'File 4/13 Zubarah 3' [‎133r] (270/512)

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^ The above being the state of mind of the Shaikh of Bahrein and his
^ tWvisers, I do not think one may be surprised at the three requests made by
^haikh Abdullah in London.
*81^1 To turn to the three points in question.
1V H| Point /.—The Civil Commissioner states in his No. ]A988, dated 30th
jS^otober 1919, to “ Zinneremo,” London, that the matter was for all p:actical
! 1!1 t%urposes settled when the Order-in-Council was brought into force. There are
^Ikiill points, however, over which a ruling is required. As I understand it, the
?rm neighbouring Arab Eulers” refers to the inhabitants of Qatar Peninsula
nd Nejd. Is it intended to refer to the inhabitants of Oman, Kuwait, Zanzibar,
Cadramant, Yemen, etc., the inhabitants of all which places are to be found
' ere trading at all times? In other words are local, resident subjects of the
'fillers of Oman, Kuwait, Zanzibar, Hejaz and inhabitants of Hadramant and
’emen to be considered under the jurisdiction of the Shaikh of Bahrein or
nder that of the Political ^ gent ? A ruling is required on this point as Shaikh
: sa certainly thinks he should control them.
Point 2.—I have nothing to say except that up to the day of his depar-
ire, my predecessor was carrying on a correspondence with the Shaikh of
Bahrein over this very subject. The Shaikh had dismissed a member of the
! %i/Majlis-al-Urfi ” and had appointed another member without the knowledge
approval of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. . The circumstances suggested an attempt to
ake a test case to see how far the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. would be supported.
The Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. contended that under the Order-in-Council he had
UEvery right to be consulted in the matter and refused to recognise “Majlis-
-Urfi ” until Shaikh ’Isa withdrew his nomination. My predecessor went
i:*,ivay at this stage of the crises and it has been left for me to settle the tangle,
certainly consider the Order-in-Council is clear on the subject and should
3 insisted on. In the meantime the Majlis-al-Urfrs sittings have been sus-
tilfiS, (feonded pending settlement of this vexed question.
Pomt 3. The question of Zuhara .—I have been through a great many files
i the subject and have consulted confidentially various local people of
rominence, without, of course, divulging the reasons for my questions. The
inclusions I have arrived at are that it would be distinctly unwise to allow
fiikh Isa to occupy Zubara. On the following grounds :—
rCf jfe («) Shaikh Abdullah bin Jassim of Qatar would strongly resent the
Shaikh of Bahrein again getting a footing on the Qatar
peninsula. He is a weaker man and Zubara in the hands of
Shaikh Isa would be a pistol at his head always.
(5) Shaikh Abdullah bin Jassim wmuld certainly object to the develop
ment of a new port on the peninsula of Qatar since it would at
once divert all trade from Dohad (Bida) to Zubara and he would
not only lose a la.rge amount of revenue at present accruing
from the Customs House A1 Dohah, but would stand every chance
of seeing Dohah entirely disappear as the seaport of Qatar.
Ibn Saud similarly would take offence at a revival of the port of
Zubara under Shaikh Isa’s jurisdiction for like reasons to (fi)
above, as such a port would mean the killing of his new trade
centre of O’Jair. It should be noted that the harbour of Zubara
is naturally much better than that of either Dohah or O’Jair, and
with the Shaikh of Bahrein actually compelling all Bahrein trade
to go to the mainland through his port of Zubara, the end of
both Abdullah bin Jassim’s and Ibn Saud’s ports would be certain
and quick. As matters stand a good deal of coolness already
exists between Ibn Saud and Shaikh Isa owing to the latter
having recently instituted a 5 per cent, tax on goods passing
through Bahrain for O’Jair even though such goods never leave
the Bahrein C ustoms House. Ibn Saud contends that Shaikh Isa
^ should only take demurrage charges (or Arthiyeh).
H In my opinion the suggestion of Shaikh Isa’s that he be allowed to revive
Isten year-old controversy should be nipped in the bud. The new move
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