Abstract: The file contains proposals from the Director of Posts and Telegraphs at Karachi (Harbans Lal Jerath) to the Political Agent at Bahrain (Cornelius James Pelly, Arnold Crawshaw Galloway) and Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Arnold Crawshaw Galloway, William Rupert Hay) to establish a wireless station at Dubai and a Post Office at Sharjah.Neither proposal is taken forward at that time owing to the Royal Air Force (RAF) taking over the existing wireless station at Dubai belonging to the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Service deciding to undertake a review of the future of postal services in the Persian Gulf.Included in the file is a letter in Arabic and English from the Sheikh of Sharjah (Shaikh Sulṭān bin Saqr Āl Qasimī) from 1938 regarding the possibility of establishing a post office there.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 13-14.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 15; 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 comprises correspondence, memoranda and statistical data relating to the monitoring of imports and exports of important commodities into and out of Bahrain and the states of the Trucial Coast, as part of the wider export license controls and Navicert system of trade and contraband control during the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban), the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd al-Razzaq), and the Director of Customs at Bahrain (Claud Cranbrook Lewis DeGrenier).The file includes:copies of correspondence exchanged between the India Office in London, the Government of India, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior), relating to proposals for the extension of export control licenses and the Navicert system to the states of the Persian Gulf. The correspondence includes a request for an estimate of annual imports and consumption of commodities in the Persian Gulf, and details of the decision to monitor on an ongoing monthly basis, imports and exports of important commodities, and commodities important to war purposes, at Bahrain and the Trucial Coast (ff 50-51);following a request from the Political Agent at Bahrain (f 53), dated 11 June 1941, monthly submissions from the Customs Director at Bahrain of imports and exports of commodities at Bahrain, starting July 1941 and running through to December 1942;following an identical request from the Political Agent at Bahrain (f 54), dated 11 June 1941, monthly submissions from the Residency Agent at Sharjah for imports and exports of commodities at Sharjah and Dubai, starting July 1941 and running through to February 1943;statistics for the import and export of commodities at Bahrain, Sharjah and Dubai, collated from the reports received by the Customs Director at Bahrain and from the Residency Agent at Sharjah, forwarded to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India at the India Office, the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf;correspondence and file notes (ff 355-356) relating to the need for an additional clerk at the Political Agency in Bahrain, to handle the increased volume of work created at the Agency by the War, including correspondence between the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Political Resident, and representatives of the Customs House at Karachi, over the employment of one of latter’s own clerks at Bahrain (ff 112-113, ff 131-136);correspondence relating to a request from the Foreign Department, Delhi, for statistics on the amount of rice, wheat and wheat flour imported from India into the Persian Gulf for the six-month period June to December 1942 (ff 304-310).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 375; 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 355-370 and a mixed/foliation/pagination is in the file notes at the back between ff 355-370; 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 comprises copies of statistical reports on the imports and exports of important commodities into and out of Bahrain and Sharjah and Dubai on the Trucial Coast, as part of the wider export licence controls and
Navicertsystem of trade and contraband control during the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham); the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd al-Razzaq until February 1945; Jasim ibn Muhammad Kadmari thereafter); the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast (Captain Maurice O’Connor Tandy until April 1944; Reginald Michael Hadow until October 1944; Captain Richard Ernest Bird thereafter); and the Director of Customs at Bahrain (G W R Smith). The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/5 (a) I War. Proposed extension of export licensing system’ (IOR/R/15/2/684). The mispelt title of the file refers to the proposed extension of the license export system.The file contains:monthly submissions from the Customs Director at Bahrain of imports and exports of commodities at Bahrain, running from January 1943 through to March 1945;monthly submissions from the Residency Agent at Sharjah, or the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, for imports and exports of commodities at Sharjah and Dubai, running from March 1943 through to March 1945;statistics for the import and export of commodities at Bahrain, Sharjah and Dubai, collated by the Political Agent from the reports received by the Customs Director at Bahrain, the Residency Agent at Sharjah, and the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, and forwarded to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India at the India Office, the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The imports tables include columns for: commodity; source; quantity (measured in long tons for commodities into Bahrain; measured in hundredweights, bales, cases, tins, etc. for commodities into Sharjah/Dubai). The exports tables include columns for: commodity; destination; and quantity.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 257; 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 2-224; 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 (ff 251-256) have been paginated using pencil.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and memoranda relating to allegations of anti-British sentiments expressed by Tiradas Dhamanmal, manager of Indian trading agents Dhamanmal Isardas of Dubai, and the Political Agent at Bahrain’s orders to have Dhamanmal expelled from the Trucial Coast and sent back to India. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) and the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd Al Razzaq).The file includes: extracts of memoranda between the Political Agent and Residency Agent, reporting allegations of the anti-British sentiments expressed by Dhamanmal, and the decision to send Dhamanmal back to India (ff 2-5); letters from Tiradas Dhamanmal and representatives of Dhamanmal Isardas, denying the claims and asking that the Political Agent reconsider his ruling (ff 6-7); the Political Agent’s rejection of Tiradas Dhamanmal’s plea, and the Residency Agent’s report that Dhamanmal has left for India (ff 8-11).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-11; 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 comprises correspondence and papers produced in response to Britain’s involvement in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, which began on 25 August 1941. The file’s principal correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior), the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban), and the Assistant Political Agent at Bahrain (Captain Roy Douglas Metcalfe).The file includes:information from the Political Resident to the Political Agents in the Gulf, dated 26 August 1941, on the response amongst the Persian community in Bahrain to events in Iran, with instruction to the Government of Bahrain that Persian schools in Bahrain should remain open (ff 2-4);instructions from the Political Resident to the Political Agents in the Gulf, dated 2 September 1941, to keep watch on dhows arriving from the Iranian coast, lest they be harbouring escaping Axis nationals or Iraqi/Palestinian rebels (ff 6-8). The Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) reports that Iranian nationals were intercepted at Bahrain on a vessel coming from Qattar [Qatar] (ff 9-10). A subsequent report from the Political Resident, dated 24 September 1941, suggests that more than one hundred Germans are believed to have fled southwards from Tehran, some of whom may end up in the Persian Gulf (ff 21-24);a demi-official letter from the Assistant Political Agent at Bahrain to the Political Resident, dated 4 September 1941, related to an apparent relaxation of travel restrictions for Iranians in Bahrain, with a suggestion that there are ‘16,000 foreigners’ now in Bahrain (ff 12-13);a report from the Residency Agent at Sharjah of a letter containing anti-British sentiment posted on the gates of the market in Dubai, signed by ‘a number of sacrificing volunteers’. The report encloses draft and final English translations of the letter, as well as a transcribed copy of the Arabic (ff 15-18);a report from the British Consul at Bushire, dated 30 September 1941, of the declaration of martial law in Shiraz (f 25);a copy of the text of the Treaty of Alliance, with annexes, signed between Iran, the USSR and Britain on 29 January 1942 (ff 32-36);the file notes contain a list of detailed points discussed between the Assistant Political Agent and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain on 26 September 1941, arising from the Anglo-Soviet invasion (arrest and surveillance of suspects; applications from Iranians for Bahrain nationality; imports and exports to/from Iran; export of currency; travel documents; mail; arms and ammunition) (ff 37-40).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 43; 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 2-36; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 37-42; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This is a correspondence file about Indian tea exports to the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah under the quota system and the export licensing restrictions imposed by the Government of India during the Second World War (1939-1945), when tea and other essential commodities were in short supply. The file contains the correspondence of the Political Agent, Bahrain with the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, Sharjah; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire and the Tea Controller for India, Calcutta. Included in the file are several circular lists compiled by the Tea Controller for India and the Political Agent, Bahrain. These lists show the tea quotas for the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms and neighbouring Arab States, the names of the Indian merchants in Calcutta and Bombay licensed to export tea to the Trucial Coast, details of shipments of tea and its distribution among Bahrain and Dubai merchants on importation.The file also contains copies of official correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and others, mainly Government of India officials in the Department of External Affairs, New Delhi. They discuss reductions in the Indian tea quotas allowed for export to the Trucial Coast for the following purposes: local consumption, re-export to neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia, as barter for fresh meat and other essential supplies from Iran, for consumption by the British Residency and Consulates of the Persian Gulf. The file also contains a small amount of merchant correspondence, mainly between the Chairman of the Persian Gulf States Pool (an association of Indian tea exporters), Calcutta and the Political Agent, Bahrain about the allocations of both regular quota tea and frustrated (spoiled) tea for export to the Trucial Coast.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 196; 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 2-178; 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 and statistics about the monitoring and maintenance of adequate supplies of quota rice, wheat, sugar and also cotton piece goods, in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, in the years following the Second World War (1939-1945). These essential commodities continued to be subject to Government of India quota arrangements and other controls imposed on trade with the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms, due to wartime shortages.The main contents of the file are the monthly stock figures sent to the Political Agent, Bahrain by the Director of Customs, Bahrain. These figures show the quantities (in tons) of Bahrain Government imports, stocks and exports (mainly to Qatar) of rice, wheat, sugar and cotton piece goods. There are similar monthly stock figures for Dubai, Sharjah and the other Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, submitted by both the Residency Agent and the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast, Sharjah. There are also file copies of the monthly consolidated stock figures sent by the Political Agent, Bahrain to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. Included in the file is a small amount of correspondence between the Political Agent, Bahrain and his officials at Sharjah, about wheat and sugar prices in Dubai and Sharjah, following the abolition of controls and a return to normal market conditions for these food commodities.Physical description: Foliation: the 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.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence and statistics about the monitoring and maintenance of adequate supplies of quota rice, cereals such as wheat and barley, sugar, tea and also cotton piece goods, in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, in the years following the Second World War (1939-1945). These essential commodities continued to be subject to Government of India quota arrangements and other controls imposed on trade with the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms, due to wartime shortages.The main contents of the file are the monthly stock figures sent to the Political Agent, Bahrain by the Director of Customs, Bahrain. These figures show the quantities (in tons) of Bahrain Government imports, stocks and exports (mainly to Qatar) of cereals, tea, sugar and cotton piece goods. There are similar monthly stock figures for Dubai, Sharjah and the other Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, including separate figures for private importations of barley, submitted by both the Residency Agent and the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast, Sharjah. There are also file copies of the monthly consolidated stock figures sent by the Political Agent, Bahrain to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, together with his recommendations for reducing imports of quota wheat to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, based on increased supplies of imported rice. There are similar monthly consolidated stock figures from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to the British Supply Mission (Middle East), Cairo (formerly the Middle East Supply Centre). These show the cereal stocks position in Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms.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 237; 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 2-108; 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 arrangements for the purchase and shipping of rice imports mainly from African and South American countries, for consumption in Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai, Sharjah and other Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, where rice and other cereals continued to be in scarce supply after the Second World War (1939-1945). The file consists mainly of letters from Bahrain and Dubai merchants, or from the Imperial Bank of Iran and the Eastern Bank Limited on their behalf, also from the local manager of the Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited on behalf of oil company personnel, asking the Political Agent, Bahrain to permit them foreign currency exchange facilities for the purchase of rice from Brazil and other non-Sterling countries. Also included in the file are the Political Agent’s responses, including importation recommendation certificates and letters to their banks, approving the release of sterling for the opening of letters of credit and hard currency payments to exporters.The file also contains the successful bids made to the International Emergency Food Committee (IEFC), Washington by the British Government on behalf of Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and the other Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, for a share in the 1949 Middle East rice allocations. In relation to this matter there is the correspondence of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, Bahrain with the Rulers of Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai and also with British officials at the Ministry of Food and the Foreign Office in London. In this correspondence, they discuss reducing existing wheat quota imports for Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms in favour of increased rice quota imports, the arrangements for the local storage and stock management of the IEFC allocated Egyptian rice by British Ministry of Food officials in Cairo, the appointment of approved purchasing and shipping agents by the Bahrain and Dubai authorities to act for them and for their merchants with regard to orders, payments and deliveries of the IEFC allocated Egyptian quota rice by sea to Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 360; 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 correspondence about supplies of wheat and barley for importation and local consumption in Dubai, Sharjah and the other Trucial Coast sheikhdoms, during and after the Second World War (1939-1945), when food grains and wheat in particular were in short supply worldwide and subject to Government of India export restrictions and import quota arrangements in all the Arab States of the Persian Gulf under British protection. The main correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire; the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, both Sharjah; the Middle East Supply Centre (MESC), Cairo; the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation (Iraq) Limited (UKCC), Baghdad; Gray, Mackenzie and Company, Bahrain (acting as Crown purchase and shipping agent). The main topics discussed are MESC allotments and UKCC shipments of quota wheat and barley from Basra to the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah; the monitoring of stock levels of wheat, barley and rice in the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms and estimates of future requirements; the introduction of reductions to wheat quotas, against imports of rice from Persia (Iran) and elsewhere, in view of the difficult worldwide supply situation.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 2-323; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.Physical condition: folio 148 has a torn edge; folio 341 is a re-used file cover containing the title and other brief details about a former file on aviation.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence about supplies of wheat and barley for importation and local consumption in Dubai, Sharjah and the other Trucial Coast sheikhdoms, during and after the Second World War (1939-1945), when food grains and wheat in particular were in short supply worldwide and subject to Government of India export restrictions and import quota arrangements in all the Arab States of the Persian Gulf under British protection. The main correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire; the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, both Sharjah; the Middle East Supply Centre (MESC), Cairo; the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation (Iraq) Limited (UKCC), Baghdad; Gray, Mackenzie and Company, Bahrain (acting as Crown purchase and shipping agent). The main topics discussed are MESC allotments and UKCC shipments of quota wheat and barley from Basra to the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah; the monitoring of stock levels of wheat, barley and rice in the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms and estimates of future requirements; the introduction of reductions to wheat quotas, against imports of rice from Persia (Iran) and elsewhere, in view of the difficult worldwide supply situation.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 313; 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 2-203; 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.