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'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain' [40v] (97/224)
The record is made up of 1 volume (98 folios). It was created in 30 Dec 1921-27 Jul 1924. It was written in English. 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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Hamad should make a speech, whether I should make a speech, what we should sar,
etc etc Isave the sons a draft letter for Shaikh Isa to think over and, if eventully
he felt so disposed, to sign. There was some talk about this letter and it was pro
posed that two letters should be prepared, one for the public information announc-
fng his retirement and his handing over affairs to Shaikh Hamad and the other
secret containing Shaikh 'Isa's assurance that he would in no way interfere, intrigue
Linst or counteract Shaikh Hamad's measures of reform It was also proposed
that this secret letter should contain some assurances as to Shaikh Isa s personal
allowances after retirement, and that he acquiesced in aU Government revenues
passing to Shaikh Hamad and to Shaikh Hamad alone.
8 On the afternoon of the 23rd of May, telegram No. 674-S., dated 23rd May,
from VOU to myself at Bahrain, gave me the full assurances I sought and I com-
muificated its contents to Shaikhs Hamad and Abdullah and urged them to
make one last effort to induce Shaikh 'Isa to bring me the desired letters,
secret and open if they so preferred, at my interview with him next morning The
next morning (the 24th), however, nothing canie but a letter from Shaikh Isa
informing me that Shaikhs Hamad and Abdullah had communicated my message
to him and that he urged that I would either consult the tribes as to whether they
still wished him as a ruler, or failing that, would acquaint him by letter with the
decision of Government. It is as well to state here that at the interview of the
20tli May, Shaikh 'Isa had already urged me to consult the tribes, i asked who the
tribes might be, knowing well that beyond the Al-Khalifa and the Dowasir Head
men of Budaiyah, who have ever one eye turned in the direction ot Bm baud, there
are no tribes in Bahrain worthy the name. - I told him that it is quite superfluous
for me to consult the tribes knowing perfectly well that their answer would be that
they preferred Shaikh 'Isa, who allowed them to do anything they liked, rather
than a Shaikh who would rule them, bring them to subjection and exact the Shaikh-
ly dues from them. It was no such consent I was out to seek when the British
Government had already firmly decided that anarchy must cease.
9. I must also remark here that Shaikh 'Isa himself broke our pact of secrecy
ordering a Mazbata (circular petition) to be prepared by his own special proteges,
among the Baharinah which all Baharinah were to be ordered to sign. The attempt
was hopeless ; Isa's myrmidons were informed that they might sign the Mazbata
if they pleased but that nobody else was going to, and Baharinah quickly countered
with two powerful Mazbatas addressed to myself, telling me of the oppression they
had lain under for the past twenty years owing to Shaikh Isa's tolerating every
petty Shaikhling oppressing them at his option.
10. To Shaikh Isa's letter of the 24th morning I replied briefly stating that
I saw no necessity to consult the tribes and that Government's orders were that he
should make way for his son and no longer take an active part in the administration
and that the necessary steps were being taken to give effect to these orders. I had
arranged to have the Director of Customs in attendance. I summoned him and
gave him a personal warning to the effect that the Customs revenues were to be
paid to Shaikh Hamad and Shaikh Hamad alone and that no drafts except those
under Shaikh Hamad's signature were to be honoured : in case of failure by him to
comply with these orders, he would be held personally responsible. I learnt subse
quently from Major Daly- that the Customs Director immediately took ship for
Muharraq to consult Shaikh 'Isa on the subject of the order that he had received
and was met there by the local Muharraq Director .who asked on what errand he
was bound. When he told the Muharraq Director what his errand was, the local
Director informed him that his errand was utterly futile, his news was stale and
everybody knew all about it. The Customs Director thereupon returned and I
had a little word with him subsequently on the folly of his conduct in that he,
a British subject, attempted to intrigue with Shaikh 'Isa against the orders of the
British Government: he would probably find himself sufficiently occupied in.
endeavouring to set his own house in order against an enquiry into the administra
tion of the Customs which must inevitably follow in the course of two or three-
months.
11. We then set in earnest about the preparations for the Majlis at which the
public announcement of Shaikh Isa's retirement would be made. It was fixed for
and held on the morning of Saturday, the 26tli of May. There was much talk in
About this item
- Content
The volume contains printed copies of Government of India confidential correspondence, relating to the Bahrain reforms. The majority of the letters contained in volume are printed copies of correspondence originally sent to the Government of India either by 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. (Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Trevor or Acting Resident Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Knox), or 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 (Major Clive Daly). Much of the correspondence featured in the volume can be found in the original (or as office copies) in a number of files in the two Bahrain Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. subsubseries ‘File 9 Bahrain Reforms’ (IOR/R/15/2/127-138) and ‘File 8 Miscellaneous’ (IOR/R/15/2/121-126), and the 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. subsubseries ‘File 19 Bahrain’ (IOR/R/15/1/314-77).
The printed correspondence contained in the volume covers a range of subjects:
- Events leading up to the programme of reforms carried out in Bahrain: allegations of the oppression of Bahraini subjects by members of the Āl Khalīfah family, violence, the deteriorating economic situation;
- The reforms proposed and implemented by British officials: replacement of Shaikh ‘Īsá by Shaikh Ḥamad as defacto ruler, economic reforms, judicial reforms, pearl diving industry reforms, customs house reforms;
- Specific incidents of violence involving Sunnis and Shias, or Najdis and Persians.
Some of the papers in the volume are accompanied by duplicate copies:
- Folios 61-64 are duplicates of folios 57-60;
- Folios 68-69 are duplicates of folios 66-67;
- Folios 81-84 are duplicates of folios 77-80.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (98 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume's contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, starting with the earliest items at the front and finishing with the latest items at the end.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using uncircled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . Most of the items in the volume are printed items that have their own internal pagination systems, using printed numbers in the top-right corners of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages and the top-left corners of verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. pages, or centred at the top of both verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. and 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, 1f.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain' [40v] (97/224), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/131, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023403812.0x000062> [accessed 18 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/131
- Title
- 'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1ar:1fv, 2r:15r, 17v:18v, 21r:42v, 44v:46v, 47v:71v, 73r:74v, 75v:79r, 80v:83r, 84v:91r, 92v:93r, 94v:103v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence