!['Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [‎8r] (15/86)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0002d7/IOR_R_15_1_750_0015.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [‎8r] (15/86)")
'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [8r] (15/86)
The record is made up of 1 volume (43 folios). It was created in 1937. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
(1
11
expensive in Bahrain, and successful opium smugglers and retailers make large profits. Opium
is easy to hide and lacks the strong smell which frequently leads to the detection of locally made
liquor. In opium cases the police depend mainly on informers, who are usually men who are
themselves concerned in the opium business but who consider that they have not had a fair share
of the profits and so give their friends away. Opium has been discovered hidden in gramophones,
clocks, flour-bins, and in the ceilings of rooms.
Illicit liquor used to consist entirely of locally distilled arak made from dates. Ten years ago
it was manufactured only by two or three Iraqis and Jews, who were gradually rounded up, but
in about 1930 there was a great increase in arak, and a number of Bahrain subjects took to making
it, probably because it was such a profitable trade. The illicit liquor traffickers displayed great
ingenuity in hiding their stills and their cellars: arak was made in ruined houses, in out-of-the-way
date gardens and in subterranean rooms which still exist in a few old houses which were used in
the past as places for hiding valuables in times of war. Distributors kept bottled supplies of arak
in wells, in false walls, under rubbish heaps, and sometimes under the seats of motor cars. In one
case the police discovered that the municipal lunatic asylum was a distributing centre, and the
keeper and his wife were members of a liquor gang.
About two years ago, after numerous prosecutions, there appeared to be a decrease in the
use of arak, but cases began to occur in which people used methylated spirits as a drink. During
the last year this practice has increased very much, and a concoction consisting of methylated spirits
mixed with eau-de-Cologne is rapidly taking the place of arak. It is probably more injurious to
the health than arak, but it is very popular with women of the town, and apparently a small quantity
causes drunkenness in a short time. Methylated spirit is only sold to reliable dealers, and is mixed
before being sold with a chemical to make it unpalatable; there are no restrictions, however, on
the sale of scent.
The Ruler, the religious leaders, and the majority of the people in Bahrain disapprove very
strongly of drink, but there is a small section of the community which would like the restrictions
on liquor to be removed. The great influx of well-paid foreigners from countries where the sale
ot liquor is allowed is the chief reason for the increase of cases against the liquor laws. There is
undoubtedly an occasional leakage of liquor from the Bahrain Petroleum Company, but this is
not sufficiently frequent to have any effect on the liquor question in general. The most effective
way of preventing the increase in drinking is to deal very drastically with any cases which arc
proved in the courts.
The State The jail is in the Fort and consists of a number of cells and a yard,
J a ^* Prisoners are well fed—they usually put on weight during their term of
imprisonment—and are provided with clothes. Convicts wear leg-irons,
which is a measure to prevent their escape, as they work outside the Fort most of the day. There
are no regular warders, but each section of the police takes in turn jail duties; this was found more
satisfactory than having a permanent jail staff. Usually there are between twenty and thirty convicts
in the prison. Debtors receive the same food as prisoners, but wear their own clothes and are
not obliged to do any work apart from cleaning the prison. As most of the convicts serve for short
terms, it has not been possible to organise any prison industries. There is no women's prison,
but there are two cells adjoining the house of the senior police N,C,0,, whose wife acts as a
wardress if any women are confined in the Fort, The question of a small building for women
prisoners is under consideration, and the present jail is also to be repaired during the coming year.
The Present Although the existing police force was enlisted locally, the men are not
Police Force. all Bahrain subjects. The present strength of the police is 204 N.C.O.'s
and men, including Bahrain Arabs, Shia Bahama, local Persians, and one
or two Persians who served in the South Persian Rifles, Kurds, Yemenis, Iraqis, mainland Arabs,
Swahilis, Somalis, Sudanese, and a number of manumitted slaves; the last category make very
good policemen. In the past, service in the police was regarded as somewhat derogatory, but in
the last few years the public attitude towards the police has changed: there is now keen competition
to enlist in the force, and when a few recruits are required, hundreds of men present themselves
at the Fort tor enlistment. It is now possible to take only picked men whose height, chest measure-
About this item
- Content
This volume is an administration report covering the years 1926 to 1937 (though in some subjects the report goes further back than 1926) and deals mainly with the activities of the Bahrain Government. It includes text, photographic images, graphs and tables. The report was based on annual reports of the financial and government departments which are made every year. A contents page can be found on folio 3, followed by a General Review by Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, dated December 1937 (folio 4).
The contents are divided into the following sections and sub-sections:
- Finance (folio 5): Revenue;
- The State Police and Public Security (folios 5v-10v): The Levy Corps, Political Disturbances, Attempt to assassinate the Shaikh, Indian Levy Corps, Crime and Prostitution, Drugs and Liquor, The State Jail, The Present Police Force, Administration and Routine, Changing Nature of Duties, Recent Innovations, Police Band, Camel Section, Shooting, Uniforms, Police Training in India, and The Naturs;
- Customs Department and Revenue (folios 10v-13v): Organisation and Establishment, Revenue (Customs Duty, Import Yard charges, Khanchieh, Porterage, Pier Fees, Landing Company, Mainland Cargo, Optional Cargo System, Transhipment Cargo), Transit Cargo, Export Dues, Boat-Building, Customs Improvements, Steamship Lines, and Future Improvements;
- Judicial (folios 13v-19v): Institution of Courts, The Bahrain Court (Criminal Cases, Civil Cases, Diving Cases, Land Cases, Fish-Trap Cases), The Bahrain Small Court, Shera [Sharia] Court (Sunni and Shia), The Mejlis Tajara [Majlis Tijārah] and Diving Court, Small Mixed Court, Laws and Codes, Police Regulations, and Judicial Legislation (Diving Regulations, Wakils Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator. , Mortgages, Appeals, Statute of Limitations, Liability of Government Servants);
- Public Works (folios 19v-23v): Roads, Buildings (Suk al-Khamis [Sūq al-Khamīs] Mosque, Idari Water Channel and Mosque, Manamah School and Workshop, Barracks, Police Station, New Customs House, Shops, Palace Wall, Law Courts, Bazaar Buildings, Jufair Naval Base, and Manamah-Muharraq Road;
- Land Registration (folios 23v-24v): Survey, Reports on Land Cases, Registration of Sales and Titles, Mortgages, Government Title Deeds, Fish-Traps, and Leases and Government Forms;
- Education (folios 24v-27v): Formation of an Education Committee, Muharraq School Built, Jaffarieh [al-Ja‘farīyah] School, Opening of a Girls' School, Appointment of a School Inspector, Strike of Students and Masters, Reforms in the Schools, Disappearance of School Committees, Amalgamation of Manamah Boys' Schools, Technical Education, Bahrain Boys at Beyrout University [American University of Beirut], Education of the Ruling Family, and Future Development of Education;
- Electric Department (folios 27v-29r): Original Installation, Muharraq Extension, Share of Municipalities, Progress, State Engineer, Progress, First Profitable Year, Future Prospects, Telephone System, and Summary of Seven Years' Working;
- Agriculture (folios 29r-31v): Land Tenure, Date Cultivation, Lucerne, Cereals, Cotton, Tobacco, Fruit Trees, and Vegetables.
- Wakf [Waqf] Administration (ff. 31v-35r): Nature of Wakfs, Shaikh Khalaf, Syed Adnan's Administration, Appointment of a Council, Previous attempts to organise Wakf Department, Progress of Administration and Elections, Results, Future Development, and Sunni Wakf Administration;
- Passport Department (folio 35r);
- Municipalities (folios 35r-38r): Constitution and History (Manamah and Muharraq), Municipal Finance, Municipal Taxation, Municipal Achievement, Roads, Manamah (Conservancy, Sanitation, Water Supply, Malaria, Fire Precautions, Markets and Food Regulations, Public Health Measures, Gardens, Cemeteries), and Muharraq Municipality;
- The Pearl-Diving Industry (folios 38r-40v): General, The Diving System, The Reforms, Demonstrations by Divers, The Slump, Diving Mortgages, Divers' Debts, Transfer of Divers, The Catch, and Recent Changes;
- Social and Political Developments (folios 41r-42v): Arabs and Baharna, The Baharna, The Townsfolk, Houses, Games, Class Changes, The Ruling Family, and The Women.
Photographic images appear on eleven folios, and they are labelled as follows:
- Folio 7: 'Sooq Al Khamis Mosque' and 'A Village Dispensary';
- Folio 11: 'An Artesian Well (Showing head of water)' and 'A Natural Spring (Adari [‘Adhārī])';
- Folio 14: 'Meat Market', 'Slaughter House', and 'Metal Vegetable Market (Under Construction)';
- Folio 15: 'Modern Village in Manamah', 'A Street in Manamah', and 'Municipal Garden, Manamah';
- Folio 16: 'A Small Pearling Dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. ';
- Folio 21: 'New Customs House and Round-about', 'Government Shops', and 'Women's Dispensary';
- Folio 22: 'The Palace Manamah', 'Manamah Muharraq Sea Road', and 'The Road (From the Sea)';
- Folio 25: 'Manamah Boys' School', 'School Workshops', and 'A Village School';
- Folio 30: 'A road in Manamah' and 'Street in Muharraq';
- Folio 32: 'A Policeman' and 'Police on Parade';
- Folio 33: 'Buildings Constructed by Bahrain Government at Naval Base, Jufair [al-Jufayr]', 'Clerk in Charge's House', 'Canteen', and 'Officer's Building'.
Folio 17 is a graph entitled 'A decade of Customs Progress'. A note on the title page reads 'Property of H.B.M. Embassy Bahrain' (folio 2r) and the back cover includes a label that reads: 'Printed at the Dolphin Press, Brighton, England' (folio 43v).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (43 folios)
- Arrangement
This file contains a page of contents (folio 3) which references pages of the report.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: Folios 1-43.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [8r] (15/86), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/750/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024140826.0x000010> [accessed 25 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100024140826.0x000010
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_100024140826.0x000010">'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [‎8r] (15/86)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100024140826.0x000010"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0002d7/IOR_R_15_1_750_0015.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
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_100000000193.0x0002d7/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/750/1
- Title
- 'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:42v, back-i, back
- Author
- Belgrave, Sir Charles Dalrymple
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact copyright@bl.uk with any information you have regarding this item.