'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎362] (381/1050)

362
BAHRAIN
In addition tb irtohetary takes the Shaikh takes for himself one-twentieth of thb
slaughter animais imported from abroad ; this particular trade is considered not to be
included in the lease of the sea customs.
It will be observed that the above is the budget of the Shaikh of Bahrain alone, and
that the column of receipts does not include the amounts which are wrung by fief-
holders of_the Shaikh's family from the villages situated In their estates. poll tax:
called Taraz is among the additional imposts to which the agricultural Baharinah are
at times subjected. In the Sunni villages as a rule, and especially in those where one
tribe largely predominates^ there is either no taxation at'all or the proceeds go to the
tribal chief instead of to the Shaikh Bahrain or member^ of his family*
Military and naval resources.—AMogGhev the Shaikh of Bahrain and his principal
relations and servants maintain about 540 armed men, distributed somewhat as follows-^
Shaikh 'Isa-bin-^AIi, Shaikh of I
Shaikh Khalid, brother of 'Isa
Shaikh Hamad, son of 'Isa
Shaikh Muhammad, son of 'Isa
Shaikh 'Abdullah,, son of 'Isa,.,
The Bazaar Master of Manamah
The Bazaar Master of Muharrag
Of this force about 200 men are armed with rifles, bu't the remainder,, if they possess
firearms at all, have only matchlocks ; all, however-^ carry swords. For the defence of
his dominions from foreign aggression, however, and for the maintenance of order within,
the Shaikh depends not so much on these retainers as on the Na'im tribe, of whom he
professes to have large numbers at call. In point of fact the Na'im of Bahrain and
Qatar only amount to about 400 fighting men all told, and of these more than half are
generally absent in Qatar, while not more than 100 out of the whole number are mounted.
The Shaikh, as already mentioned, has a small but excellent stud of Arab mares, and he
and his family own about 100 riding camels*
Till lately he possessed several fast-sailing but unarmed Batils, of which 2 or 3 were*
ordinarily placed at the disposal of the customs contractors for the prevention of smug-
gling ; these, however, have now disappeared, and when the Shaikh requires a boat he
takes one by Sukhrah.
Political position and foreign interests.—VhQ t-eaty relations of the Shaikh of Bahrain
are exclusively with the Indian Government, who maintain at Manamah, as their local
representative, a European officer of their Political Department having the local rank
of Agent: this Agent is subordinate to the British 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 maintenance of a charitable medical dispensary, built by local contributions and
known as the Victoria Memorial Hospital, was undertaken by the Government of India
from 1905, and the institution itself has been attached to the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . There
is also a British post office connected with the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. *
British subjects ordinarily resident fn Bahrain at the present time, inclusive of officials
but exclusive of an Indian military guard for the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , are : European British subjects^
2 ;■ Eurasians, 4 Native Christians, 2 ; Hindus, 69 ; Muhammadans, 122; Jews, 5. In the
hot weather the number of Hindus under British protection rises to about 175, and that
of Muhammadans to 150, One British mercantile firm and 2 British steamship com
panies are represented in the islands,- and there are 22 resident Hindu and 11 resident
Muhammadan traders who are under British protection.
After the political and commercial interests of Britain in Bahrain, the interests of the
United States, arising from a mission of the Reformed (Dutch) Church of America, are
the most important; this mission, which is at Manamah, was founded in I$93.
Of more recent origin, and less- extensive/ are the German Interests represented by a
eommercial firm. J ^
Geographical.
The name Baliaram & applied to the archipelago lying in the Gulf which separates
the Turkish districts of Hasa snd Qatif from the promontory of Qatr, generally also
to the largest island of the group formerly called Awai The chief islands of the group
Bahrain. *
TckPAL
200
100
80
30
30
50
50
540