Abstract: The file comprises copies of statistical reports on the imports and exports of important commodities into and out of Bahrain and Sharjah and Dubai on the Trucial Coast, as part of the wider export licence controls and
Navicertsystem of trade and contraband control during the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham); the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd al-Razzaq until February 1945; Jasim ibn Muhammad Kadmari thereafter); the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast (Captain Maurice O’Connor Tandy until April 1944; Reginald Michael Hadow until October 1944; Captain Richard Ernest Bird thereafter); and the Director of Customs at Bahrain (G W R Smith). The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/5 (a) I War. Proposed extension of export licensing system’ (IOR/R/15/2/684). The mispelt title of the file refers to the proposed extension of the license export system.The file contains:monthly submissions from the Customs Director at Bahrain of imports and exports of commodities at Bahrain, running from January 1943 through to March 1945;monthly submissions from the Residency Agent at Sharjah, or the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, for imports and exports of commodities at Sharjah and Dubai, running from March 1943 through to March 1945;statistics for the import and export of commodities at Bahrain, Sharjah and Dubai, collated by the Political Agent from the reports received by the Customs Director at Bahrain, the Residency Agent at Sharjah, and the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, and forwarded to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India at the India Office, the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The imports tables include columns for: commodity; source; quantity (measured in long tons for commodities into Bahrain; measured in hundredweights, bales, cases, tins, etc. for commodities into Sharjah/Dubai). The exports tables include columns for: commodity; destination; and quantity.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 257; 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 2-224; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. and are located in the same position as the main sequence.Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 251-256) have been paginated using pencil.
Abstract: The file contains copies of correspondence and other papers relating to the export of foodstuffs from Pakistan to the sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf, as part of the Civil Requirements Programme. Principal correspondents in the file include: Political Agency staff at Bahrain; the Director (or Acting Director) of Customs at Bahrain (George William Reginald Smith; Charles Dalrymple Belgrave); various officials of the Government of Pakistan (including representatives of the Ministry of Food, and the Assistant Chief Controller of Imports and Exports at Karachi).The file includes:correspondence dated December 1947 and January 1948, intimating that the Civil Requirements Programme in operation before the partition (i.e. the creation of an independent Pakistan after the partition of India) will continue, and that the sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf should indicate their food requirements to the Government of Pakistan, which will be forwarded to the Ministry of Food for the setting of export quotas (ff 2-3);correspondence dated January and February 1948, from the Director of Customs at Bahrain, specifying requirements for commodities at Bahrain and Qatar, in the form of lists of commodities and required tonnage (ff 4-5, ff 6-7), and from the Political Resident, specifying commodity requirements for Kuwait, Muscat and Gwadar (ff 9-11);correspondence dated July 1948, relating to the request from the Government of Bahrain for the Government of Pakistan to allow the export of a small quota of bran to Bahrain for use as cattle feed (ff 17-20, f 26, f 28);two letters from the Assistant Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, Karachi, dated 18 October 1948 and 23/25 July 1949 respectively, detailing foodstuffs (with quantities) permitted for export, with details of their allocation to the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms (f 29, f 43);correspondence from the Government of Pakistan, dated June 1949, relating to the surrender of export licenses due to unfavourable market conditions in the Gulf and increased market prices in Pakistan (f 35);correspondence from the Director of Customs at Bahrain, and the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, dated October and November 1949, providing details of the firms to whom export licenses may be granted (ff 51-53, f 54).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 64; 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 is a correspondence file about Indian tea exports to the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah under the quota system and the export licensing restrictions imposed by the Government of India during the Second World War (1939-1945), when tea and other essential commodities were in short supply. The file contains the correspondence of the Political Agent, Bahrain with the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, Sharjah; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire and the Tea Controller for India, Calcutta. Included in the file are several circular lists compiled by the Tea Controller for India and the Political Agent, Bahrain. These lists show the tea quotas for the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms and neighbouring Arab States, the names of the Indian merchants in Calcutta and Bombay licensed to export tea to the Trucial Coast, details of shipments of tea and its distribution among Bahrain and Dubai merchants on importation.The file also contains copies of official correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and others, mainly Government of India officials in the Department of External Affairs, New Delhi. They discuss reductions in the Indian tea quotas allowed for export to the Trucial Coast for the following purposes: local consumption, re-export to neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia, as barter for fresh meat and other essential supplies from Iran, for consumption by the British Residency and Consulates of the Persian Gulf. The file also contains a small amount of merchant correspondence, mainly between the Chairman of the Persian Gulf States Pool (an association of Indian tea exporters), Calcutta and the Political Agent, Bahrain about the allocations of both regular quota tea and frustrated (spoiled) tea for export to the Trucial Coast.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 196; 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 2-178; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This is a correspondence file about the importation of essential food commodities and cotton piece goods from India to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah, under the quota system and the export licensing restrictions imposed by the Government of India during the Second World War (1939-1945), due to wartime shortages. The file contains the correspondence of the Political Agent, Bahrain with the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, both Sharjah; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire; the Director of Customs and Port Officer for the Government of Bahrain and the shipping agent Gray, Mackenzie & Company Limited, Bahrain. They exchange information about existing stock levels of imported quota foodstuffs such as rice, wheat, flour, tea, coffee and sugar, as well as cotton piece goods for clothing. They also discuss arrangements for the timely shipment and distribution of new supplies, for local consumption in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, as well as re-exportation to Saudi Arabia in exchange for other essential commodities in short supply. Included in the file are numerous lists that were regularly compiled and circulated by the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain; the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, both Sharjah and also Gray, Mackenzie & Company Limited, acting as agent for the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation (Iraq) Limited. These lists show existing levels of essential food stocks in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, how long these were expected to last and details about shipments of new supplies from India, to maintain or replenish exhausted stocks.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 319; 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 2-299; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence about arrangements for the purchase and shipping of rice imports mainly from African and South American countries, for consumption in Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai, Sharjah and other Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, where rice and other cereals continued to be in scarce supply after the Second World War (1939-1945). The file consists mainly of letters from Bahrain and Dubai merchants, or from the Imperial Bank of Iran and the Eastern Bank Limited on their behalf, also from the local manager of the Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited on behalf of oil company personnel, asking the Political Agent, Bahrain to permit them foreign currency exchange facilities for the purchase of rice from Brazil and other non-Sterling countries. Also included in the file are the Political Agent’s responses, including importation recommendation certificates and letters to their banks, approving the release of sterling for the opening of letters of credit and hard currency payments to exporters.The file also contains the successful bids made to the International Emergency Food Committee (IEFC), Washington by the British Government on behalf of Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and the other Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, for a share in the 1949 Middle East rice allocations. In relation to this matter there is the correspondence of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, Bahrain with the Rulers of Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai and also with British officials at the Ministry of Food and the Foreign Office in London. In this correspondence, they discuss reducing existing wheat quota imports for Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms in favour of increased rice quota imports, the arrangements for the local storage and stock management of the IEFC allocated Egyptian rice by British Ministry of Food officials in Cairo, the appointment of approved purchasing and shipping agents by the Bahrain and Dubai authorities to act for them and for their merchants with regard to orders, payments and deliveries of the IEFC allocated Egyptian quota rice by sea to Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 360; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence about British efforts to obtain supplies of rice for local consumption in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms, particularly Bahrain, Qatar and the shaikhdoms of the Trucial Coast, in the years after the Second World War (1939-1945). British and Bahrain Government officials disseminate details about offers of rice from the Government of Pakistan and also the allocation of Egyptian quota import rice from British Ministry of Food rice stores in Egypt. There is also extensive correspondence between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Political Officer for Qatar at Doha, about a prolonged dispute between Qatari and Bahraini merchants over the delayed transhipment of Egyptian quota import rice for Qatar, which had been landed at Bahrain.The main correspondents are the Political Agent and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, both Bahrain; the Political Officers for Qatar and the Trucial Coast; the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain and the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain. The file also contains copy correspondence between Foreign Office and Ministry of Food officials in London about the latter’s decision to no longer procure rice from the Egyptian authorities for allocation to the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms after 1950, given the proposed winding up of the International Emergency Food Committee (IEFC) allocation system at the end of 1950.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 97; 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 2-95; 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 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 mainly about the importation of surplus tamarind from India to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms during the Second World War (1939-1945), when this fruit was subject to Government of India export licensing restrictions and import quotas in Persian Gulf countries under British protection. The correspondence is mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain and other British officials in India and the Persian Gulf, as well as with the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain (acting also in his dual capacity as Food Controller for the Government of Bahrain). These officials discuss the requirements for local consumption of tamarind in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms in relation to their annual import quotas for 1944-1945 determined by the Government of India, as well as the withdrawal of Indian export controls for this fruit after the war, as announced in circular letters from both the Department of Commerce and the Department of Food, New Delhi, in November 1945. The file also contains a small amount of merchants’ correspondence, in connection with the refusal of the Export Trade Controller in Karachi to grant a licence to a local exporter to ship sanctioned Indian quota tamarind to an importer in Bahrain, in 1945. Also included in the file are several widely circulated lists, originating from the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain; the British Residency Agent, Sharjah and the Export Trade Controllers in Karachi and Madras. These lists provide the names and addresses of licensed Indian exporters and shippers in Karachi and Calicut [Kozhikode], approved merchants in Bahrain, Dubai, Sharjah and other Persian Gulf ports, together with the quantity (in tons) of consignments of Indian tamarind and Punjabi pulses the latter had been permitted to import under quota arrangements, 1944-1945.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 58; 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 2-53; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 54-57; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side (where foliated) and the top right corner of the recto side and top left corner of the verso side (where paginated) of each folio.
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.