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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [12v] (24/86)
The record is made up of 1 volume (43 folios). It was created in 1937. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
16
was imposed on luxury articles, liquor, and tobacco at the end of the previous year. From 1352
onwards the revenue increased steadily, and at the end of the present year, 1356, it will probably
reach the high level which it attained in 1346.
The decrease in revenue resulting from general trade depression in Europe, and particularly
the slump in the pearl trade, was caused not so much by a reduced amount of imports but by a
decrease in the price of commodities which continued for several years. The cost of rice, flour,
and coffee became lower each year during the depression, and importation of comparatively
expensive European cotton goods diminished as cheap Japanese goods increased. The shortage
ot ready money for several years, and the inability of the local Arabs to spend much money on
clothes was the greatest stimulus to Japanese trade in the Gulf, and especially in Bahrain. If the
spending power of the people had not been so restricted it would have been very much more
difficult for the Japanese to monopolise the trade in piece goods and fancy goods. Though the
customs collections declined owing to the low value of imports, the cheapness of goods enabled
many people to live who would otherwise have found it difficult to exist. I give a table showing
the prices of various commodities in different years. The amount of imports, etc., are published
yearly in the Bahrain trade report.
Customs The customs pier and the import shed were built about twenty years ago;
Improvements. the pier shed was built in 1924. In 1925 a trolley line system was laid down
to facilitate removal of cargo from the pier head to the sheds and to the
bazaar. The trolley line resulted in doubling the quantity of daily cargo removals.
In 1927 a small mole and three small docks were constructed on the east of the pier. The
mole was too narrow to be of much use, and the docks, which were dry at low tide, were also
too small for general use. In 1937 the mole was widened and the new customs house was built
on the site of the docks and a large piece of land in front of and on each side of the customs house
was reclaimed. The additional area has partially relieved the congestion on the pier, where the
area for storing cargo was insufficient.
The lighting of the port was improved in 1931 by the erection of a powerful light on the
customs pier, which can be seen from the outer (white) buoy. When electricity was introduced,
standard lamps were erected on the pier, enabling work to be carried out at night which was
previously done under considerable difficulties. In 1933 the Gray Paul Beacon was lighted with
a red flash light which affords great assistance at night to lighterage of cargo. A five-ton crane
was purchased in 1930.
Steamship In 1924 the port was served only by the British India Steam Navigation
Lines - Company Limited, with a very occasional Strick Line steamer. In 1925
the first Hansa Line steamer made its appearance. These two lines, and
the Strick-Ellerman lines, now call regularly at Bahrain with direct cargo from Europe. In 1934
the ^ amashita line, and in 1936 the Mitsui line, commenced regular callings at Bahrain.
In 1931 the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited began the weekly calling here
of their subsidiary down-mail which had previously called every fortnight. In October 1932 the
first Imperial Airways liner called at Bahrain, and there is now a bi-weekly air service east and
west, a service which is expected to become more frequent.
With the development of the Bahrain Petroleum Company, Sitra became the port of oil tankers,
and on occasions special permission has been granted for cargo boats to discharge Bahrain
Petroleum Company's cargo at Sitra. On these occasions any ordinary cargo not intended for
the Company is conveyed by sea to the customs pier in Manamah. Although the Sitra anchorage
is more sheltered than the Aianamah anchorage, it is not proposed to develop Sitra in any way as
a regular port. Customs officials are stationed at Sitra and attend on the aerodrome when ships
or aeroplanes are in port.
Future An improvement to the port which has been under consideration on
Improvements. and off for many years is the extension of the existing pier to the edge
of the deep water, which is about 400 yards distant from the pier head.
Even if the extension were only a narrow one, it would be of great convenience both for passengers
About this item
- Content
This volume is an administration report covering the years 1926 to 1937 (though in some subjects the report goes further back than 1926) and deals mainly with the activities of the Bahrain Government. It includes text, photographic images, graphs and tables. The report was based on annual reports of the financial and government departments which are made every year. A contents page can be found on folio 3, followed by a General Review by Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, dated December 1937 (folio 4).
The contents are divided into the following sections and sub-sections:
- Finance (folio 5): Revenue;
- The State Police and Public Security (folios 5v-10v): The Levy Corps, Political Disturbances, Attempt to assassinate the Shaikh, Indian Levy Corps, Crime and Prostitution, Drugs and Liquor, The State Jail, The Present Police Force, Administration and Routine, Changing Nature of Duties, Recent Innovations, Police Band, Camel Section, Shooting, Uniforms, Police Training in India, and The Naturs;
- Customs Department and Revenue (folios 10v-13v): Organisation and Establishment, Revenue (Customs Duty, Import Yard charges, Khanchieh, Porterage, Pier Fees, Landing Company, Mainland Cargo, Optional Cargo System, Transhipment Cargo), Transit Cargo, Export Dues, Boat-Building, Customs Improvements, Steamship Lines, and Future Improvements;
- Judicial (folios 13v-19v): Institution of Courts, The Bahrain Court (Criminal Cases, Civil Cases, Diving Cases, Land Cases, Fish-Trap Cases), The Bahrain Small Court, Shera [Sharia] Court (Sunni and Shia), The Mejlis Tajara [Majlis Tijārah] and Diving Court, Small Mixed Court, Laws and Codes, Police Regulations, and Judicial Legislation (Diving Regulations, Wakils Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator. , Mortgages, Appeals, Statute of Limitations, Liability of Government Servants);
- Public Works (folios 19v-23v): Roads, Buildings (Suk al-Khamis [Sūq al-Khamīs] Mosque, Idari Water Channel and Mosque, Manamah School and Workshop, Barracks, Police Station, New Customs House, Shops, Palace Wall, Law Courts, Bazaar Buildings, Jufair Naval Base, and Manamah-Muharraq Road;
- Land Registration (folios 23v-24v): Survey, Reports on Land Cases, Registration of Sales and Titles, Mortgages, Government Title Deeds, Fish-Traps, and Leases and Government Forms;
- Education (folios 24v-27v): Formation of an Education Committee, Muharraq School Built, Jaffarieh [al-Ja‘farīyah] School, Opening of a Girls' School, Appointment of a School Inspector, Strike of Students and Masters, Reforms in the Schools, Disappearance of School Committees, Amalgamation of Manamah Boys' Schools, Technical Education, Bahrain Boys at Beyrout University [American University of Beirut], Education of the Ruling Family, and Future Development of Education;
- Electric Department (folios 27v-29r): Original Installation, Muharraq Extension, Share of Municipalities, Progress, State Engineer, Progress, First Profitable Year, Future Prospects, Telephone System, and Summary of Seven Years' Working;
- Agriculture (folios 29r-31v): Land Tenure, Date Cultivation, Lucerne, Cereals, Cotton, Tobacco, Fruit Trees, and Vegetables.
- Wakf [Waqf] Administration (ff. 31v-35r): Nature of Wakfs, Shaikh Khalaf, Syed Adnan's Administration, Appointment of a Council, Previous attempts to organise Wakf Department, Progress of Administration and Elections, Results, Future Development, and Sunni Wakf Administration;
- Passport Department (folio 35r);
- Municipalities (folios 35r-38r): Constitution and History (Manamah and Muharraq), Municipal Finance, Municipal Taxation, Municipal Achievement, Roads, Manamah (Conservancy, Sanitation, Water Supply, Malaria, Fire Precautions, Markets and Food Regulations, Public Health Measures, Gardens, Cemeteries), and Muharraq Municipality;
- The Pearl-Diving Industry (folios 38r-40v): General, The Diving System, The Reforms, Demonstrations by Divers, The Slump, Diving Mortgages, Divers' Debts, Transfer of Divers, The Catch, and Recent Changes;
- Social and Political Developments (folios 41r-42v): Arabs and Baharna, The Baharna, The Townsfolk, Houses, Games, Class Changes, The Ruling Family, and The Women.
Photographic images appear on eleven folios, and they are labelled as follows:
- Folio 7: 'Sooq Al Khamis Mosque' and 'A Village Dispensary';
- Folio 11: 'An Artesian Well (Showing head of water)' and 'A Natural Spring (Adari [‘Adhārī])';
- Folio 14: 'Meat Market', 'Slaughter House', and 'Metal Vegetable Market (Under Construction)';
- Folio 15: 'Modern Village in Manamah', 'A Street in Manamah', and 'Municipal Garden, Manamah';
- Folio 16: 'A Small Pearling Dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. ';
- Folio 21: 'New Customs House and Round-about', 'Government Shops', and 'Women's Dispensary';
- Folio 22: 'The Palace Manamah', 'Manamah Muharraq Sea Road', and 'The Road (From the Sea)';
- Folio 25: 'Manamah Boys' School', 'School Workshops', and 'A Village School';
- Folio 30: 'A road in Manamah' and 'Street in Muharraq';
- Folio 32: 'A Policeman' and 'Police on Parade';
- Folio 33: 'Buildings Constructed by Bahrain Government at Naval Base, Jufair [al-Jufayr]', 'Clerk in Charge's House', 'Canteen', and 'Officer's Building'.
Folio 17 is a graph entitled 'A decade of Customs Progress'. A note on the title page reads 'Property of H.B.M. Embassy Bahrain' (folio 2r) and the back cover includes a label that reads: 'Printed at the Dolphin Press, Brighton, England' (folio 43v).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (43 folios)
- Arrangement
This file contains a page of contents (folio 3) which references pages of the report.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: Folios 1-43.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/750/1
- Title
- 'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:42v, back-i, back
- Author
- Belgrave, Sir Charles Dalrymple
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact copyright@bl.uk with any information you have regarding this item.