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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [‎8v] (16/86)

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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. .

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12
ment, and physique passes a standard test. The competition to enlist is due partly to the lack of
employment among divers and partly to the change in public feeling towards the police. A few
years ago the Shaikhs and the local people took no interest in them; now they have developed a
patriotic pride in them, and when the police give a display the whole town flocks to see them.
Many of the police are divers, but men who have very heavy debts are not taken on. While
serving in the police, men who owe money to Nakhudas refund Rs 5/- every month to their
Nakhudas, and in this way many of the police have entirely paid off their debts. Usually, when a
diver enlists, his Nakhuda reduces the man's debt by 20% or 30%, provided that the diver remains
in the police until he has paid off the balance by instalments.
Policemen are enlisted for a period of four years; their pay is Rs 25/- per month, and in
addition they receive Rs 3/- per month clothing allowance and are issued with uniform, rations,
and quarters. About fifty married men occupy houses in the married lines. There is great need for
more married quarters, and their construction is under consideration. It is in every way more
satisfactory for married men to keep their wives in the Fort than outside in the town.
Recruits do a six months' training course, which is a modified version of the Indian Army
recruits' course. It includes drill, musketry, bayonet fighting, and lathi drill. On completion of
training they are drafted into sections. They respond well to training and soon acquire smartness
which makes them distinguishable when they are walking out in mufti in the town. The best type
of recruits are men who are partly Arab and partly negro; these combine the physique of the
African and the quicker mentality of the Arab.
Administration The police force is divided into fourteen sections and the headquarters,
and Routine. which consists of the senior N.C.O.'s, Indian instructors, the band, and
men employed on special duties such as court work, hospital orderly, etc.,
etc. Duties such as jail guards, outposts, bazaar beats, are carried out by each section in turn, so
that every man becomes acquainted with all various duties. Owing to the number of men employed
on duties, it is rarely possible to muster more than forty men on the daily parades, which are held
every morning except Fridays, and on four afternoons of the week. On the other afternoons the
men play games, hockey, and football. The normal duties include outposts at Hedd, Muharraq,
(he Bahrain Petroleum Company's Camp, and Sakhir, guards at the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , the Quarter
guard and police station, steamer parties, bazaar patrol, traffic duties, and guards on prison parties
working outside the Fort. In addition to their normal duties, the police frequently provide guards
ot honour and sometimes take part in ceremonial parades either by themselves or with contingents
of the British Navy. Three times every year the police go out for a route march round the island
and are in camp for five or six days. On these occasions they carry their tents, kit, and food and
are a self-contained unit; the transport is either donkeys or the police lorry.
Changing Nature Owing to the rapidly changing conditions in Bahrain, the duties of the
of Duties. police are becoming more difficult and more complicated. When the
present force was started the police had to deal with a comparatively
simple and ignorant people and a small number of more sophisticated and educated Arabs and
Indians. They are now brought into contact with a large English-speaking community and an
ever-increasing number of educated Asiatic foreigners, most of whom speak no Arabic. Many
of these people are inclined to resent the authority of the police, and frequently individual policemen
are called upon to deal with situations which require considerable tact. They are at a disadvantage,
being entirely uneducated and usually unable to speak the language of the person they have & to
deal with. There are only two men in the police who can speak English, and about half a dozen
who can read and write Arabic. In the summer of 1934, Haji Sulman bin Jasim, the superintendent
of police, died suddenly. His death was a great loss to the State as, in addition to his administrative
qualities, he was very good at criminal investigation. This branch of police work is now bein^
done by Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. Mahmood, and the other Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. , Ali Mirza, is responsible for the disciplin?
and interior organisation of the force. One of the developments which has caused most work for
the police is the sudden increase in motor traffic. On the average there are about ten motor
accidents every month which have to be investigated and reported, and the checking of driving
and car licences, as well as traffic supervision, has become one of the most important duties.

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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
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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [‎8v] (16/86), 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_100024140826.0x000011> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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