'Persian Gulf Gazetteer Part II, Geographical and Descriptive Materials, Section II Western Side of the Gulf' [‎69v] (141/286)

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origin. Mignan (1S39) says the men (Balireinis ?) are tall, slender, short-lived,
with wenk and scanty bt-ard, their heads covered with an immense bush of hair
anointed with fetid grease and that they wear only a handkerchief secured round
their loins by leather thongs. (Does this refer to pearl divers in general or to
aboriginal Bahreinisp) Bombay Selections (1851) makes the aborigines to be
of Persian descent : in another place it speaks of them as a mixed breed be
tween Arab and Persian. l J algrave describes the country people (aborigines ?)
as living in clusters of thatched cottages and maintaining little intercourse
with Manama. Me says they have an almost savage look, the result of their
isolation; that a few in the centre of the island live by hunting, those on
the coasts by fishing and rest by agriculture. He calls the town people
a hybrid race fused into a distinctive type, with round features and of medium
build. Bent referring to inhabi ants of vill'ges (aborigines ?), says they have
little or nothing to do with pearl fisheries but are an industrious race of peasants.
From the above confusing accounts it is hard to say how inhabitants of Bahrein
should be classified, (g) No information as to character of Arabs B ihrcinis are
said to have more of the indolence and cunning of the Persian than of the frank
and open boldness of the Arab, and to be despised by the Arabs. Palgrave
says that the town people are intelligent, easy, good humoured, better adapted
to peace than to war, to trade than to agriculture, not equal to Omanis or
Indians in regular business, but making excellent weavers, workers in metal,
wood and leather, tailors an d dyers, (d) Shiahs apnarentlv predominate ("T*
this only among Bahreinis or aiso among Arabs ?) Nicbuhr says that in his
time Persians cime here to study the Koran in Arabic, and Bahrein was called
the Shiah University. Palgrave remarks that the Sunnis of Manama are
curiously enough, Malikis. (c) Nothing is said of mode of life of Arabs. Some
of the information under (J) above refe s to life of B ihreinis. Mignan remarks
that pearl divers' families live in cabins of date-leaf and reeds, ~ Bent notes,
apparently with regard to the Bahreinis, that some oat seaweed and that they
make sheerah for their own consumption out of slightly dried dates with d; te
juice and an addition of sesame seed, walnuts or ginger-powder. Occupa
tions of the Arab population are not distinguished from those of Bahreinis
Bent says villagers feed their cows on green dates, date stones and fish bones
boiled together and give green dates {salang) as fodder to their donkevs: water
for irrigation is hoisted by charsas worked by donkeys or bullocks and'the water
is distributed from the channels to the date trees bv balanced buckets The
groves are manured with the fins of the ray-fish (a,ml), (g) (j) No information.
11 f A y Records) the yearly revenue of the islands was esti-
mated at 1U0 ,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. of 12 piastres Bumi each, f of whieh was con-
Sidered to be obtained by extortion. Whiteloek (18 )6) reported the revenue
^ • ! r , I ; upees ; i l,e , re were no fixed duties on imports or exports, but
tae Sheikh and his sons took as much as they could, the Sheikh also receiving
,0 of the produce of all date-trees. Whitelock found no police and much
hTTT' r n 'n S AnA ,he I!omllay Records there were no customs
but a revenue of 100,000 crowns was derived mostly from the date nlanta-
tions, nearly the whole of which had been seized bv the Uttoobees from the
a'tax'of Tin' Xhe S r heikU ^ n0t re , Ceive ,h " whole this but he colTected
Al^ni v/v , i ^ nS f," 1 , P e; T l " boat 011 its return f rom the fidvrv.
customs r -? r< i r'n had tried, during seven years, to establish
cust ms but had failed inere were no fixed taxes but the Sheikh was in the
ThrBabrd?Obf P f7o C tl COnt 7 buti0nS ' es ' ,e f ia,l y fr<lm aboriginal Bahreinis.
Gulf h"h .1 h n U er m0re V r cls . tl ' an an y 0,llcr I'^ontate in the
' ; had liJ baghlas never employed for trade and could retain for war
BenTKth n d in a !is mv ns ^ lly t0 In ? ia - IIe had 300 Sid ^ and 800
that the Sheikh hi!) ' so ! 1(1 ® . m'ther on in the same volume it is stated
tnat the Sheikh bad ^ war baghlas and could fit out 15 or 20 One was of
tith rn?s 0 ef i 22 SU " S ' fle llad a . fol,t 011 a sandy point at Muhamk
O?5000 ad'i^' r ^ 1 tot'^n^theTanding
learning backward.