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'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain' [‎83r] (182/224)

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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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9^,
"12. This is a matter of opinion. Any intelligent person liowever cannot fail
to see a vast improvement. liiven Bin Saud (who officially opposes the reforms
and supports Shaikh Isa as the protagonist of Islam) admitted in private conver
sation with a recent visitor to Hassa that the state of the Islands has vastly im
proved while the Shaikhs are better off finanacially than they ever were before.
13. Comment unnecessary.
14. " Agitation by some members of the Shiah minority." The Shiahs are in
a very large majority and there is not one who has not a grievance against Shaikh
Isa's maladministration and oppression— vide mter afe 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. letters
Nos. 495-S., dated 30th December 1921 and 24-S., dated 6th January 1922 (Serial
Nos. 1 and 3 in File No. 82, Nos. 1-32). " Covetous eyes Pearl Fishery/ 8
Shaikh Isa omits to thank the British Government for having prevented the
,owners of the said covetous eyes from possessing themselves of the fishery ; many
attempts to do so having been made in the past and frustrated by the British
Government in the interests of the Shaikh. The sentences following are rhetori
cal and require no comment. The sentence "Up to the present moment
. ....... .from me " is absolutely contrary to fact. Successive Political Agents
and Residents have grown weary with repeated (and unavailing) efforts to get
Shaikh Isa to set his house in order. The Shaikh emphatically denies his incapacity
to manage the affairs of his State ; both his sons Shaikh Hamad and Shaikh
Abdulla (although hostile to Shaikh Hamad) admit their father's total incapacity;
the number of people (except certain members of the A1 Khalifa iamily and others
enabled to do as they pleased by reason of it) who endorse Shaikh Isa's opinion
must be very small. His incapacity is notorious and has been so for years.
15. In the circumstances a formal trial of the Shaikh would hardly have been
possible. The statement m the last sentence is not in accordance with fact..
16. It is hardly necessary to state-that the vast majority of the people
never had the smallest voice m the internal affairs of Bahrain , the Dowasir tr.be
and a section of the influential Sunni nokhudas ignored the Government and did
what they liked while the Shiah population and all the weak were tyrannized
over by it. The Shaikh has again ignored the obligation to govern properly.
The rest of the paragraph is mainly rhetorical.
17. Comment on this seems hardly necessary. Bushire letter No. 42-S.,
dated 27th January 1923 (Serial No. 37 in File No. 82-X.) set forth the pros and ^
cons of undertaking the reforms at length and foretold that to introduce them
the deposition of Shaikh Isa would be necessary. Government however decided to
proceed with the reforms, so that in the circumstances the blame for the Shaikh s
deposition (if any) does not lie with the consular authorities concerned.
R. 1. M. S. " L awrence,'
The 22nd March 1924,
A. P. TEVOR,
Lieut.-Col.,
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. .
ANNEXURE.
English version of telegraphic message (contained in B ushire te^ gr am
No 947 dated.the 26 th O ctober 1923, to P olitical A gent , B ahrain),
rom the P olitical R esident in the P ersian G ule in reply to
petitions from bahrain (referred to in paragraph 8 of comments).
" As it appears from petition-. I have received and other Jhatpeople
are in donbt as regards the continuity of po icy regarding reforms I Cobnel R
Trevor hereby inform a d make it clear to all people in Bahrain that Hi. Ma 3 e ®^ ®
^er— after exhaustive enquiry decided
in Bahrain Islands urgently demanded reform an f e p w i]i be carried
initiated. Be it Imown therefore that the orders of Go;™t be carried
out and the policy of reform recently initiated pursued without deviation.

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
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'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain' [‎83r] (182/224), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/131, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023403812.0x0000b7> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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