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'File 8/3 Pearling industry' [49r] (120/182)
The record is made up of 1 volume (89 folios). It was created in 18 Jun 1912-18 Sep 1931. It was written in English 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Slavery and the Bahrain Pearl
Industry.
.although slavery was officially abolished in 1861,
when the Shaikh of Bahrain made a treaty with the British
Govermrient by which he agreed to abstain from it in
return for protection, the condition of the pearl divers
was, until a few years ago, almost that of slaves.
The diving community consists of 3 categories: the
shore merchants who do the big buying and selling and
who either own or finance the boats, the nakhudas or
boat captains, and the large inarticulate mass of divers,
illiterate arabs who were previously cheated and oppres
sed by their employers, or rather their owners, the
boat captains. About 15,000 local divers go out from
Bahrain every season and it has been estimated that about
100,000 men from the whole Gulf are employed on the banks
every year.
The diving system is admirable in theory. Sach
boat's profits are shared proportionally between tne
Captain, the divers and the pullers after the Captain
had deducted cost of fooa, general expenses, a -
amount which he advanced to the divers at bne bc^innin^
and end of the season.
In practice the system was abominable. 'Then once
a young man took a loan from a. captain ne could nc/or
pay it off, and as long as he was in debt he was forced
to dive. The debts were increased Dy enormous interest
being charged on every advance, food and living materials
were debited against the diver at extortionate prices,
as the diver was illiterate he could never check his account
About this item
- Content
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 The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. 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).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (89 folios)
- Arrangement
The correspondence in the volume is arranged in chronological order, from the earliest item at the front of the volume, to the most recent at the end.
- Physical characteristics
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 The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. 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.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'File 8/3 Pearling industry' [49r] (120/182), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/122, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023799069.0x000079> [accessed 26 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/122
- Title
- 'File 8/3 Pearling industry'
- Pages
- 45r:45v, 48r:52v, 59r:62v
- Author
- Belgrave, Sir Charles Dalrymple
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.