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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [18r] (35/86)
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.
19
1. Criminal Cases, including capital offences, except cases of a trivial nature which are
heard by the Small Court, are tried by the Bahrain Court. Death sentences arc submitted to the
Ruler for confirmation before promulgation.
2. Civil Cases, including estate cases, bankruptcy, inheritance, and divorce, are heard by
the Bahrain Court, but the divorce and inheritance claims are passed on to the Shera Courts for
judgment. Several very important cases have been settled by the Bahrain Court during the last
ten years, including the Siadi case, in which the amount involved was over ten
lacs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
.
3. Diving Cases. These cases are frequently referred to the Meglis Tajara, which has a
special committee who are experts in diving law.
4. Land Cases. Land cases are very numerous and often very complicated, but in time
they should decrease as by degrees more property is being registered in the Land Department,
which reduces disputes. These cases include boundary disputes, water rights, Wakf claims, and
rights of way. The local custom regarding the different divisions of water is in itself a complicated
affair, and it has never been embodied in any regulation or code. All sales are registered after
publication of proclamation calling on persons having a claim to the property to make it within
a given time; but in addition to the proclamation, every sale or voluntary registration of ownership
is submitted to the Bahrain Court after the proclamation has expired, and the court verifies, by
hearing witnesses, the statement of the seller, with special regard to the interest of any women
or minors. Although this may appear to be a cumbersome procedure, its value has been frequently
proved by the court discovering that property of women or minors is being disposed of without
the knowledge of the owners. Sales by foreigners, as well as by Bahrain subjects, pass through
the Bahrain Court.
5. Fish-Trap Cases. These cases are numerous and are decided according to a local code
governing the use of fish-traps. The rules of fish-trap ownership have not yet been recorded,
but they are generally known to persons connected with this industry. The court usually appoints
a committee to report on cases, but this practice, on the whole, is not satisfactory, as members
of the committees are too susceptible to outside influence.
The Bahrain The court was instituted in 1927 (1346) to relieve the Bahrain Court of
Small Court. some of its work. In the beginning it dealt with civil cases in which the
amount concerned was not more than Rs 100/-, but in 1935 its powers
were extended and it now gives judgment in cases up to Rs 400/- and also hears minor criminal
cases, but not diving cases. When the court was first started it was presided over by the Assistant
Adviser, Captain Parke, and the Amir of Muharraq, Shaikh Mohammed bin Jabr.
Shera Court, In 1926 it became evident that the Sunni Kadi, Shaikh Jasim, was no
Sunni. longer capable of carrying out his duties on account of his age and blindness.
It was found that dishonest persons were able to obtain his seal and used
it for their own purposes. The Government appointed three Sunni Alims, Shaikh Abdul Latif
bin Mohammed Al-Saad of Manamah, Shaikh Abdul Latif bin Ali Al-Joudar of Muharraq, and
Shaikh Abdul Latif bin Mahmood of Hedd as Kadis, and from that time they have sat together
in the Sunni Shera Court. It was found that three Kadis on one bench was more satisfactory
than a single Kadi. Their work, on the whole, has been satisfactory, but the public complain,
with justification, of the slowness of the court. Simple cases are often before the court for over a
year before a judgment is delivered, and the court usually has between two and three hundred
pending cases on hand.
Shera Court, There have been many changes in the Shia Court during the last ten
Shia. years. In 1926, Shaikh Khalaf was the only Shia Kadi. He had been Kadi
for many years, although he had twice been dismissed for irregular
practices, but each time, after an interval, he returned to power. His influence was very great;
he was regarded as almost divine. In 1926, charges of accepting bribes and misappropriation
were brought against him and proved in the court. He was finally dismissed and ordered to leave
Bahrain. He retired to Iraq for some years, but eventually returned to Bahrain, where he is now
living.
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
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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.