Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to in excess of 100 manumission requests heard by the Residency Agent at Sharjah ('Abd al-Razzaq Razuqi). The manumission statements were sent to the Political Resident for reference purposes only, all decisions on manumission cases in Sharjah now being made by the Political Agent in Bahrain. The vast majority of manumission cases are straightforward requests for manumission from slaves, employed as domestic servants and pearl divers, on the grounds of ill-treatment, being given insufficient earnings from pearling, or the fear of being sold to another owner. A few isolated cases are more complex, and involve the kidnap or sale of individuals. In such cases, the Residency Agent wrote to the shaikh in whose dominions the incident took place, requesting action and reminding him of his obligations in relation to the historic slave trade treaties signed by his predecessors. In one instance the Residency Agent sent a letter to the Shaikh of Ajman [Rashid bin Humaid], demanding his intervention. Shaikh Rashid retrieved the kidnapped woman in question, but demanded sixty rupees from her family to cover the costs associated with the woman's restoration. The family were warned by the Shaikh to leave Ajman, in light of the debt not being paid.The manumission statements show that an increasing proportion of female slaves were being manumitted on the grounds that they understood that they were to be sold (which would constitute a trade in slaves; an illegal act). Pearl divers represented a significant proportion of those men seeking manumission, often on the grounds of insufficient earnings being given to them by their masters.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 203; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence related to slave trading activity in the Persian Gulf, including intelligence reports on suspected slave traders, and the movement of suspected slaves across the Gulf by traders. The volume also includes a number of reports on the extent and nature of the slave trade in the Persian Gulf during the period in question. Two reports are written by the Political Resident (Sir Hugh Biscoe) in 1930. The first describes the extent of the slave trade in the Persian Gulf (folios 34-40), with details on the principal slave trade routes and sources of slaves, including the Makran coast and the Nejd and Hejaz regions of Arabia. The second report investigates the character of domestic slavery in the Persian Gulf (folios 43-50). Domestic slaves, wrote Biscoe, include those employed as bodyguards to the shaikhs, house servants and coffee makers. Biscoe noted that the lots of these slaves were generally good, contrasting their lot to the 'industrial slaves', i.e. those employed as pearl divers or date plantation workers. Biscoe described the region's indebted pearl divers as being 'virtual slaves.' Another report, written by Charles Belgrave, Advisor to the Ruler of Bahrain, describes the pearling industry around 1930, and the measures taken by the previous Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Clive Daly) to improve the lot of indebted pearl divers (folios 23-26). The volume also contains a report, written in 1934 by the then Political Agent in Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Loch, on the slave trade in Nejd/Hejaz regions (folios 159-60). Loch writes that slaves taken from the Baluchistan-Makran region generally end up in this part of Arabia. A list of slaves manumitted at Sharjah between 1936 and 1938 is also included (folios 174-80).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 218; 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 9-170; 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.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence concerning amendments and proposed amendments (by means of King's Regulations) to the Bahrain Order in Council, 1913.The principal correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; officials of the Government of India; and officials of the Government of Bahrain. The file also contains draft and published versions of King's Regulations.The principal amendments concerned are:stiffer penalties for the introduction into Bahrain of cultured pearls;employment of Special Police Officers (
The Special Police Officers Regulations, 1936)air navigation regulations;control of arms traffic;passport regulations;regulations for the ownership of immovable property (
The Bahrein Law regarding the ownership of Immovable Property in Bahrein by Foreigners Regulation, 1937);regulations for the use of motor vehicles (
The Bahrein Motor Vehicles Regulation, 1939).The Arabic language content of the file consists of approximately twenty folios (e.g. Government of Bahrain forms and notices), all with English translations.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 262; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The file has one foliation anomaly, f 231a. Two additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences are also present in parallel between ff 2-239, and ff 240-255; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file consists of correspondence between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) concerning the Salifah Court, Bahrain, which handled judicial cases relating to the pearl diving trade in Bahrain.The correspondence concerns the organisation, composition and functions of the Salifah Court.The Arabic language content of the papers consists of bilingual correspondence in Arabic and English between the Government of Bahrain and the Political Agency, 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 25; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-24; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This volume is a set of typewritten memoirs by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, a retired officer of the British Indian Army and the Indian Political Service. Hickinbotham held various positions in India and in the Middle East, and these memoirs recount stories from his time in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Quetta, Persia [Iran], Aden, Audhali, Bahrain and North Waziristan.The memoirs were most likely completed in 1982-83; they cover the period 1927-1982, although most of the chapters relate to events from the 1930s and 1940s.Hickinbotham writes not only about his official duties but also about various trips taken during periods of leave. Below is a list of the chapters, with a short summary of each:'No Medals This Time' (ff 3-6) – details of an incident in Kuwait involving a dhow that caught fire off the foreshore at Shuwaik [Ash Shuwaykh]'The Silver Coin' (ff 7-10) – thoughts on the use of the Maria Theresa thaler in Arabia'The Golden Dagger' (ff 11-36) – an account of Hickinbotham's unofficial visit to Riyadh to meet Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] in May 1942'The Brass Pencase' (ff 37-53) – memories of a journey undertaken from Quetta to Europe via north Persia in 1927, travelling in a Fiat Tourer with Colonel T Nisbet (also referred to as the 'purple emperor'), on what Hickinbotham claims to have been the first trip taken by car from India to the Mediterranean'The Bronze Boy' (ff 54-72) – reminiscences of weekends spent in 'Little Aden' (a rocky peninsula seven miles west of Aden), in 1938, and a later visit, in December 1961'The Silver Letter Case' (ff 73-118) – details of a ten-day trip on the Audhali plateau in the summer of 1938, and a return visit, in December 1960 (the chapter ends with remarks on the situation in Yemen generally from the late sixties to the time of writing, i.e. 1982)'The Agate Ring' (ff 119-144) – memories of travelling in Oman during the summer of 1940 and how this compared with Hickinbotham's last visit to the country in 1980'The Pearl Tie Pin' (ff 145-151) – thoughts and anecdotes on the pearl trade in Bahrain'A Point of View' (ff 152-157) – a story told to Hickinbotham, possibly fictional, of a pearl trader in the Gulf who lost his fortune and livelihood, and eventually his sanity'Snakes Alive!!' (ff 158-161) – an account of a near-fatal encounter with a krite [krait] in Waziristan'The Queen's Visit' (ff 162-168) – memories of the Queen's visit to the Aden Protectorate in 1954, where Hickinbotham was serving as Governor.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 168; 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 mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-168.Condition: The original plastic comb binding ring has been replaced with a wider one to facilitate flat opening of the volume. Polyester film covers have been added to protect the first and last folios.
Abstract: The contents of the volume relate to Bahrain's pearl diving economy, and fall under two major concerns:1) The industry's declining profitability, and the impact this has had upon pearl divers. A large portion of the file is occupied by handwritten balance sheets (all undated) of saibs (pullers) and ghais (divers) showing the payments, loans and debts for individuals (ff 5-36). Also included is a report, written in 1930 by Britain's Advisor to the Government, Charles Belgrave, entitled 'Slavery and the Bahrain Pearl Industry' (ff 49-52);2) The threat posed by modern innovations to the traditional nature of the pearling industry in Bahrain and the wider Gulf coast. Of chief concern are the modern diving technologies that commercial enterprises wish to use, and the introduction to the Gulf of cultured pearls. Included in the file is a translation of a proclamation from 1930, which bans the import of cultured or tinted pearls, the sale of unbleached, drilled pearls, and the import or use of diving apparatus (f 62). A letter from a Glasgow-based company to the India Office in London, dated 15 May 1931, seeks advice on obtaining a license to use its modern diving apparatus to dive for pearls in the Gulf (f 65). A return letter dated 21 August 1931 rejects the possibility of obtaining a permit to dive in the Gulf (f 74).Physical description: Foliation: The foliation starts with 1a on first page with writing (3rd page on volume), and runs to 74 on the last page of text. The front cover and two blank sheets at the the front of the volume are unfoliated, as are the five blank pages and the inside back cover at the end of the volume. With the exception of a few pages where foliation anomalies were corrected in pencil, the foliation is the original, in blue crayon in top-right corner of recto pages. The following foliation anomalies occur: ff 1A-1D; ff 5-5A; ff 23-23A; ff 43-43A.Condition: Many of the pearl divers' balance sheets included in the file are fold-outs, and are in fragile condition.
Abstract: The file contains a paper entitled 'Vocabulary of diving terms', giving a list of terms for types of divers and persons related to diving, and descriptions of four diving systems; notes on advances and payments; notes on accounts; list of general terms relating to diving; miscellaneous notes on diving; correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire (Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett), and the American Consul in Baghdad, dated 1929, in which the Resident strongly advises the Consul against an American firm sending a pearl fishing ship to the Persian Gulf, stating that the pearl fisheries had been conducted from time immemorial by the inhabitants of the Gulf coasts, and any interference by outsiders would be strenuously resisted and attended with considerable risk; press cuttings, 1934-1935; and note on levy recruits' diving debts.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation system in use appears in a circle in the top right-hand corner of each folio. There is a second, uncircled, foliation sequence by which some of the folios are numbered (with gaps) 1-8, 18-19, 35-37, and 78-79 (folios 2-21).Condition: Folio 21 is torn at one corner and some text is missing.
Abstract: Trade Reports and related correspondence, Bahrain. The file includes trade reports, Bahrain, for the financial years 1924-25 to 1931-32, inclusive, with associated correspondence. The reports list twenty-five countries from which imports were received (notably India, Iraq, Arabia, and Persia) under the general headings of animals; animals for slaughter; building materials; cereals; dyeing and colouring materials; oils; pearls, shells and specie; provisions; textiles and fabrics; and miscellaneous; and twelve countries to which exports were sent (notably India, Arabia, Persia, Iraq, Africa, England [United Kingdom], Belgium, Japan, and Java) under the general headings of building materials; cereals; fuel; oils; pearls, shells, and specie; provisions; textiles and fabrics; and miscellaneous. The file also includes a report on the Bahrain pearl industry by Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, with covering letter to Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett, Political Agent, Bahrain, dated 19 December 1928.Physical description: Foliation: the system in use appears in the top right corner of each folio, circled.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 30 January 1874 and received by the India Office via Brindisi on 24 February 1874, forwarding a copy of papers relating to the projected exploration of the Persian Gulf by a British company to be established for the purpose of pearl fishing. The papers comprise letters from officers of the Persian Gulf Residency concerning the activities of Lieutenant Walter Grant, formerly of the Indian Navy, deputed by 'certain speculators' to investigate the projected establishment of a commercial company to obtain pearls from the Persian Gulf banks with 'modern scientific appliances' and to obtain concessions from the Chief of Bahrein [Bahrain] 'or other Arab Chiefs'. The scheme is considered undesirable by the Political Resident and the Government of India, a view supported in a fourteen-point report by Colonel Lewis Pelly, (Agent to the Governor-General, Rajpootna [Rajputana], and Resident in the Persian Gulf 1862-1872), to the Government of India Foreign Department (ff 428-249).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 246, and terminates at f 249, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains two foliation anomalies: f 246a, and f 247a.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 30 January 1874 and received by the India Office via Brindisi on 24 February 1874, forwarding a copy of papers relating to the projected exploration of the Persian Gulf by a British company to be established for the purpose of pearl fishing. The papers comprise letters from officers of the Persian Gulf Residency concerning the activities of Lieutenant Walter Grant, formerly of the Indian Navy, deputed by 'certain speculators' to investigate the projected establishment of a commercial company to obtain pearls from the Persian Gulf banks with 'modern scientific appliances' and to obtain concessions from the Chief of Bahrein [Bahrain] 'or other Arab Chiefs'. The scheme is considered undesirable by the Political Resident and the Government of India, a view supported by a fourteen-point report by Colonel Lewis Pelly (Agent to the Governor-General, Rajpootna [Rajputana] and Resident in the Persian Gulf 1862-1872), to the Government of India Foreign Department (ff 259-260 and 263-264).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 258, and terminates at f 264, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains three foliation anomalies: f 258a, f 261a, and f 262a.
Abstract: This file consists of letters written and received by James Felix Jones, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire. Aside from Jones, the two most prominent correspondents are Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to the Government of Bombay, and Commodore Griffith Jenkins, Commander of the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf. Other correspondents include: Henry Young, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay; Cecil Beadon, Secretary to the Government of India, Fort William; and George Frederick Edmonstone, Secretary to the Government of India, Allahabad.The two main subjects of this file are the condition of the naval station at Bassidore [Bāsaʻīdū] and Britain's assumption of the sovereignty of India. The letters received from Griffith Jenkins are primarily concerned with the status of the naval station at Bassidore. In one of his letters to Jones (ff 5-8), dated 18 March 1858, Griffith Jenkins remarks on the total inefficiency of the naval establishment at Bassidore and solicits Jones's aid in presenting this issue to the Government so that arrangements can be made for its repair. The file includes a letter to Griffith Jenkins from a committee which has been appointed to report on the condition of the public buildings at Bassidore. This letter (ff 28-33), dated 18 March 1859, submits the committee's report on the condition of the port, the water tanks, the storehouses, the houses for liberated slaves, the smithy, the hospital and the sepoys' quarters at Bassidore.In his letters to Henry Lacon Anderson, Jones discusses the distribution of the ships of the Indian Naval Squadron and expresses his opinion on whether it is advisable for British subjects to engage in pearl fishing in the Persian Gulf.Jones's correspondence with Henry Young concerns the dissemination throughout the Gulf of copies of Her Majesty's proclamation on Britain's assumption of the sovereignty of India. Included with the received letters from India are printed extracts from the Government of India Act (1858) (ff 54-62), as well as translations of the aforementioned proclamation in Persian (handwritten, ff 43-46), Arabic (printed, f 48) and English (printed, ff 63-64).Further items on this subject include letters, both in Arabic (it is not clear whether the letters in Arabic are originals or transcriptions) and in English, from the Imam of Muscat, Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘id Āl Bū Sa‘īd, to Felix Jones (see ff 74-77 and f 80), in which Jones is informed that Her Majesty's assumption of the sovereignty of India was marked with the decoration and illumination of Muscat for three successive nights. In addition, there is a copy of a letter to the Resident which is written in Persian (ff 78v-79, name of correspondent unclear). These items are followed by translated purports of letters from the British Agents at Muscat and Sharjah (Khojeh Hiskale and Hajee Yacoob – see f 81 and ff 84-85 respectively), which convey the acknowledgements of the Imam of Muscat and other local rulers.Physical description: Foliation: This file has a foliation sequence, which is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio of writing, on number 1, and ends on the final folio before the back cover, on number 96. This is the sequence that has been used to reference items within the file.
Abstract: This file consists mostly of translations of letters received by the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire, Major David Wilson, from a number of East India Company native agents. The letters concern developments on both sides of the Gulf. The most prominent correspondents are the following: Goolab [Gulab Anandadas], Native Agent at Muscat; Mirza Ally Akbar [Mirza Ali Akbar], Native Agent at Shiraz; and Moollah Houssein [Mullah Husain], Native Agent at Sharjah. In addition, there are letters from native representatives at Bahrein [Bahrain], Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and Isfahan. Aside from the aforementioned correspondence, this file contains a small number of translations of letters addressed to the Resident (and in the case of two letters, to Captain William Sowden Collinson and William Bentick, Governor General of India, respectively) from local rulers, including the following: His Highness the Imam of Muscat [Sa‘īd bin Sultān Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sultan of Muscat and Oman]; Sooltan bin Suggur [Sulṭān bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī, ruler of Ra's al-Khaymah and Sharjah]; Shaik Abdool Russool Khan [Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān, Governor of Bushire]; Shaik Tahnoon [Tahnun bin Shakhbut Āl Nahyān, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi]; Shaik Abdoollah bin Ahmed [Shaikh Abdullah ibn Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain]; His Royal Highness the Shah of Persia [Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh Qajar]; and His Royal Highness the Prince of Shiraz [Ḥusayn ‘Alī Mīrzā]. These letters appear either as attachments to the native agents' letters, or as singular items.Recurring themes found throughout the letters from the various native agents include relations between local rulers (both friendly and hostile) and the numerous visits undertaken by those rulers. The letters also discuss topics which are specific to the agent's region or location: agents writing from the ports of the Gulf report on the arrival and departure of ships (including French brigs); the Acting Agent at Bahrein provides updates on the pearl diving season; Mirza Ally Akbar [Mirza Ali Akbar], writing from Shiraz, relays information on the effects of the cholera outbreak in Tabreez [Tabrīz] and discusses relations between the Prince of Shiraz and the Russians.Physical description: Pagination: There is a pagination sequence which is written in ink, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio and in the top left corner of the verso of each recto.Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. This sequence begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 79. This is the sequence used by this catalogue to reference items within the file.Condition: Some of the folios in this file have been damaged at the edges; as a result, some of the text has been lost.