'File A/2 I Slave Trade. Correspondence with Bushire regarding slaves and their manumission certificates and applications'

IOR/R/15/2/1825

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The record is made up of 1 file (343 folios). It was created in 18 Jan 1932-27 Sep 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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Content

The file contains correspondence related to around sixty cases, involving slaves who have applied for manumission at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Bahrain. Copies of correspondence relating to many of these cases can also be found in the following Bushire Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. files: 'File 5/161 IV Manumission of slaves at Bahrain: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/205), 'File 5/161 V Manumission of slaves at Bahrain: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/206), and 'File 5/168 V Manumission of slaves on Arab Coast: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/209).

Many of the items in the file relate to the financial difficulties caused by Gulf's dwindling pearling industry, and the effects this had on the status of region's slaves. The file includes numerous applications made by pearl divers for barwa – documents freeing them of their contractual obligations to their nākhud ā (boat captain). Copies of barwas are included throughout the file. Other correspondence (folios 98-99) raises the issue of pearl divers with debts fleeing from the pearling towns on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. to Bahrain.

Extent and format
1 file (343 folios)
Arrangement

The correspondence and other papers included in the file are arranged in a rough chronological order, as they were received and filed by staff at the Bahrain Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . This means that the papers are not arranged on a manumission case-by-case basis, the result being that correspondence related to specific cases is scattered through the file. Office notes at the end of the file (ff 284-339) mirror the chronological order of the correspondence.

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 340; 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 286-338; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The file contains five foliation anomalies, including f 1a, f 1b, f 1c and f 82a, and missing out f 14.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
Type
Archival file

Archive information for this record

Access & Reference

Original held at
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.
Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference
IOR/R/15/2/1825
Former external reference(s)
Vernacular Office Files: A/2 I

History of this record

Date(s)
18 Jan 1932-27 Sep 1939 (CE, Gregorian)
Context of creation

The British Government introduced various reforms into Bahrain's pearling industry throughout the 1920s, including the use of barwas . A barwa was a certificate given to a diver if it was decided by the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. that the diver's nākhud ā (boat captain) was unable to give the diver his authorised financial advance for the season. The barwa signified that the diver was not bound by contractual obligations to his nākhud ā and could seek re-employment.

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'File A/2 I Slave Trade. Correspondence with Bushire regarding slaves and their manumission certificates and applications', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1825, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000282.0x000230> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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