The visit of Mr Ohba, agent of the Japanese company Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, to Bahrain in February 1939, his attempts to secure a local shipping agent, and his subsequent visit to Sharjah;A tour of Saudi Arabia made by the Japanese Minister at Cairo in March 1939, and his request that two members of his staff also visit Kuwait and Bahrain, which was subsequently refused by the British Government;The movements of Kawamura (alias Muto), a Japanese Muslim convert engaged in anti-British activities in China;The treatment to be accorded to Italian and Japanese subjects in India and the Persian Gulf at the start of the Second World War, when both countries still declared to be neutral.The file contains (folios 24-25) a report from the Ministry at Jeddah on the Japanese Minister's visit to Saudi Arabia and includes details on agreements and proposals made between both countries relating to commerce, communism, and oil.At the back (folios 39-42) 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. Two additional sequences are also present between ff 2-38 and ff 39-42 respectively; these sequence are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file consists of situation reports from His Majesty's Minister at Jedda [Jeddah] (Sir Andrew Ryan) on the progress of hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, between March and July 1934. The reports are in the form of copies of telegrams (including one from the Political Agent, Kuwait) to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, forwarded with covering letters to the Political Agent, Bahrain. The reports also include translations of Saudi official communiqués on the conflict.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 46; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains a printed copy of a booklet containing two agreements: I.
Agreement between the United Kingdom and Italy, consisting of a Protocol with Annexes and Exchanges of Notes; and II.
Bon Voisinage Agreement and Exchanges of Notes between the United Kingdom and Italy, agreed in Rome on 16 April 1938. The booklet is labelled Treaty Series No. 31 (1938), and published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1938. A cover slip (folio 2) indicates that the booklet was sent by the Secretary of the Political Department in the India Office, and that copies were also sent to India, Bushire, Koweit [Kuwait], and Muscat.Annex 3 is the one most pertinent to British officials in the Gulf, in that it relates to certain areas of the Middle East, namely: Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It concerns an agreement not to interfere in each other’s affairs and possessions in the Red Sea; those islands in the Red Sea to which Turkey had renounced its rights to; and Britain’s Aden protectorate. Other regions and places covered by the annexes include: the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, East Africa, and Lake Tsana [Tana] in Ethiopia. It also covers the exchange of military information between the two countries, the use of propaganda, and Italian assurances on Spain and her possessions.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 also present in parallel between ff 2-3; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.The copy of the agreement included in the file (ff 4-23) has its own printed pagination system running from 3 (f 5) to 39 (f 23), and a contents page which refers to this pagination on the verso of folio 4.
Abstract: This is a correspondence file about the operation and impact of the quota system and export licensing restrictions that were imposed by the Government of India, on the supply of Indian tea (and to a lesser extent the supply of coffee) to Bahrain and also to Eastern Saudi Arabia and Qatar, during the Second World War (1939-1945). The main official correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain; the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain; the Food Controller, Bahrain; the Tea Controller for India, Calcutta; and other Government of India officials in the Departments of Commerce and External Affairs. Included in the file are various circular lists that give the names of Indian tea exporters and Bahrain tea importers, such as the monthly list of India tea quota allotments prepared by the Political Agent, Bahrain and similar lists, complied by the Director of Customs and Port Officer and the Food Controller on behalf of the Government of Bahrain.The file also contains merchants' correspondence between: Indian tea exporters and Bahrain tea importers about their shipping consignments; the Chairman of the Persian Gulf States Pool (an association of Indian tea exporters) and the Political Agent, Bahrain about the distribution of tea quotas among members of the Pool; Bahrain tea importers and the Political Agent, Bahrain about Indian tea importations allowed to be landed at Bahrain under the Government of India quota system.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 225; 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 incomplete foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 93-204; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. Pagination: the file notes at the back of the file (ff 204-224) are paginated in pencil. The original front file cover, containing the original file title and file reference number, is missing.
Abstract: This is a correspondence file about the operation and impact of the quota system and export licensing restrictions that were imposed by the Government of India, on the supply of Indian tea (and to a lesser extent the supply of coffee) to Bahrain and also to Eastern Saudi Arabia and Qatar, during the Second World War (1939-1945). The main official correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain; the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain; the Food Controller, Bahrain; the Tea Controller for India, Calcutta; and other Government of India officials in the Departments of Commerce and External Affairs. Included in the file are various circular lists that give the names of Indian tea exporters and Bahrain tea importers, such as the monthly list of India tea quota allotments prepared by the Political Agent, Bahrain and similar lists, complied by the Director of Customs and Port Officer and the Food Controller on behalf of the Government of Bahrain.The file also contains merchants' correspondence between: Indian tea exporters and Bahrain tea importers about their shipping consignments; the Chairman of the Persian Gulf States Pool (an association of Indian tea exporters) and the Political Agent, Bahrain about the distribution of tea quotas among members of the Pool; Bahrain tea importers and the Political Agent, Bahrain about Indian tea importations allowed to be landed at Bahrain under the Government of India quota system.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 240; 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 176-217 with numbers sporadically appearing on other folios; 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 about a British Ministry of Food scheme in 1944 for ensuring a controlled supply of Iraqi dates at reasonable prices to the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms during the Second World War (1939-1945), because local date crops were insufficient and imported dates were subject to wartime quota arrangements. Included in the file is a comprehensive memorandum written by the British Ministry of Food Dried Fruits Division in Wales in 1944, describing in detail the Ministry’s wartime scheme for the central purchase and coordinated distribution of Iraqi dates throughout the Middle East, India and Africa, following the short Iraqi date crop of 1942. There is also correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire and the India Office in London in 1944, about the merits of the British governmental central purchasing scheme for Iraqi dates, for keeping prices down, preventing wartime profiteering, ensuring fair distribution and discouraging the sale of smuggled Iraqi (and Persian) dates in Persian Gulf ports. These concerns are discussed repeatedly in correspondence throughout the file.In 1944, the Political Agent, Bahrain discusses in detail with the Political Resident and other British officials in Sharjah, as well as the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, why the Sheikhs of Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms of Dubai and Sharjah prefer to use their own commercial agents and local merchants for the procurement of their respective allocations of quota imports of Iraqi dates, rather than as hitherto, the British company Andrew Weir of Basra (appointed Crown purchasing agents in the Middle East). From May 1945 onwards, their official discussions focus on gathering information about the annual requirements for dates in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms in the current year, as well as the total number and quantity of their current date exports and imports, in preparation for the gradual relaxation of Government of India wartime trade restrictions on the export and import of dates by Bahrain and the other Persian Gulf shaikhdoms under British protection, with Iraq, Saudi Arabia and India.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 94; 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 2-93; 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 from Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) representatives regarding Indian nationals returning to India from Saudi Arabia or Bahrain. There is also a request from the Political Agent at Bahrain to the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain to keep under surveillance a man from Aden, suspect of having made communist speeches in Dhahran.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 9; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file contains a copy of a memorandum entitled 'Relations with Ibn Sa'ud' that was written by Arnold Wilson, Chief Political Officer in Charge of the Iraq Section of the Foreign Office's Arab Bureau (folios 3-7). The memorandum contains a detailed description of the development of relations between Ibn Sa'ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the British Government up to 1917.It is followed on folios 8-12 by copies of relevant treaties and correspondence between Ibn Sa'ud and other individuals including British officials and several local rulers, all of which are translated into English.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 13; 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 volume comprises correspondence relating to an agreement reached in 1935 between the Saudi Arab Government and Cable and Wireless for the provision of external wireless telegraph communications from Saudi Arabia, including a proposed service between Hasa and Bahrain. A copy of the agreement can be found at folios 117-125.The correspondence details discussion between the political authorities in the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia with representatives of the Foreign Office and India Office, along with representatives of Cable and Wireless (formerly Imperial and International Communications Limited) regarding the proposed Bahrain to Saudi mainland wireless service and possible negotiations with the Saudi Arab Government which resulted in a conference being arranged in Jedda between the various parties at which the agreement was reached.Also included in the volume are reports from the British Legation at Jedda on various wireless stations being established in Saudi Arabia and the differing types of equipment they were believed to be using, most of it supplied by Marconi Limited. The reports were compiled by the Legation primarily from information published in
Umm-al-Quranewspaper in Mecca.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 171-181.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 184; 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 4-170 and in the file notes between (ff 171-181); these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.