'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain' [‎45r] (106/224)

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APPENDIX III TO REPORT ON BAHRAIN REFORMS.
Speech made by the Hon'hie Lieutenant-Colonel S. G. Knox, C.S.L, C.I.E., Political
Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , at the Majlis convened in Bahrain on the 26th May
1923. 3
Gentlemen :
You have just heard read to you the letter in which Shaikh Hamad announces
to you that he has, in obedience to the orders of the British Government, taken
over the administration of these Islands as his father's fully empowered Agent.
Some of you present here to-day may remember what was the state of these Islands
when fifty-five years ago Shaikh'Isa was summoned by His Majesty's Government
to take his seat as Shaikh. These Islands were then exposed to the full blast of in
ternecine strife, rapine and disorder. His father, Shaikh Ali, had been killed in the
fighting that had taken place a few months before. For fifty-five years his rule
has been blessed with peace and, on the whole, good orders. He has been a
steady loyal friend of the British Government and the Islands have undoubtedly
progressed in wealth, population, commerce and agriculture. The Islands of
Bahrain are ever watched by covetous eyes on both sides of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
and the fifty-five years of Shaikh 'Isa's rule have been no mean achievement. I
am sure I may speak confidently on behalf of this assembly of Bahrain Notables
when I say that we ali thank him for what he has done for these Inlands : he leaves
no enemy or ill-wisher behind him and we all wish him still many happy years of
well-earned retirement after the labour and fatigue of so many years of arduous
rule.
Recent deplorable events, on which I have no wish to dwell on this occasion,
have merely emphasized and accentuated an insistent cry for reform of the ad
ministration on modern lines and there is, after all, nothing surprising in the fact
that a man who has reached the ripe age of seventy-five years has not been found
capable of responding to this demand. For some years. Shaikh Tsa's easy tolerant
rule—some may perhaps call it misrule : I personally prefer to call it lack of rule—-
has led to the growth of a number of petty tyrannies and independencies which were
fast crystallising into vested interests an4 seriously weakening the Administra
tion. Rights were being lost which it wou'd be hard to recover and the British
Government, locking to the general good, have in their wisdom decided that it is
time that new blood was introduced and the Administration strengthened.
Shaikh 'Isa is still titular Shaikh of these Islands and Shaikh Hamad is only his
Agent, although the fully empowered Agent for his father, and he has assumed
a very difficult and thankless task.
Gentlemen, you know Shaikh Hamad far better than I, a foreigner, can know
him. You know he is a modest, unassuming man, but I should like to tell you
that throughout the negotiations that have preceded this decision. Shaikh Hamad
has valiantly fought for his father's retention and it was no greed for power that
led him to assume the Administration. It is rather regard for his father s good
name, for the benefit of the Al-Khalifa and for the welfare of. the Sunni community
that has induced him, despite some diffidence, to take upon his shoulders the
weight aild burden of the Administration. He relies greatly on the promise oi
unstinted and loyal assistance from his brother Shaikh Abdullah, and I am here,
as the mouthpiece of my Government, to promise the help of that Government to
Shaikh Hamad in all paths of lawful endeavour both against externa] aggression
and internal sedition.
It is quite possible that many of you present here to-day, especially Sunnis,
may view with regret the disappearance of a Sunni ruler who has ruled oyer you
for so many years. It is a very natural feeling and I venture to express the very
earnest hope, almost the belief, that our proceedings to-day will eventually ten
to the uplift and special progress of the Sunni Community. Ever p mce sorr ^ e
twenty years ago Shaikh 'Isa in his wisdom handed over to the Political Agen ,
Bahrain, the administration over and direct responsibility for foreigners, ere
have been practically two Governments working side by side in Bahrain. Une
has been open and above-board and has resulted in an enormous influx ot toreigners
to these Islands and I beliefe that I shall not be accused of exaggeration i say
that the proportion of foreigners has during the last twenty years progressed as
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