Abstract: This file contains correspondence between various British officials regarding the transshipment of cargo at the port in Bahrain. Specifically, the correspondence discusses Bahrain's right to levy transit dues from Saudi Arabia on cargo transshipped at sea and cargo entering the port at Bahrain (from Saudi Arabia). The correspondence also discusses the likelihood of Saudi Arabia successfully developing a full-scale port at Ras Tanura and the impact that this step would have on Bahrain. Correspondence between British and Saudi officials is contained in the file.The file also includes correspondence with the British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and detailed correspondence regarding a ship named the
Ahmedithat was barred from entering the port in Bahrain.Physical description: A bound correspondence volume. Foliated with pencil number in top-right corner of each front-facing page, from front cover to inside back cover. A second foliation pencilled, uncircled from folio 24- 217.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding Bahrain's transit dues. The correspondence discusses negotiations with Saudi Arabia concerning transit fees and trade with Bahrain and the likelihood and possible impact (upon Bahrain) of the Saudi Arabian Government developing Ras Tanura as a rival trading port. Correspondence concerning the convening of a conference about these issues in Bahrain (attended by a Saudi delegation) is also contained in the file, as is information regarding trading activities of the Japanese in the region.A rough sketch map of a building at Ras Tanura is contained on folio 81.Physical description: Originally a bound correspondence volume, the file's pages have been unbound and are now loose.The foliation system commences at the title page and continues through to the 3rd folio from the back of the volume; these numbers are written in pencil, circled and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Foliation errors: 1A and 1B; 54A and 54B.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials, the government of Bahrain and a Saudi delegation concerning the levy of transit and re-export duties between the Hasa Coast and Bahrain.The correspondence also discusses the broader context of Anglo-Saudi relations and shipping issues in the region.The linguistic difficulties involved in translating an agreement concluded between Saudi Arabia and the British on behalf of the government of Bahrain are discussed on folios 108-114, 132 and 189-191.Physical description: A bound correspondence volume. There are a couple of incomplete foliation sequences and one complete foliation sequence. The complete sequence is circled in pencil, in the top right corner. It begins on the first page, on number 1, and runs through to 213, ending on the inside of the back cover of the volume. It should be noted that f.1 is followed by f.1A; there are then two blank folios before the sequence resumes with f.1B. Letters have been used to number folios in other parts of the folio: f.152 is followed by f.152A.
Abstract: The documents contained in this file relate to issues regarding succession in Bahrain after the death of Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa in 1932 and Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in 1942.The file contains detailed discussions of the personality of Shaikh Hamad as well as assessments of the character of Hamad's three most-likely successors, his uncle Shaikh Abdullah bin Ali Al Khalifa and two of Hamad's sons, Salman and Abdullah.The succession of Salman as Hamad's successor is discussed in detail and a report regarding the circumstances of Hamad's death (from a stroke) is also contained.Physical description: Loose, unbound sheets in a file. Foliation - circled pencil numbers on the top right-hand corner of each front-facing page - starts on the front cover of the file and continues until the inside cover. The file has an inconsistent foliation system in uncircled pencil numbers also on the top right-hand corner of each front-facing page. Foliation errors: 9A and 9B
Abstract: This file contains correspondence related to tensions between Bahrain (and the Al Naim tribe) and Qatar concerning the ownership of Zubarah on the Qatar peninsula that took place between March and June 1937.At this time, the Al Naim tribe were allied to the Al Khalifa ruling family of Bahrain who claimed Zubarah as a part of their own territory (the family had been based there before their conquest of Bahrain in 1783). The British authorities did not recognise the Al Khalifa's claim to Zubarah and mediated between the two sides. The file contains extensive details of this mediation process.Physical description: A bound correspondence volume of which the front and back covers have become unattached.The main foliation sequence starts at the title page and continues through to the 2nd folio from the back of the volume; these numbers are written in pencil, circled and can be found in the top right of the recto side of each folio.A second foliation sequence, also written in pencil but not circled starts on f.2 and runs to f.204; these numbers can also be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. This system forks on f.30 to form a third foliation sequence, which is out of step with the second sequence due to the fact the 1st folio marked with this sequence is labelled with a range; these numbers are also not circled, written in pencil and can be found in the same position as the other two sequences.Foliation Errors: 1A and 1B.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence about on-going tensions between Bahrain and Qatar regarding the ownership of Zubarah after the Al Khalifa and Al Thani families had signed an agreement (mediated by the British) in 1944. The correspondence discusses disagreements between Bahrain and Qatar concerning their interpretation of the wording of the 1944 agreement and also the emigration of the Al Bu Rumaih tribe from Bahrain to Qatar (without permission of the ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa).On folios 8-4, the file contains a summary of all the key events related to the dispute over Zubarah from 1766 until 1946.A small sketch map of Zubarah and the surrounding area is contained on folio 117.Physical description: Formerly a correspondence file bound with treasury tags, the file's pages have been unbound and are now loose.There are three incomplete foliation sequences and one complete foliation sequence. The complete sequence is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and runs through to 161, ending on the inside of the back cover of the file.f.117 is stored in an envelope (f.116).
Abstract: File contains correspondence related to hostilities that occurred between the forces of Shaikh Abdullah bin Qassim Al Thani of Qatar and the Al Naim tribe that took place in June and July 1937.At this time, the Al Naim tribe was allied to the Al Khalifa ruling family of Bahrain who claimed Zubarah as a part of their own territory (the family had been based there before their conquest of Bahrain in 1783). The British authorities did not recognise the Al Khalifa's claim to Zubarah and did not intervene on their behalf. Hostilities ended in July 1937 and Shaikh Rashid bin Muhammad, Chief of the Al Naim tribe, agreed to recognise the rule of the Al Thani family over Zubarah.The file also contains a map of Qatar (folio 164) and four aerial photographs of Zubarah (folios 160-163).Physical description: A bound correspondence file. Foliation starts on first page of text, top right hand circled number. Ends on last page in volume. A second foliation penciled, uncircled from folio 1a-209.
Abstract: The documents in this file are all related to the natural water supply of Bahrain.They include two detailed surveys of the island's water supply, correspondence concerning the status of Bahrain's artesian wells, concerns about the wastage of water in gardens owned by Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (and other members of the Al Khalifa family) and more general correspondence regarding the usage of water in Bahrain.Physical description: Previously a bound volume, its sheets have been unbound and are now loose. Foliation starts with 1A for the file cover. The first page of the volume is 1B. It continues to the last page. Foliation in pencil numbers in top right corner of recto. Additional foliation has been rubbed out but is still faintly visible. Further foliation starts with 31 on f.21 and continues to f.27. It is then also rubbed out but traces remain visible. Due to foliation error, we have f.36A and f.36B instead of f.36.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to Shaikh Nāṣir bin Mubarak Āl Khalīfah's claim on Bahrain, and his subsequent attempts at reconciliation with the Bahrain ruler Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah. The principal correspondents in the file are Captain Francis Prideaux, Political Agent at Bahrain from 1904 to 1909, Major Percy Cox, Political Resident from 1904 to 1909, and Shaikh Nāṣir bin Mubarak Āl Khalīfah.In letters sent to the Bahrain Political Agent in 1903 and 1904, Shaikh Nāṣir, who was the grandson of the deposed Shaikh ‘Abdullāh of Bahrain, asserted his right to land on the islands formerly owned by his grandfather; a right that he had maintained since the 1890s. In May 1905 he threatened to give up his land rights to the Turkish Government if the British Government continued to ignore his claims (folios 7-7a). A chance meeting between Prideaux and Shaikh Nāṣir, at Shaikh Jāsim bin Thānī’s camp at Bu Hasa in December 1905, prompted a change in tone, as a result of Prideaux recommending to Shaikh Nāṣir that the British would be more prepared to support a reconciliation between himself and Shaikh ‘Īsá (folios 15-16). Numerous letters sent by Shaikh Nāṣir to Shaikh ‘Īsá throughout 1906 were, however, ignored, leading to Shaikh Nāṣir sending numerous letters to Prideaux, asking for his help. However, the official British line, obtained by Cox from the Government of India in May 1906, was that there were insufficient grounds for British intervention in seeking a reconciliation between Shaikh Nāṣir and Shaikh ‘Īsá (folio 19). Subsequent British attempts to settle Shaikh Nāṣir at Fuwairat on the Qatar coast, with the support of his father-in-law Shaikh Jāsim bin Thānī, were likewise unsuccessful (folio 35). In a letter to Cox, dated 26 June 1908, Prideaux suggested that Shaikh Nāṣir should resign himself to never being reconciled to Shaikh ‘Īsá, and that he should live out the rest of his life quietly as a Turkish subject, without recourse to “rebellions or piratical activity”. (folios 51-53).Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a-1f, 7a, 16a, 36a. The following folios are fold-outs: 2, 12, 17, 20, 22, 23, 28, 31, 37, 39, 43, 44, 46, 56, 58, 59, 68-70.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to the actions and grievances of Shaikh Ḥamad bin Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, cousin of Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah, the ruler of Bahrain. The key correspondents in the file are Shaikh Ḥamad and Shaikh ‘Īsá, and a succession of Political Residents (Major Percy Cox (later Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Cox), Major Arthur Trevor) and Political Agents in Bahrain (Captain Francis Prideaux, Major Stuart Knox, Captain David Lorimer, and Captain Terence Keyes).The opening letter in the volume, dated December 1904, is from Shaikh Ḥamad to the Political Agent (Prideaux) and Resident (Cox), and is a request from Shaikh Ḥamad for an increase in his monthly allowances, which Cox rejected (folios 1a-5). Later correspondence, dated 1910, reported on the growing antagonism between Shaikh Ḥamad and Shaikh ‘Īsá, which led to Shaikh Ḥamad threatening, and then carrying out his threat, to seek the protection of the Wali [custodian] of Busorah [Basra] (folio 13). British officials did not attach great importance to Shaikh Ḥamad’s threats, but nevertheless instructed staff the steam ship company Gray Paul & Co. to refuse Shaikh Ḥamad passage (folios 17, 18). However, in September 1911 Shaikh Ḥamad succeeded in making his way to Basra, and onwards to Baghdad and Constantinople, with the apparent intention of taking his grievances against Shaikh ‘Īsá to the Porte (folios 26-27). The Wali of Basra sent an envoy to Bahrain to negotiate between the two parties (folios 38-40). In the meantime Shaikh Ḥamad returned to Bahrain, where he was reported to be wearing Turkish dress and bearing an Ottoman medal (folios 64, 65).Shortly afterwards, reports stated that Shaikh Ḥamad and Shaikh ‘Īsá were reconciled (folio 71), but in the following years, further clashes between the two periodically surfaced, including an incident in which Shaikh Ḥamad’s Bedouin servant shot the dogs of a respectable Manama resident in 1914 (folios 83, 84), and the beating, in 1915, at Shaikh Ḥamad’s instigation, of Shaikh ‘Īsá’s camel herder (folios 102-03). In a letter from the Political Agent (Keyes) to the Political Resident (Cox), dated 8 October 1915, and in light of Shaikh Ḥamad’s previous intrigues with Ottoman officials, the possibility of Shaikh Ḥamad having been the member of the Āl Khalīfah family suspected of making contact with German agents is mooted (folios 118-20). Shaikh ‘Īsá’s subsequent request to British officials to have Shaikh Ḥamad deported to Karachi, ultimately fell on deaf ears (folio 121).Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled numbers located in the top-right corner of each recto. An earlier foliation system, which numbers versos as well as rectos containing text, runs through the volume. This foliation system uses uncircled numbers located in the top-left corner of versos and the top-right corner of rectos. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 64a.There is evidence of insect damage, in the form of small holes in the paper, throughout the file. However the damage is not extensive enough to impair the legibility of text.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to the membership and running of the Majlis al-Urfi (or civil court) in Bahrain, and negotiations between the Bahrain ruling family and the British Government, chiefly relating to the question of jurisdiction of foreign nationals in Bahrain. The principal correspondents in the file are the Bahrain Political Agent Major Harold Dickson, the Deputy Political Resident Major Arthur Trevor, the ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah, and Sheikh Isa’s son, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh.The file begins with correspondence relating to the Majlis al-Urfi, with reports that a member of the Majlis had resigned (folios 2-3). In a draft letter to Shaikh ‘Īsá, dated 5 June 1919, Dickson made clear that any changes to the membership of the Majlis had to be agreed with the Political Agent (folio 6-8). A further letter from Dickson to Shaikh ‘Īsá, dated January 1920, asked the ruler why the sessions of the Majlis had stopped, in the wake of Shaikh ‘Abdullāh's visit to London (folio 13). In a letter to Sir Arthur Hertzel of the India Office, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh made four demands on behalf of his father Shaikh ‘Īsá: 1) jurisdiction over foreign nationals from neighbouring states in Bahrain; 2) the right to elect members to the Majlis al-Urfi court; 3) permission to open a port at Zubarah on the Qatar peninsula; 4) the privilege of reference to higher authorities. (folio 18).Much of the remainder of the file is correspondence related to the first of Shaikh ‘Abdullāh's demands, namely, jurisdiction over foreign nationals in Bahrain, and the extent to which this was permissible, given that the British authorities in Bahrain wanted to administer such jurisdiction. A draft letter from Dickson to Ibn Sa‘ūd and Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Thānī of Qatar, dated 14 July 1920, confirmed that their subjects would come under the jurisdiction of His Majesty's Government when in Bahrain (folio 40). Correspondence at the end of the file relates to complaints from Ibn Sa‘ūd over discrimination against Nejdi traders in Bahrain (folio 58), and the running of the Bahrain customs house (folio 55).Physical description: Foliation: The file is foliated from the front cover to the inside-back cover, using circled numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. The following foliation anomalies occur: 12A, 12B, 15A, 15B. The following folio numbers are omitted: 12, 15.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and papers relating to the finances of the Bahrain Government, and British officials' efforts to impose reforms on the Bahrain state finances.Many of the letters in the volume are discussions between the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Clive Daly until September 1926, thereafter Colonel Cyril Barrett) and the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Trevor until April 1924, thereafter Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Prideaux), about what needed to be done to regulate expenditure and generate income in Bahrain, with particular reference to the financial allowances given to members of the Al Khalifa family (for example folios 3-8, 27-29). The first monthly balance sheets, drawn up by Daly in December 1923, are enclosed (folios 32-38).A large portion of the file is made up of monthly accounts sheets (including Bahrain civil lists), sent by Eastern Bank Limited to the Political Agent (January 1924 accounts at folios 46-58, and subsequent months distributed throughout the volume). Correspondence from Claude de Grenier, Director of the Bahrain Customs House, enclosing customs house receipts and expenditure also figure prominently (for example, folios 80-81, 98-100). Notes on the annual Bahrain state budget for the Hijri years 1343 to 1346 (1924-1927), with balance sheets prepared by Daly (and later, Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) are also included in the file (folios 104-13, 187-90, 196-206, 231-46).The file also contains correspondence from Prideaux to the Secretary of the Political Department at the India Office in Whitehall, dated 15 September 1925, indicating that Prideaux has found a man (Belgrave) qualified to work as a financial advisor to the Government of Bahrain (folios 168-69, 172B-175).Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence begins on the front cover and finishes on the back cover, using numbers written mainly in blue crayon (with additions, clarifications and corrections in pencil). The numbers are occasionally circled and are usually located in the top-right corner of the recto side of each folio, but can vary depending on the format of the folio.The following foliation anomalies occur: 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F; 157A and 157B. Foliation omissions: 61 and 179.The following folios are fold-outs: 1, 37-38, 45, 48-53, 55-56, 58, 62-63, 66-68, 71-83, 95-100, 107, 111, 113 and 125-129.The volume is tightly bound to the extent that the text on some items disappears into the gutter, making it difficult to read.