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 about: the allocation of import quotas of Indian pulses for Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms in 1947; the arrangements of Bahrain and Dubai importing merchants with their exporters in Karachi, regarding shipments; and the Government of India’s subsequent decision to cancel the agreed export quotas, due to shortages of pulses for local consumption in India. The main correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, both Bahrain; the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain; the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast, Sharjah and Government of India officials in the Department of External Affairs, New Delhi. Included in the file is a list of the names and addresses of Bahrain importers and Karachi exporters of Indian pulses to the Persian Gulf countries, in 1947.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 29; 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 2-28; 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 mainly about the export of bran from Punjab, by sea from Karachi to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah, during and after the Second World War (1939-1945), when essential animal feed such as bran was in short supply and subject to Government of India export restrictions and import quota arrangements in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms under British protection. The correspondence is mainly between the Political Agent for Bahrain, the Director of Customs and Port Officer for the Government of Bahrain, and officials in the Government of India External Affairs Department, New Delhi. They discuss minimum annual requirements for the local consumption of bran in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms; the quarterly and half-yearly distributions (in tons) of the bran quota among approved merchants in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah; the regular quota reductions imposed by the Government of India Food Department owing to acute shortages in India and the unavailability of a surplus for export and Government of India revised export control procedures. The file also contains merchants’ correspondence, from importers in Bahrain and their export agents and shippers in Karachi, complaining about the refusal of the Export Trade Controller in Karachi and other Government of India controlling authorities, to grant export licences and permits. Included in the file are numerous lists containing the names of all approved importers of Indian quota bran in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah, as well as the names and addresses of their export agents and shippers in Karachi.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 141; 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 2-126; 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 about the supply of various essential commodities from India, by sea from Bombay and Karachi to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah for local consumption, during the Second World War (1939-1945). Several commodities are mentioned including spices, nuts, oils, cotton and leather goods, hosiery, soap, matches and cement. These goods were in short supply due to wartime conditions and subject to Government of India export restrictions and import quota arrangements in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms under British protection. The main correspondents are the Political Agent for Bahrain, the Director of Customs and Port Officer for the Government of Bahrain, the Export Trade Controllers (also referred to as Foreign Trade Controllers) in Karachi and Bombay, as well as other Government of India officials, mainly in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi. They discuss the allotment of Government of India surplus quota goods among merchants in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah and exchange distribution lists that contain the names of all approved importers (local merchants), together with the names of their Indian exporters or shippers in Bombay and Karachi, and the type and quantity of the controlled commodity allotted to them. In addition, there are detailed submissions from the Political Agents for Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, expressing concerns about new Government of India instructions for improving the coordination of export control procedures in India with import control procedures in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms, in particular, that Export Trade Controllers in Indian ports only grant export licenses and permits to Indian exporters and shippers who appear on their established shippers lists. The file also contains merchants’ correspondence, from several importers in Bahrain and their nominated export agents or shippers in Karachi and Bombay, complaining to the Political Agent for Bahrain, about the refusal of the Export Trade Controllers in Indian ports to grant them export licences and permits.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 242; 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 2-217 and between ff 218-241; 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 about the supply of foodstuffs, cotton and leather goods, soap and other manufactured articles, from India to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah for local consumption, under Government of India wartime export licensing restrictions and import quota arrangements that remained in force after the Second World War (1939-1945). The main correspondents are the Political Agent for Bahrain, the Director of Customs and Port Officer for Bahrain, and the Government of India Export Trade Controllers in Bombay and Karachi. These officials discuss the allotment of Government of India surplus quota goods among merchants in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah and exchange distribution lists containing the names of approved importers (local merchants) and their Indian exporters or shippers in Bombay and Karachi, as well as the nature and quantity of their consignments. There are also several letters, mainly from local merchants to the Political Agent in Bahrain, asking him to grant them import licences, so that their exporters and shippers in Bombay and Karachi may apply to the Export Trade Controller in their home port for a Government of India export licence. In response to several trade enquiries from the Indian Government Trade Commissioner for the Near and Middle East in Alexandria, the Political Agent in Bahrain provides him with lists of Bahrain merchants interested in importing sports goods, paints and varnishes from India. The file also contains several Government of India circular letters issued by the Chief Controller of Exports, New Delhi to all regional Export Trade Controllers in India, notifying them about the relaxation of export controls on certain textiles, metals, manufactured articles and other goods.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 151; 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 2-141; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding the delimitation of the boundaries of the Trucial states with an emphasis on the boundary between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. On this topic, the file contains a detailed letter by Patrick Desmond Stobart, Political Officer on the Trucial Coast that includes an appendix that gives details of the territorial claims of Dubai and Abu Dhabi (folios 36-51).The file contains three maps, two identical copies of a hand-drawn sketch map of the Trucial Coast (folios 6 and 9) and a hand-drawn sketch map of the Trucial Coast marking details of the Dubai-Abu Dhabi boundary dispute (folio 33).The majority of the correspondence in the file is in English, but a limited amount in Arabic is also contained within, including a letter sent from the ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Saʻīd bin Maktūm bin Hasher Āl Maktūm to Cornelius James Pelly, the Political Agent in Bahrain (folio 75).The file also contains correspondence between British officials and Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited, the subsidiary of Petroleum Concessions Limited that operated in the states along the Trucial Coast.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 111; 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 3-102; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence between ff 1-110, which is circled and located in the top centre of the recto side of each folio, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.Foliation errors: 97a
Abstract: The file contains the agreement to open a branch of the Imperial Bank of Iran in Dubai. It is signed by Sheikh Sa‘īd II bin Maktūm, Ruler of Dubai, and F. H. Johnson, Representative of the Imperial Bank of Iran, and witnessed by Clive Murphy, Political Officer, Sharjah, dated 5 January 1946.Physical description: Foliation: the 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.
Abstract: The file begins with an exchange of letters in 1938 between the British Legation, Tehran and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf, about policy on foreign subjects seeking British assistance to recover debts owed to them by subjects of the Trucial Coast Shaikhs, in the light of an appeal to his Government by an Iranian merchant resident in Sharjah, against five subjects of the Shaikh of Sharjah. The file continues with correspondence relating to the commencement of debt recovery proceedings in 1939 by merchant Abdul Kader Mohamed Abbas of Bombay, against several subjects of Dubai and Sharjah in 1939, and also a complaint from pearl merchant Khoja Ali Bin Abdullah about a burglary and theft committed at his house in Sharjah in 1947. The file ends with a letter from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mecca to the British Embassy, Jeddah in 1949, communicating the decision of the authorities in Mukalla, Aden Protectorate [Al Mukalla, Yemen] to dismiss the compensation claim made to the Saudi Arabian Government by nakhuda (captain) Hassan bin Ibrahim, a British subject of Kuwait, for losses incurred while piloting a Saudi Arabian cargo vessel between Muscat and Aden in 1947.The Arabic content of the file consists of copies in Arabic as well as English, of two lists compiled by the Residency Agent, Sharjah in 1938, showing all outstanding claims by British Indian merchants against subjects of the Rulers of Dubai and Sharjah.The file does not contain correspondence relating to the last set of case notes made in the file by the Political Agent in 1950 and 1951. These notes concern the arrangements to be made at the request of the Bahrain Government, for the cash sale of two launches lying off Dubai Creek, in settlement of a claim for financial compensation by a Bahrain subject.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 51; 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 1-50, and ff 5-20; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to the investigation and settlement of several debt recovery claims made against mainly Arab subjects of the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, by merchants of Dubai and Sharjah who are British Indian subjects. The main correspondents are the Political Agent at Bahrain and the Residency Agent at Sharjah. The correspondence includes petitions and statements made by claimants, debtors and witnesses, as well as several letters from the Ruler of Dubai [Āl Maktūm, Shaikh Saʻīd bin Maktūm bin Hasher] and the Ruler of Sharjah [Al Qasimi, Shaikh Sultan II bin Saqr]. There are also several documents relating to debt settlements mediated either by the Residency Agent, a committee of local merchants or the Ruler.The majority of the correspondence is in both English and Arabic. The file contains one letter written in Persian. A few items of Indian merchant correspondence are signed in Gujarati as well as in English or Arabic, and in one instance in Sindhi. The earliest documents in the file are a debt bond made in 1911 and an Acknowledgement of Debt made in 1926.The following five debt cases are discussed extensively. The claims made by Khaja Habib bin Hasan Jasbani and Khojah Alli Hasan Joosbani (and other variations of their names) who are originally from Hyderabad, against: the estate of the former British Residency Agent at Sharjah, a Bahraini pearl merchant resident at Dubai, and two brothers of Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr the Ruler of Sharjah. The claim of Kishandas Nathanmal, originally from Tatta [Thatta] in Sindh Province, against a brother-in-law of Shaikh Said bin Maktum the Ruler of Dibai [Dubai]. The claim of the Dubai branch of the merchant firm Dharamdas Thawerdas against both the Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Mohamad bin Ahmed Al Dalmook (spelt variously) as guarantors for the indebted estate of Dubai merchant Essa (also spelt Isa) bin Thani. The claims of several traders in Dubai and Sharjah against Dhamanmal Jagoomal (spelt variously) and the counter claims of the latter, including representations made on his behalf by his son Mohandas Dhamanmal Jagoomal of Bombay, about the looting of his father’s shop in Sharjah by local residents. The request of the Ruler of Dubai, for British assistance with his two debt recovery claims against the Dubai branch of the Mesopotamia Corporation Limited, and the Wali of Khasab in Oman, a subject of the Sultan of Muscat.The file also contains correspondence relating to complaints of ill-treatment made by a medical practitioner from Egypt who is resident at Dubai, and the counter-claims made against him by his in-laws in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The file ends with the investigation and recovery of possessions stolen from a Bahraini subject by a traveller from Kuwait, who is also suspected of complicity in the smuggling of goods into Dubai on behalf of a Persian merchant from Bushire.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 342; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 2-304, and ff 312-331; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to a debt recovery claim in 1937 made by Messrs Khubchand (also spelt Kuchband) Damodardas, merchants of Karachi, against two subjects of Umm ul-Qaiwain [Umm Al Qaiwain] and Dubai respectively. The correspondence consists of the following four items: a petition from Messrs Khubchand to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; a memorandum from the Secretary to the Political Resident to the Political Agent, Bahrain; two memoranda from the Political Agent, Bahrain to the Residency Agent, Sharjah. The memoranda concern the commencement of an investigation into the claim, to be carried out by the Residency Agent, Sharjah and reported to the Political Agent, Bahrain.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 8; 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 2-6; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains two letters written in both Arabic and English, in July 1933. The first letter is a report from the Residency Agent, Sharjah to the Political Agent, Bahrain about a claim of fraud made by Maginmal Likumdas (also spelt Lakamdas) of Dubai, against a former slave called Sultan Al Habshi, also of Dubai, which was investigated and upheld by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. This is followed by an acknowledgement letter from the Political Agent, Bahrain to the Residency Agent, Sharjah.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 6; 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 relating to a debt recovery claim for rent arrears, made in 1936 by Shaikh Ma’na bin Rashid [Shaikh Mani bin Rashid Āl Maktūm] and Muhammad Saleh Kadhem [Mohamed Saleh Kazim], the owner and landlord respectively of a shop in Dubai. Their claim is against Lukoomal Devanmal, a British Indian subject and former tenant shop keeper who had returned to Tatta in Sind Province [Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan]. The correspondence, in English and Arabic, is mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Residency Agent, Sharjah, who investigate the claim and take enforcement action. Included in the correspondence are the following original Arabic documents: a petition from the claimant Muhammad Saleh Kadhem to Shaikh Sa’id the Ruler of Dubai [Shaikh Saʻīd bin Maktūm bin Hasher Āl Maktūm], and a letter from the Ruler of Dubai to the Residency Agent, Sharjah, forwarding the petition to him for investigation of the claim.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 14; 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 2-12; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.