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'Government of Bahrain Administrative Report for the Years 1926-1937' [41r] (81/86)
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.
41
53
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
Afabs and I hue is a sharply deiincd difference in Bahrain between the urban and
Bahama. the rural population. The people of the towns, Manamah, Muharraq,
j . j an ' a ^f mostl y Arabs and foreigners, traders, shop-keepers, pearl
merchants, and landowners. The villagers, who are said to form about two-thirds of the total
population, although there has never been a census in Bahrain, are the aboriginal Shia inhabitants
? thc ! s , ncl ^ cultivators and fishermen, many of whom dive during the pearlim; season. There
is a racial and religious difference between the two which is outwardly apparent in the appearance,
the dress, and the speech of the people, especially in the case of the women. The Bahama, who
used to own Bahrain, are now the tenants and servants of the Arab landowners and the Ruling
ramily, and there is no sympathy between them. h
During the last ten years the life of the country people has altered very
Bahama. little, but their outlook has changed considerably. Though still suffering
acutely trom an inferiority complex, they have become more independent.
A hey have ieaint to resort to the Government when they consider themselves aggrieved and
they have shaken off the remnants of feudal obligation to individual members of the Ruling Family
which they unwillingly bore in the past. They recognise and appreciate the advantages of a central
£;cneinmcnt which has made it impossible for individual landlords to take the law into their own
hands or to unduly oppress their tenants.
Another important political change is the marked decrease in the influence of the Shia religious
leaders. 1 he Shia Qadis used to be regarded, especially in the villages, as almost divine, but to-day
then power has dwindled. This is mainly owing to the undignified dissentions among the religious
leaders and the public exposure, after criminal proceedings, for misappropriation of trust money,
of two Shia Qadis during recent years. The transfer of the wakf administration from the control
of the Qadis to a council elected by the Shia community has also contributed towards the lessening
of the influence of the Qadis. Instead of depending on the advice of the Qadis in all important
and political matters, the country people now follow the lead or two or three politically minded
merchants of Alanamah whose ideas, though progressive, are not tree from self-interest.
Living conditions among the Bahama have changed very little. They are still the poorest
clement in the community. I heir villages are dirty, unhealthy, and insanitary, and physically
they are below the standard of the Arabs. Although no statistics are available, it seems evident
that there is a \ ery high death rate among young children in the villages owing to unhealthy
conditions and lack of medical attention. 1 he diet of the people is mainly vegetables, fish, and a
little tice and dates, but they spend more money on their clothes, because they need no longer
tear that, if they are decently dressed, they will attract the cupidity of the local overlord. Although
the average amount which they spend on marriage-money has decreased by over 50% in ten years,
yet they still spend large sums on making the pilgrimage to the sacred cities of Iraq, which they
regard as being as important as the pilgrimage to Mecca. In spite of the obvious poverty of the
Bahama, the Ruling Family still believe that their tenants, when they fail to pay their rent, have
large sums of money hoarded in their houses. This belief, in the past, was one of the reasons for
the frequent attacks on Bahama houses and villages by armed followers of Khalifah landlords.
For some years, however, crimes of this type have ceased to take place.
The Bahama take more interest in the doings of the outer world. Although most of them
are illiterate when they come into Manamah or to the weekly markets, they listen to people
discussing the news in the papers or what they have heard on the 'radios,' and they carry distorted
and very inaccurate stories back to their houses and villages. In their general outlook the Bahama
are many years behind the town dwellers.
The Among the townspeople, particularly in the capital, there have been
Townsfolk. startling changes during the last ten years, both in the style of living and
the outlook of the people. These changes have come from the people
themselves and have not been forced upon them by the Government. This is especially noticeable
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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- 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.