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'File 9/2 II Bahrain Reforms: Finances of the Bahrain Government' [‎21r] (56/302)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (138 folios). It was created in 20 Jun 1928-31 Dec 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. .

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would be of assistance in preventing it from
increasing. Almost daily requests for
increases and new allowances are made and it
is difficult to restrain H. E. Shaikh Hamad
from approving of all of them.
The Ehalifa family is rapidly increasing.
There are literally scores of yo\mg sons 7/ho
are not yet of age. Bo attempts are made by
their parents to educate them with the idea
of having to earn anything in the future.
Hhen each boy marries his father presses for
an allowance for him. If all of them are to
receive allowances in the future, the Civil
List will slowly eat up the whole of the
revenue.
Almost all the Khalifas own property but
they drain it dry by squeezing out every anna
of rent and by never spending money on keeping
up their gardens. As a result the value of
their gardens decreases.
Protection . The second largest item of
recurrent expenditure. The State forces consist
of 108 Punjabi Police, 37 local Police, and
113 local armed watchmen. The Punjabi Police
supply a guard to H. B. M's 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. , a body
guard to !• E. Shaikh Hamad and posts at Muharrak
and Rufaa. The balance are in Manama. The
rest of the force is in Manama and in Muharrak.
The whole force is under the Command^ of Captain
1. S. Parke assisted by an Indian Officer and
two Amirs.
Protection absorbs 17^ of the total budgeted

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Content

The volume’s correspondence and other papers concern Bahrain’s state budget, and the rising costs associated with the Bahrain civil list and the Āl Khalīfah family’s allowances. Most of the correspondence takes place between the Advisor to the Bahrain Government, Charles Dalrymple-Belgrave, and the Bahrain 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. , Colonel Geoffrey Prior. The volume is a chronological continuation of ‘File 9/2 II Bahrain Reforms: Finances of the Bahrain Government’ (IOR/R/15/2/128).

The volume includes Belgrave’s budgets for Bahrain for the Hijri years 1347 (1928, folios 5-25) and 1348 (1929, folios 38-66). In these reports Belgrave gives great detail of the state’s expenditure on modernisation. For example, detailed reference of Bahrain’s education system, including the opening of a girls’ school, is given in the 1348 budget (folios 61-63).

The remainder of the volume’s correspondence is chiefly related to Belgrave’s concerns over the continual financial increases being requested by Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah to Bahrain’s civil list. Belgrave’s concern was that these allowances took up too great a proportion of the Bahrain state budget, and because the issue was primarily a political one, he deferred the issue to 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. , who in turn referred the matter to 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. . There are several copies of the civil list included in the file (for example, folios 81-83). Prior and Shaikh Ḥamad discuss Belgrave’s concerns about the increasing expenditure of the civil list in August 1929 (folios 84-90), with Shaikh Ḥamad raising the hope that revenues from other sources such as kerosene oil might alleviate financial problems.

Extent and format
1 volume (138 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . There is an earlier foliation system which runs through the volume, using blue pencil numbers in the top-right corner of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages.

The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e.

The following folios are foldouts: 11-13, 18, 19, 36, 46-48, 54, 85-89, 97, 105, 111, 112, 133, 134.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 9/2 II Bahrain Reforms: Finances of the Bahrain Government' [‎21r] (56/302), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/129, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023321494.0x000039> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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