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'B. 56. Confidential 86/14 - v. BAHRAIN UNALLOTED AREA.' [‎82r] (168/510)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (251 folios). It was created in 14 Feb 1939-2 Aug 1939. 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. .

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the first to deny that a Nejdi Qadhi, for instance, could
settle a dispute between two Qatar subjects in respect of
landed properties in Doha.
11. It may be acknowledged that owing to the adoption of
more regular procedure in Bahrain than in Qatar, the Bahrain
Government are in a better position to produce evidence of a
judicial nature than is the Shaikh of Qatar. The record of
a Bahrain case has for instance been submitted to me showing
that processes were issued for the attendance of certain Hawar
residents in a Bahrain Court seven years ago (i.e. long before
the Zubarah 18th-century town located 105 km from Doha. dispute flared up, and before Hawar became of
interest from the oil aspect). It would be unfair to make too
much of the Shaikh of Qatar r s inability to match this evidence,
but it is noteworthy that he does not, and so presumably cannot,
claim that he himself has ever decided a dispute in regard to
property of any description at Hawar.
12. It may be worth while making reference to the ooint men-
tioned in paragraph 13 of the Bahrain counter-claim, in regard
J
to the rescue at Hawar by Shaikh 1 Isa of Bahrain of a party of
Turkish soldiers who were wrecked there. On my recent visit
to Hawar I enquired from the older men whether Turkish soldiers
had ever landed at Hawar and the story of this wreck was repeat
ed to me in considerable circumstantial detail. It is of no
great evidentiary value except as indicating that the Shaikhs
of Bahrain were in the habit in the past of visiting the island
13. To sum up. The Shaikh of Qatar has produced no evidence
whatsoever. He relies solely on an uncorroborated assertion
of sovereignty, on geographical propinquity and on the alleged
statements of certain unidentified persons. On the Bahrain
side there is evidence that the original occupation of Hawar
by the Dawasir was effected under the authority of the A1
Khalifah, that the Zellaq Dawasir have frequented these islands L -j
for a great number of years, that the courts established by

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Content

The volume comprises correspondence between 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Trenchard Craven Fowle), 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 (Hugh Weightman), 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. (Roland Tennyson Peel, John Percival Gibson), the Secretary to the Government of India, External Affairs Department (Sir Aubrey Metcalfe), the Shaikh of Bahrain (Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah), Bahrain Petroleum Company (Hamilton R Ballantyne, Fred A Davies, Max W Thornburg), and Petroleum Concessions Limited (Frank Holmes, John Skliros) regarding the Shaikh of Bahrain’s proposal to grant a concession for the whole of the unallotted area, including the Hawar Islands, to the Bahrain Petroleum Company and His Majesty’s Government’s approval of the proposal.

Following on from the approval of the proposal to grant a concession to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) the correspondence focuses on discussion around the proposed agreement, to take the form of a deed of modification to BAPCO’s 1934 lease and the political agreement which would accompany the concession. The main areas of discussion including the definition of the area the concession would cover, and the need to include a pre-emption clause in the political agreement. Copies, in Arabic and English, of the draft deed of modification (ff 146-161, 170-180, 218-227) and draft political agreement (ff 133-139) are included in the volume.

Also discussed in the volume is the conclusion of the sovereignty question relating to the Hawar Islands following the submission by the Shaikh of Qatar (Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī) of a response to the counter-claims made by the Shaikh of Bahrain. On reviewing both claims and supporting evidence His Majesty’s Government's final decision was that islands belonged to Bahrain and not Qatar.

Also included in the volume are copies of draft concession agreements put forward by Petroleum Concessions Limited including one for the Hawar Islands (ff 8-26) and one for the waters and islands of Bahrain, described as the shoal area (ff 44-65).

A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 242-248

Extent and format
1 volume (251 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 253; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 6-241; 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.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'B. 56. Confidential 86/14 - v. BAHRAIN UNALLOTED AREA.' [‎82r] (168/510), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/692, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028055899.0x0000a9> [accessed 18 April 2024]

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