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'Shaikh Ali bin Ahmad' [‎6r] (11/630)

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The record is made up of 1 file (313 folios). It was created in 20 May 1905-15 Jan 1917. 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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10. The strictly correct procedure, perhaps, when a slave has taken refuge,
should be to apply to the Chief of Bahrein for the production of the master with
a view to an enquiry being held into the circumstances of the alleged impor
tation. This course, however, even in the days of the^ last three Native Agents Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
has very rarely, if ever, been followed : partly, perhaps, because Sheikh Esa
- never attempts to exert his authority over the outlying Arab strong-holds, and
^principally no doubt because the master himself as a rule follows up the
fugitive in hot haste or at latest presents himself within a couple of days at
tJie Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . The sea-faring Arab is not the same business-like, often educa
ted, and invariably tutored individual as the Persian slave-importer whom one
-meets with in similar circumstances. In the first few sentences he will probably
admit the truth of the slave's main allegations. He is then told in the fewest
words that his man is entitled to his freedom and th^jrhe himself is fprtunate
^f he escapes punishment, and there the matter ends.
In doubtful cases and even in those in which the law is on the master's
sidej, the latter never objects to give a written bond, scarcely in fact worth
the paper- oo which it is written, to the effect—that henceforth he will treat
tue slave kindly and will subject himself to punishment if he fails, and then
the unfortunate negro goes back apparently resigned to his fate. I fear, how
ever, that the comparative ease with which cases in the past have been settled,
will not long continue if the liberation of those slaves, who are really entitled
to freedom, is seriously taken up as I think it should be.
11. I have questioned Sheikh Esa on the subject, more especially as to
whether any preventive measures are in existence against the importation of
newly purchased slaves.
He replied that so far as he wp ^ aware he had adhered to the obligations
impose^ upon him by treaties. He had 'always taken suitable action in the
cases which were brought to his notice by British Officials, and once in the
time of the Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. Haji Ahmed (who died about 1891 A.D,), and
once again in the time of Mr. Gaskin he had of his own inititative given
up ^ slaves to be manumitted. The latter case is stated to have been
detected in Busaitin'(on Muharraq Island) but my office records contain no
reference to it. It is possible that in these two isolated cases the Chief was
prompted more by a wish to do injury to some objectionable person than by any
sympathy for our policy. The Chief further stated that no special preventive
measures had ever been maintained, but that every one knevv that the practice
was foroidden Pnd that it could only be carried on at considerable personal risk.
He left it to the British Government to arrange their own precautions.
12. In my humble opinion under these arrangements the traffic will never
cease. So long as there is a demand for slaves in these parts, the export of them
from Africa is surely bound to continue. Bahrein is the most convenient place in
the Gulf where the next wedge on behalf of our policy can be inserted not
only by reason of its political subordination to the Government of India, but also
on account of its insular position and the small though populous area in which
the inhabitants reside.
13. Personally I see no insuperable objections to introducing the Zanzibar
ordinance at once, not only on the grounds that the existing conventions have
proved to be inoperative, but also in the name of humanity which has I believe
been the motive prompting us to exact the existing tenns and agreements from
the various peoples of the Gulf.
There is no strong reason why slaves should be the mainstay of the pearl
fisheries, for a large number of Shiahs—the Baharina of Bahrein—are already
engaged on their own account in the industry, and it ought not to be impossible
for the Arab boat.-oWners to adapt themselves to the practice of employing freed
men. Even now they usually hire negroes from other masters to complete their
crews. There is no danger, too of the negroes developing into the lazy creatures
found in the West Indies and other places blessed with a luxurious vegetation,
as here to gain their food they will be compelled to toil, and whether on the
pearl-banks or in the agriculture of the islands there is ample room for a com
munity many times larger than that which at present exists. r
C334FD

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Content

The file relates to Sheikh Ali bin Ahmed Al Khalifah (also referred to as Ali bin Ahmad), nephew of the Ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Esa bin Ali Al Khalifa [Sheikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah]. The file includes correspondence from the Government of India, 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. , 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. , Bahrain, the Ruler of Bahrain (in Arabic with English translations), and Sheikh Ali himself (also in Arabic with English translations). The file includes:

  • papers relating to the exile of Sheikh Ali from Bahrain [frequently referred to in the file in the spelling Bahrein], the question of whether the Government of India or the Ruler of Bahrain should pay the costs of his maintenance allowance during his exile in India, and the amount of that payment, May - October 1905;
  • papers relating to the question of the future adminstration of Manama and Bahrain, September - October 1905;
  • papers recording the payment of Sheikh Ali's maintenance allowance on a monthly basis by the Ruler of Bahrain, 1906-1909;
  • papers concerning the possibility of the return of Sheikh Ali to Bahrain, July 1906 - December 1907;
  • papers concerning the proposed occupation of Sheikh Ali's former house in Bahrain by the Ruler's son, Sheikh Hamad [Sheikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah], September 1906;
  • papers concerning the terms of a proposed agreement for the return of Sheikh Ali to Bahrain before the expiry of his term of banishment, including details of properties and allowances in cash assigned by Sheikh Esa for the maintenance of Sheikh Ali, December 1907 - May 1908;
  • papers concerning the return of Sheikh Ali to Bahrain, July 1908 - February 1909;
  • subsequent reports and correspondence about Sheikh Ali, including note of his death, September 1912 - January 1917.

The date of the first original piece of correspondence in the file is 22 August 1905. The file also contains copies of correspondence printed by the Government of India dating from 20 May 1905.

Extent and format
1 file (313 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 315 on the back cover. These numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. A second sequence, comprising a combination of pagination and foliation, numbered 1-343, can be found between ff. 2-314. These numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in either the top left or top right hand corners of the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. or recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio respectively.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'Shaikh Ali bin Ahmad' [‎6r] (11/630), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/19, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023610570.0x00000c> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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