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'File 9/5 Bahrain Reforms. Reforms in Pearling and Boat Registration' [‎131r] (282/434)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (207 folios). It was created in 4 Aug 1895-12 Feb 1930. 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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131
Tk@ P©litieal Agtney
Ba^irain, Xmjx j -L (o
Pl®as« refer t® ytur D.O. H® 457-S ©f 1^5 0
I kav® n^t replied earlier "because your letter was received while
Shaik Haiaad was away Is sine® he returned I have had conversati@ns
with him and have discussed various peints with ©thers interested
in the matter.
I have read with interest Mailam 1 s letter 93/9/5
^ I think he w ©uld agreewe discussed the mattera little "feel'©re
h.e left,that the pr^etical difficulties in carrying ©ut seme ©f his
suggestions are insum®unta"bl®• I cannot h®ip thinking that Mailam
mM a little Iseld in ceming t® c©nclusi©ns alwmt the diving en the
strength of ©nly siia months experience k handicapped as he was sdcfek
by lack of time xtes to study it Ib by an insufficient knewledge ©f
irabie t© enable him always t® get t@ the h©tt®m of the intiiaEfiiss
k ramifications ©f the subjecto
His statement that the measures of reform introduced
Included the a'teelitien of the @ld Salifeh Court is an error. The
Salifeh Court had died a natural death a long time "before the re-
Terms started. The ^©urt 1 had consisted of one very venal old man,
rk© received no salary for his duties & depended for his livlihood
>n sufcsidaies paid him "by tine Naichudas themselves. Fr©m my arrival
.n January '21 ti±l the introduction ©f reforms in 19^A I do not
recollect a single case in which a diver obtained redress in the
Salifeh court. In faetxx at that time,accounts when kept (generally
there were none) by Nakhudas were so completely unintelligible that
iv«n had the Salifeh Court been reasonably just«which was notorious
•ly not the case-it would have been incaxj&fele of arriving at any
lecisisn. As a result of this state of aifairs for a ^ ear or more
before the institution of reforms,divers who v /or@ protected per-
sens & who appealed t®Jt the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for redress,when informed that
the only machinery for dealing with their cases was the *Salifeh 1
I invariably dropped their cases as the result was a foregone con-
elusion,^ the fact that they had complained antagonised the H^khud
Ss/ ? /i'

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Content

The volume contains correspondence and reports relating to proposed reforms of the pearling industry in Bahrain. The majority of the correspondence takes place between 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. (Clive Day, who was the principle architect of the pearling industry reforms, and served from 1921 to 1926, superseded by Cyril Barrett), 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. or his secretary, and the advisor to the Bahrain Government, Charles Belgrave.

The reforms proposed, and which are discussed at length throughout the volume include:

  • Economic reforms, with particular attention given to shares of the profits paid to divers, and the allowances paid to divers, and interest on their debts, through the Salifeh court. This aspect of the reforms was designed to reduce the state of debt slavery that many divers existed in towards their boat masters ( nakhudas );
  • The introduction of accounts books for all pearl divers;
  • Boat registration and pearl fishing licenses;
  • The introduction of a hospital boat intended to patrol the pearling banks, with medical staff on board who are capable of providing medical attention to pearl divers as required;
  • The advantages and disadvantages of permitting pearl merchants to use motor launches to reach the pearling boats, the use of which would place some merchants at an advantage over those travelling under sail power.

Items of note in the file include:

Extent and format
1 volume (207 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . An earlier, incomplete foliation sequence, using blue pencil circled numbers in the top right corner of rectos, runs from folios 24 to 66. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 23a, 79a, 130a, 157a.

The following folios are fold-outs: 37, 42, 46-50, 52, 53, 60, 62, 70-73, 75-79, 79a, 84-86, 90, 92, 94, 96, 106, 111, 121-26, 149-54, 157, 157a, 161, 171, 177, 179, 183, 184, 187, 193.

Due to the binding of the volume, the text on some items runs very close to the gutter, making text more difficult to read.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 9/5 Bahrain Reforms. Reforms in Pearling and Boat Registration' [‎131r] (282/434), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/132, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023321596.0x000053> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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