Abstract: This file concerns the circulation of currency between Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf and India. The file contains correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire; the Political Agent at Bahrain; Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Advisor to the Government of Bahrain; C W F Skrimshire and M Gunn, the Eastern Bank Limited, Bahrain; Yousuf bin Ahmed Kanoo [Yūsuf bin Aḥmad Kānū]; the Residency Agent, Sharjah. There is also correspondence from the India Office and the Government of India, which has been forwarded to the Political Agent by the Political Resident.The correspondence for 1935-36 (ff 3-21) concerns the import of large quantities of Indian rupees into Saudi Arabia via the port of Jedda and Persian Gulf ports, due to the Saudi government’s preference of paying officials and tribal subsidies in rupees instead of dollars. The essence of this situation is explained in a report by Loch, entitled 'Note on the Rupee-Maria Theresa Dollar position in Najd, Hasa and Bahrain', sent to the Political Resident on 3 March 1936. The correspondence for 1939-40 (ff 22-49) concerns further abnormal exports of rupees from Bahrain to Kuwait and Hassa (al-Aḥsā’) due to a lack of confidence in the stability of the Saudi Arabian riyal as a result of the Second World War; also discussed is the possibility of an embargo being placed on the export of rupees from India to Saudi Arabia and the impact that that would have on the Trucial Coast states and Qatar. The final section of correspondence for the year 1944 (ff 50-55) concerns a request from ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd (Ibn Saud) for the British government to send senior military and financial experts, preferably Sunni Muslims, to Saudi Arabia to aid the establishment of an army and reorganise the financial structure of the state.Physical description: Foliation: the main 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-61; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: Correspondence concerning complaints from Banians about notification issued by Sultan fixing the weight of rice bags in the unit of measurement of weight known as a maund. Correspondence discusses the difference between a Muskat maund and a Bengal maund and issues relating to the sale of rice by weight. Includes a petition from the Banians to the Political Resident Persian Gulf with list of individuals and signatures. Correspondents include Major Christopher George Forbes Fagan, Political Agent, Muscat; Political Resident Persian Gulf; Faisal bin Turki [Fayṣal bin Turkī], Sultan of Muscat; Banian traders.Physical description: Foliation: this file has circled foliation numbers in the top right corner of each folio that begin on the front cover and end on the back cover.
Abstract: Correspondence includes a letter from Saiyid Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr], Sultan of Muscat and Oman to Captain Tom Hickinbotham, Political Agent Muscat, requesting the minting of a new nickel and other sorts of currency at Muscat. Khan Bahadur Ahmed Shubaili, was appointed as an agent on the matter. Charles Geoffrey Prior, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, wrote to the Secretary to the Government of India, External Affairs Department, Simla, requesting that the Bombay Mint may be authorised to undertake this work. Correspondents include Captain Tom Hickinbotham; Political Agent and HBM's Consul, Muscat; Charles Geoffrey Prior, Political Resident, Persian Gulf; Saiyid Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr], Sultan of Muscat and Oman.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins with the first item of correspondence, on number 1, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 6.
Abstract: The file consists of a copy of a telegram from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to the Government of India, concerning the despatch of currency for Muscat. The telegram is forwarded by the Office of the Political Resident to the Political Agent, Bahrain, with a request that the Political Agent forward the currency to Muscat by the first available ship.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 5; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence relating variously to customs duties on livestock, political events in Iraq, and deficiency in printed Iraqi currency due to accidents in transportation. The correspondence consists of exchanges between the British authorities in the Persian Gulf and Iraq.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 9; 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 2-7; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, the Adviser to the Bahrain Government, and the Eastern Bank Limited regarding which currency they should use in Bahrain after the independence of India and Pakistan.The file also contains correspondence which denies rumours about the Political Agency banning Pakistan currency from Bahrain, and discusses the introduction of a Gulf currency and the devaluation of the Indian rupee.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 137; 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 1-136; 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 between British Government officials relating to the importation of counterfeit Government of India silver coins from the Persian Gulf into India. The main correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Residency Agent, Sharjah, and the Government of India. The discussions centre on where in the Persian Gulf the counterfeiters could be based, where the effects of counterfeit coins are being felt the most, and which individuals are suspected of counterfeiting coins. A list of suspects based in Sharjah and Dubai is provided between folios 7-8. The last folio (folio 11) is a statement taken from an unnamed passenger, travelling from Koweit [Kuwait] to Bombay on the SS
Bankura, who had purchased counterfeit coins whilst in Koweit and was caught by customs officers.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at inside back cover with 12; 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 papers concerning the introduction of an Iraqi national currency, mainly relating to the minting of the coins.It includes: copies of correspondence between the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department, and the Financial Secretary to the High Commissioner for Iraq, regarding whether the Indian Mint would be prepared to mint the coinage, and to supply draft sketch designs and quotations for the minting.It also includes: a copy of a telegram from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the High Commissioner for Iraq, concerning tenders and the time scale for the introduction of the currency; and copy extracts of ‘Intelligence Report No. 7’ dated 1 April 1931, reporting on meetings of the Chamber of Deputies of the Iraqi Parliament of 19 March, 21 March and 24 March 1931, regarding the draft Iraq Currency Law.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 16; 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 between the British Consul General, Beirut, the British Ambassador to Iraq, the Foreign Office and the Treasury, regarding the smuggling of Sterling notes into the Middle East, and possible ways to end the practice.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 at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence between the Aden Chief Commissioner (Bernard Reilly), the India Office Political Department, and the Government of India, regarding arrangements for Aden to continue using the Indian currency following transfer to the Colonial Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12; 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 concerns currency arrangements in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf that were under British influence.The papers cover: allegations by the Government of Pakistan and in the Pakistani press of discrimination against Pakistan currency in Bahrain; exchange control policy; 'Report on Persian Gulf Tour of Treasury Representative [Leonard Waight]', dated June 1949, covering the use of the Indian rupee as the official currency of the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms, the long-term implications of the increase in oil revenue in the region and the use of surplus funds (with particular reference to Kuwait and Bahrain), and the working of exchange control, with conclusions and recommendations (folios 28-41); the comments of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Rupert Hay) on Waight's report (folios 17-20); and a note of a visit to Bahrain by a representative of the State Bank of Pakistan in September 1949.The file contains also correspondence from the Bank of England.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 74; 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; these numbers are printed, and are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.
Abstract: The file concerns currency issues affecting the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, following the transfer of administrative responsibility from the Government of India to the Persian Gulf Residency in 1947. Under the new arrangements, responsibility for exchange control was vested in the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.The papers include: memoranda by India Office officials on the desirability of the continued use of the Indian rupee in the region (folio 297); the issue of which Gulf states were included in the Sterling Area; exchange control; policy on imports to the region; trade; the currency of Muscat and Oman, including the use there of Maria Theresa dollars; Kuwait as 'the centre of the whole Middle East for smuggling and illicit transactions in foreign currencies' (folio 120); and traffic in gold through Kuwait.In addition to India Office (later Commonwealth Relations Office) correspondence and memoranda, the papers include correspondence from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Bank of England, and HM Treasury.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio of volume one (ff 1-153) and terminates at the last folio of volume two (ff 154-302); 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; these numbers are printed, and are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers of the volumes.