Skip to item: of 2,084
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. J G Lorimer. 1908' [‎233] (260/2084)

The record is made up of 1 volume (1952 pages). It was created in 1908. 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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

BAHRAIN PRINCIPALITY
233
I'he term Bahrain once embraced the promontory of Qatar and the
Oases of Qatif and Has a as well as the islands of the archipelago :
some authorities indeed would attribute to it in the past an even more
extended application, affirming that it once denoted the whole western
side of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from E .UUS -al-Jibal to the mouth of the
Shatt-al -'Arab. The derivation of the name is uncertain. Its apparent
* This leading article on fche Bahrain principality and the minor articles on places
in the same are founded chiefly upon systematic and careful investigations made
on the spot during the years 1904-1905. The information available from sources
existing before 1904 was arranged by the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. and was issued in November of that
year in the form of 9 printed foolscap pages intended to serve as a basis for further
inquiry. The inquiry proper was begun by the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. on tour in Bahrain early in
1905 ; but it was carried out chiefly by Lieutenant C. H. Gabriel, I.A., who
personally travelled over the greater part of the islands, and by Captain
F. B. Prideaux, 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. in Bahrain, who supplied very full information
regarding all places in his jurisdiction. A set of draft articles founded on the
notes and reports of 1905 was then prepared by the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. ; it was finished in January
1906 and extended to over 60 octavo pages of print. These drafts were sent to
Captain Prideaux, by whom they were very carefully revised with the assistance of
Mr. In'am-al-Haqq, the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Interpreter, a graduate of the Aligarh College. Early
in 1907 the drafts were reissued, with modifications and additions, and some points
which remained doubtful or obscure were disposed of by Captain Prideaux and his
assistant during the year. Geological information was kindly furnished by
Mr. G. Pilgrim of the Geological Survey of India. The articles in their final form
now occupy over 70 octavo pages.
Bahrain has from an early time attracted the attention of travellers in the Persian
Gnlf, and the following are some of the older authorities on the islands:
Niebuhr's Description de VArabie, 1774; Buckingham's Travels in Assyria, Media
and Persia, 1829 ; Whitelock's Description of the Arabian Coast, 1838; iMignan's
Winter Journey, 1839; Bombay Records, XXIV, 1856; Whish's Memoir on
"Bahreyn (with map), 1862 ; and Palgrave's Central and Eastern Arabia, 1865.
More recent are: Captain E. L. Durand's Description oj the Bahrein Islands, 1879,
and his Extracts from a Report on the Islands and Antiquities of Bahrain, 1880;
Mr. T. Bent's Bahrein Islands in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , 1890 ; Captain J. A. Douglas's
Journey from the Mediterranean to India, ISW the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Pilot, 1898;
the Reverend S. M. Zwemer's Arabia, 1900; Mrs. T. Bent's Southern Arabia, 1900;
and Captain A. W. Stiffe's Ancient Trading Centres of the Persian Gutf—
Bahrain, 1901. Captain Durand's second paper and the contributions of Mr. and
Mrs. Bent deal partly with the subject of antiquities ; the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Pilot
is concerned chiefly with maritime features; and the remainder of the authorities
are general in their scope.
In matters relating to trade, the annual commercial reports of 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. in
Bahrain are the chief source of information.
A large scale map of the Bahrain Islands (except Jazirat Umm Na'asan) exists
in the Survey of India's sheet Bahrain 1904-1905, the result of a survey
undertaken in connection with the Gazetteer inquiries; and Admiralty Plan
No. 2377-20, Bahrain Harbour, shows some detail of the northern half of the
islands and their coasts as well as all marine features on the northern side of the
(g)
BAHRAIN
PRINCI
PALITY*

About this item

Content

This volume is Volume II of the Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , ’Omān and Central Arabia (Government of India: 1908) compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The volume is a geographical dictionary with a series of alphabetically arranged articles relating to the physical and political conditions of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and its surrounding areas.

Pages i-iv are an 'Introduction' to the volume written by John Gordon Lorimer at Strathmartine, Dundee, on 24 December 1908. Details are given within the introduction concerning the content and arrangement of principal and subordinate articles and explanations of estimates of distance and time and other statistical information.

Lorimer's introduction identifies the principal articles as:

  • '’Omān Sultanate' (pages 1382-1425);
  • '’Omān (Trucial)' [ Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ] (pages 1425-1451);
  • 'Qatar' (pages 1505-1535);
  • 'Bahrain Principality' (pages 233-253);
  • 'Hasa Sanjāq' (pages 657-679);
  • 'Kuwait Principality' (pages 1058-1077);
  • 'Najd' (pages 1313-1351), supplemented by articles on 'Najd (Southern)' (pages 1351-1359), 'Qasīm' (pages 1485-1503) and 'Shammar (Jabal)' (pages 1732-1748);
  • '’Irāq (Turkish)' (pages 759-882);
  • '’Arabistān' (pages 115-151), suppplemented by articles on '’Arabistān (Northern)' (pages 151-157) and '’Arabistān (Southern)' (pages 157-165);
  • 'Persian Coast' (pages 1455-1468);
  • 'Makrān (Coast of Persian)' (pages 1130-1155).

All articles have a similar form. The English and Arabic place or tribe name appears in the right or left margin, followed by the text of the article split into sub-sections and with topographical information arranged in tables. Arabic words are given in the text next to their equivalent transliterated into Latin script, with the transliteration system employed appearing in 'Appendix S' in Volume I, Part II (IOR/L/PS/20/C91/2, pages 2737-2741).

Topics of information contained within the articles include: boundaries and sub-divisions; physical character and main features (for example, mountains and rivers); climate and seasons; natural products (vegetable, animal and mineral); agriculture and crops; livestock, including transport animals; inhabitants, with reference to racial and tribal distinctions, religious differences, mode of life, character, language, customs, dress and arms, and estimates of populations; trade (internal and external), with notice to currency, weights and measures, shipping, manufactures and industries, and miscellaneous occupations; communications by land and water, with descriptions of routes and estimates of transport; administration and government, especially police, justice, military resources, taxation and finance, and political constitution; and, international position and foreign interests, especially British and their representation in the country. Lorimer refers readers to the Appendices of Volume I, Part II (IOR/L/PS/20/C91/2, pages 2205-2741) for fuller details concerning: meteorology, health, date cultivation, transport animals and livestock, religions and sects, trade, sailing vessels, fisheries, pearl fisheries, and postal and telegraphic communications.

There are fifty-six folios lacking page numbers that contain illustrations. The images are labelled as follows:

  • 'Wādi Bani Habīb in Jabal Akhdar'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'A Creek near Basrah from the Shatt=al=’Arab'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Bridge of Boats, Baghdād'. Photographer: Major G Arbuthnot;
  • 'The Hanaini well, Bahrain Island'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Ancient Tumuli, Bahrain Island'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Village of Qatārah Baraimi Oasis'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The ’Ashshār creek in Basrah Town'. Photographer: Mr Albert Charles Wratislaw;
  • 'The British Consulate. Basrah, from the Shatt=al=’Arab. (Consulate building on the right of picture)'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Parade of British and Persian troops at Rīshehr, 1905';
  • 'Part of the town of Būshehr';
  • 'The Sea Front, Būshehr Town';
  • 'The British Political 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. , Būshehr';
  • 'Bridge at Buziyeh'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The Fort [Qasr al-Ḥuṣn] of the Shaikh at Abu Dhabi'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Shaikh of Sharjah's Fort at Dhaid, Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. '. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Dizfūl Town'. Photographer: Major G Arbuthnot;
  • 'Dohah in Qatar'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'A Canal in the Fallāhiyeh District'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'A Creek at Fāo'. Photographer: Mr W D Cumming;
  • 'Muti at the head of Wādi Halfain'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Near the village of Qārah in the Hasa Oasis'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The village of Qārah in the Hasa Oasis'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'Desert bewteen the Hasa Oasis and Qatar'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Imāmzādeh of Haidar Karār at the place of formation of the Hindiyān River'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The Hindyān River near Zaidān'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'General View of Hofūf'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Na’āthil Quarter, Hofūf'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'Hormuz - View from the old Fort'. Photographer: Raja King Deen Dayal & Sons;
  • 'Crowd at Rās=al-Khaimah'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Rās=al-Khaimah, looking towards Ruūs=al=Jibāl'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Kumzār'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The foreshore Kuwait, showing boat harbour'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Camel riders of the Shaikh of Kuwait'. Photographer: Raja King Deen Dayal & Sons;
  • 'Lingeh';
  • 'The Tīs Valley in Persian Makrān'. Photographer: Mr R H New;
  • 'Country between the Bīr and Kair Rivers in Persian Makrān'. Photographer: Mr R H New;
  • 'Mouth of the Tīs valley looking seawards'. Photographer: Mr R H New;
  • 'The British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Manāmah, Bahrain'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'An Arab of the Manāsīr tribe'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Cemetery, Maqlab. (From A Photograph in the Possession of H Gabler, Esq, I E T D)';
  • 'Eastern end of Masqat Town, British Consulate on the left, Sultan's palace on the right'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'West end of Masqat Town from Sultan's Palace. & Fort Mīrāni'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Centre and Western end of Masqat Town with part of the Harbour'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'View of Wādi Mi’aidin from Sharaijah'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'River Scene Muhammareh'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Two Views of Muhammareh Town'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Persian Battery at Muhammareh'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'View at Haz’=Dhabi, Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. '. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • '’Oqair Port'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'Salt Rocks on Qishm Island near Namakdān'. Photographer: Raja King Deen Dayal & Sons;
  • 'The "Earl Canning" lying in Elphinstone inlet, Ruus=al=Jibal 1868. [Head of Inlet.] From A Photograph in the Possession of H Gabler, Esq, I E T D)';
  • ' Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Samail near Hisn Samail'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Eastern Face of Jabal=ash=Sham';
  • 'The port of Sur'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Bilād=as=Sur'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The Fort of Wakrah, Qatar'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox.
Extent and format
1 volume (1952 pages)
Arrangement

Following the title pages and 'Introduction', entries are arranged in alphabetical order from '’Abādilah' to 'Zubair Town'.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence is circled in pencil in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the last folio with text, on number 1034. It should be noted that f. 192 is followed by f. 192A.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. J G Lorimer. 1908' [‎233] (260/2084), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C91/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023515712.0x00003d> [accessed 6 October 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023515712.0x00003d">'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. J G Lorimer. 1908' [&lrm;233] (260/2084)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023515712.0x00003d">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x00014b/IOR_L_PS_20_C91_4_0260.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x00014b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image