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'File 9/11 Grant of Passports and Permits by the Bahrain Government and Treaty with Persia relative to withdrawal of claim to' [‎43r] (87/150)

The record is made up of 1 file (73 folios). It was created in 1 May 1929-14 Jul 1930. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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. .

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'To. 126 C. The Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , B-hrain.
4th November 1929.
Sir,
I h ve the honour to refer to your letter . r o. 561-3
and to submit the following note upon the Percian cominunities
. at Bahrain.
2. The Persians at Bahrain fall naturally into,
two groups, the Sunnis and the Shiahs. Of these the Sunnis
though the smaller in n 'mbers are the more influential, for - 1
$
they comprise the wealthier merch nts and traders and the skil
led artis ns, boatbuilders m sonscar, enters anc the liice.
The Bhi'.hs are mainly petty shopkeepers, coffee and tea shop
proprietors and motor drivers. They provide almost all the
day labourers and dock workers and most of the bad characters
of the Persi n community are to be found in their ranks.
.3. The Sunnis are naturally on better terms with
the Shaikh,- having the -s me faith and mode of worship, nd
their relations with him,are on the whole,good. The Shi
ahs have much less respect and goodwill for the Shaikh who
not unnaturally cannot escape the bi s that the more or less
open hatred bew^te^n Tunnis and r 'hajihs gives rise to. L
cannot call to mind any instance in recent times when His Ex
cellency has shown any active dislike for the Shia Persians,
and the 'gency'has of course stood as a buffer between the:a a
and any active ill-treatment.
4. Their relations with the Arab communities
follows in the main the s me religious cle .vage. The Sun.ii
Persians are on good terms with the Sunni Arabs, and the Shi
ah Persians are on good terms with the.Shiah Arabs, or at
least were, for the recent persecutions of Bahama at uhaa-
merah have effected a notable change in this respect, and :
there is now something approaching hostility between them,
the Bahama at auh-unaerah being for the most part Shi ah Aral
, p
SH

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Content

The file contains correspondence and other papers related to Persia's withdrawal of claims to sovereignty over Bahrain. The majority of the file's correspondence takes place between the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. (Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Barrett until November 1929), and the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Geoffrey Prior).

The withdrawal of Persian claims over Bahrain raised a number of implications for British representatives in the Gulf, and these comprise the contents of the file. The main implications were: the treatment of Persian subjects in Bahrain; British representation of Persian subjects in Bahrain; the question of whether there should be an official or non-official Persian representative in Bahrain (which both the Resident and Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. were strongly objected to); and passports and certificates of identity for Bahrainis travelling within and beyond the Gulf.

In response to a request from Barrett, Prior compiled detailed notes on the Persian communities in Bahrain. His official typewritten response (with handwritten notes) are included in the file (folios 43-47, 48-56). These notes include comments on Persian Sunnis and Shias in Bahrain, their relations with the Āl Khalīfah family, animosity between Nejdis [Saudis] and Persians, Persian schools and property in Bahrain, and the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. 's ability to represent Persians in Bahrain. Further notes on the Persian communities, sent to Prior by the Advisor to the Bahrain Government, Charles Dalrymple-Belgrave, are also included (folios 60-61A). A letter in English and Arabic, from Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah to Prior, dated 23 April 1930, is an undertaking not to attack Persian sovereignty or to violate Persian independence (folios 67-68).

Extent and format
1 file (73 folios)
Arrangement

The contents of the file have been arranged in approximate chronological order, running from the earliest items at the front of the file to the latest at the end.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The file is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 1b, 61a. There is no folio 1.

There is minor insect damage throughout the file, which is not sufficient enough to impair the legibility of the file contents.

Written in
English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 9/11 Grant of Passports and Permits by the Bahrain Government and Treaty with Persia relative to withdrawal of claim to' [‎43r] (87/150), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/138, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023045639.0x000058> [accessed 23 April 2024]

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