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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [35v] (70/86)
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
42
The Manamah municipality consisted originally of a council of eight members, with a president,
vice-president, and secretary. Several of the councillors, as well as the vice-president and the
secretary, were foreigners. Bahrain subjects were a minority, but at that time foreigners were
more progressive than the people of the country. To-day, in municipal affairs, there is little
difference between the two communities.
The municipality began by numbering all the houses in order to impose a house tax by which
it could pay for cleaning the town and repairing streets and roads, and for some years it confined
its activities to this work. Manamah used to be a filthy town. House refuse was thrown into the
streets or on to mounds in open spaces, as is still done in the country villages. These refuse mounds
in the villages have recently been discovered by cultivators as providing supplies of good manure.
Vegetables, fish, and meat were sold under the most insanitary conditions, and the narrow lanes
in the town and the bazaar were choked by leaking drains and open cesspits.
In 1920, Shaikh Hamad became President of the Council, with Khan Bahadur Mohammed
Sherif, a Persian merchant, as Vice-President, and Haj Khalil Kanoo as Secretary. The members
of the council continued to be appointed by the Government, but in 1926 the constitution of the
council was changed. Ten members were appointed by the Government and ten were elected by
the public. Every householder who paid a certain sum in house tax was eligible to vote. Each
community was represented by one or two members, but elections were conducted in a casual
way: there was no recording of votes, and persons wishing to sit on the council produced sheets
of signatures, usually thumb-prints, which may or may not have been genuine. Usually the same
persons were elected year after year, and a seat on the council came to be regarded as a family
right. The permanent members became lethargic and took small interest in anything except opposing
on principle any measures that might possibly affect their own pockets.
The last irregular election was in October, 1926. A year later it became necessary for the
Government to intervene in the administration of municipal affairs. The council was dissolved,
the Secretary and his assistant were dismissed, and a new election was held. A register of electors
was published, the public recorded their votes in person, and for the first time a ballot-box was
used. It was found at this election that the Jewish Hindu, and Moslem Indian communities did
not conform to the regulations necessary to entitle them to representation; although their numbers
were sufficient, the Indian owned hardly any property in Manamah. Each of these communities
were invited by the Government to nominate a member, instead of electing one, who, if approved
by the Government, would be given a seat on the council. The Jewish community agreed to the
suggestion, but the Indians refused, and since then they have not been represented.
For the Ruler of the State to be President of the Municipal Council created a difficult position.
When matters were discussed, voted upon and passed by the council, it was assumed that the
presence of the Ruler during the debate signified the final acceptance of the measures by the
Government. In 1929, Shaikh Hamad retired from the
presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
of the council and appointed
in his place Shaikh Mohammad bin Isa alKhalifah, who still continues to hold this office when
he is in Bahrain. During the summers when he is away. Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa acts as President.
The council is elected for three years; the last election was in 1935, and the composition of
the council was as follows:
The President
The Secretary
Arab members
Bahama ...
Negdis ...
Persian Sunnis
Persian Shias
Jews
5
5
2
2
2
1
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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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [35v] (70/86), 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_100024140826.0x000047> [accessed 25 April 2024]
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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.