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1. ‘File 21/13 DETENTION OF MUSCAT SUBJECT BY AMIR OF ZAKRIT'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to the abduction and enslavement of a young man from Muscat, who was found working at Petroleum Concessions Limited’s (PCL) oilfields in Qatar, and attempts by the Political Agent and others, including Saleh Al Mana [Ṣāliḥ Āl Māni‘], a representative of the Sheik [Shaikh] of Qatar, to retrieve him from captivity. Principal correspondents in the file include: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Cornelius Pelly), Basil Henry le Riolet Lermitte, Manager for PCL, and Saleh Al Mana. The file includes a copy of a statement, dated 13 December 1948, made by the freed man at the Political Agency in Bahrain, which describes his abduction and captivity.Note: The Emir of Zakrit [Zekreet, also spelled Zekrit and Zikrit in this file] is accused of detaining the enslaved man (folios 3 and 5); however, in a letter to Pelly from a representative of Petroleum Concessions Ltd, Bahrain, it is indicated that this may have been a case of mistaken identity ('mistaken Emirs') and it was perhaps the Emir of Dukhan who held the enslaved man (see f 12).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 22; 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 2-18; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
2. 'File 38/16 Effects of Bahrain-Qatar dispute on P. C. L.'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to how the dispute between Bahrain and Qatar over Zubarah has affected the work of Petroleum Concessions Limited. The principle correspondents are: the Political Agent at Bahrain; Sir Charles Belgrave, Advisor to the Government of Bahrain; Shaikh Sulman bin Hamad Al Khalifa [Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah], ruler of Bahrain; Shaikh Abdulla bin Qasim Al-Thani [‘Abdullāh bin Qāsim Āl Thānī], ruler of Qatar; and representatives (usually Ernest Vincent Packer) of Petroleum Concessions Limited (hereafter, the company) and its subsidiary, Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited.The matters covered by the file are mostly founded on the rival historic claims to the old settlement of Zubarah. They are as follows:the need to settle normal relations between the two countries, partly driven by the clarity needed to define oil concessions;the company's attempts to buy land in Manama which lead to conditions imposed by the ruler of Bahrain concerning mosques, tombs and properties in Zubarah that are claimed by the Āl Khalīfah family;disagreements over the company's use of the port of Sitra in Bahrain, and what they are permitted to import and export;a meeting held between Packer and Shaikh Salmān on 15 February 1947 to settle these issues;incidences of violence and conflict between Bahraini seamen employed by the company and Qatari guards at Zekrit during 1947 and 1948;the refusal by Qatari authorities to allow Shaikh Shafi bin Salim, head of the Bani Hajir tribe, and his four sons to land at Zekrit in July 1948.Folios 43-45 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-33; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
3. ‘File 28/1 V Visits to Bahrain of military officials (Brigadier Hughes & Party)’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to visits by senior military officials to Bahrain, principally arrangements for the visit of Brigadier F E C Hughes (ff 6-50), referred to in the file as both Commander-Designate of Forces, and head of Persian Gulf Defence Mission, in late June/early July 1941, for the purposes of carrying out a reconnaissance mission. Correspondence concerning Hughes’s visit includes: arrangements for his arrival and departure, including onward travel to Khorramshahr in Iran; permission/arrangements for Hughes to travel to Zekrit [Zikrīt] (Qatar) and Dhahran [[al-Ẓahrān] (Saudi Arabia); the loaning of maps (none included in the file); assessment of land south of Zellaq in Bahrain for a proposed landing strip.Other correspondence in the file relates to: a visit to Bahrain by the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Iraq in October 1940 (ff 2-5); various visits in 1942, with details of the officers and visit dates (ff 51-55); correspondence in July 1944 relating to the proposed visit to Bahrain of the General Officer Commanding (GOC) in Charge of Paiforce (Persia and India Force), and the subsequent delay and cancellation of the visit (ff 56-59); correspondence relating to visits by the GOC in Charge of the Persian Gulf (ff 64-65), and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) in October 1945 (f 65).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 68; 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 2-65; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
4. ‘File 28/35 Defence of Qatar’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file, while entitled ‘Defence of Qatar’, chiefly concerns the issue of six rifles and 1,200 rounds of small arms ammunition (SAA) to British personnel employed by Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL) in Qatar during the war. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban) and the Manager of PCL at Bahrain (Ernest Vincent Packer).The file includes:correspondence relating to a report, entitled an ‘Appreciation of the Defence of Qatar against tribal attack and sabotage’ prepared by staff at Air HQ in Iraq, and sent to the Political Resident on 6 February 1939 (f 2). A copy of the report is not included in the file, however, the Political Agent at Bahrain’s comments on the report are (ff 3-5);a copy of a report prepared by the Air Liaison Officer at Bahrain (R Coates) in July 1939, being a reconnaissance of possible landing grounds and flying boat mooring areas at Dohat-es-Zekrit [Zikrīt] (ff 11-12);correspondence dated September 1939, relating to protection for British personnel working on the Qatar oil field, and a request by the Political Agent at Bahrain to the Air Officer Commanding at Bahrain, for six rifles and SAA to be loaned to PCL’s British employees in Qatar (ff 13-19). Later correspondence, dated June and July 1941, details the eventual receipt of the rifles and ammunition by PCL (f 21, f 26), a rifle register (f 28), and a note written by the PCL Manager, describing the poor condition of the rifles (f 32);correspondence dated July 1939, relating to PCL’s plans to close down their operations in Qatar and the Trucial Coast, including: copies of letters from the Political Agent in Bahrain to the Rulers of Qatar and the Trucial Coast, informing them of PCL’s closure of operations (ff 47-54); the return of the six rifles and ammunition to the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf (Major H T Hewitt), the latter’s complaint at the poor condition of the rifles, and the PCL Manager’s response that the rifles had been received in poor condition (ff 57-59).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 75; 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 1-74; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
5. ‘File 28/35 Denial programme Qatar’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains copies of letters, agreements and other papers relating to the temporary cessation in 1942 of oil operations undertaken by Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited (PDQ) in Qatar, in response to events in the Second World War, and negotiations over an agreement between the Ruler of Qatar and the Political Agent at Bahrain for the cessation of operations, and continued payment of the concession and other costs. The volume’s principal correspondents are the Political Agent at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, superseded by Major Tom Hickinbotham in October 1943); the Manager of PDQ (Ernest Vincent Packer, also in the file as chief correspondent for Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL)); the Ruler of Qatar (Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī).The volume includes:a telegraphic instruction from the Under Secretary of State for India, dated 19 June 1942, informing of the Commander-in-Chief Middle East’s decision to plug all oil wells in Qatar and suspend drilling operations, ‘for reasons connected with the War Effort’ (f 10);a copy of a report marked Most Secret, detailing the oil denial proposals for PDQ’s operations in Qatar, prepared by Major E Boaden of the Royal Engineers, and dated 23 May 1942 (ff 19-20);correspondence dated June to July 1942, relating to the plugging and junking of oil wells in the Qatar oil field, and evacuation of oil and water supply equipment, under orders received by the Tenth Army (ff 45-53, ff 67-69);correspondence relating to arrangements to transfer oil drilling equipment from Qatar to Karachi;correspondence between PDQ/PCL, the Political Agent at Bahrain, and the Ruler of Qatar, relating to the protracted negotiation of terms for the suspension of oil operations in Qatar, chiefly concerning: retention and pay of guards to protect oil company property; salaries for the Ruler of Qatar’s representatives and the Director of Customs at Zekrit [Zikrīt, also referred to in correspondence as Zekhrit]; rent of the oil company’s house (Company House) in Doha [occasionally referred to as Dohah], and employment of servants; supply and use of the Company’s ice machine, water pump; provision of communications between Doha and Dukhan; maintenance of a launch between Zekrit and Bahrain;correspondence relating to the method of continued concession payments to the Ruler of Qatar: chiefly in the form of discussion over whether the payments should be in silver rupees, preferred by the Ruler but potentially difficult to supply, or in paper currency through the Eastern Bank Limited;multiple copies of the draft agreement of terms between the Ruler of Qatar and the Political Agent at Bahrain;correspondence dated October and November 1943 relating to arrangements for the Political Agent in Bahrain to visit Doha and the Ruler of Qatar, in order to conclude the suspension of operations agreement;a copy of the original agreement between the Ruler of Qatar and the Political Agent at Bahrain, dated 23 November 1943, setting out payments and facilities to be provided by PDQ during the suspension of operations in Qatar (in English and Arabic, with the latter signed by the Ruler of Qatar and Major Tom Hickinbotham, ff 336-338).While the volume’s correspondence begins in in May and June 1942, an extract of an earlier letter from the Political Resident, dated 5 June 1935 (f 6) provides the earlier date indicated in this catalogue entry’s date range.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 371; 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 163-349; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.