'File 35/5 Development of Grazing Grounds (Supplies from Persia)' [‎43r] (85/118)

* ^ > At t,he re -l uea « of* sir Hupert liay. Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , I
v^it©a the Persian Qulf from 2rd to 7th March, 1949 for the purpose
of advising on the possibilities of agricultural development. I
jraveraed the cultivated area, of Bahrain island and some of Sitra
island, visited many date plantations and other areas under cultivation,
observed agricultural conditions and practices, and studied such reports
a ' VJ ' literature bearing oh the subject as were available. Sir Rupert Hay
personally accompanied me on one tour of the north of the island;
Mr, Balrysapie Belgr&va, Adviser to the Bahrain Government, and his
son took me tp the cultivated areas on the east and to Sitra:
ilhan oaldb liohamed Khalil showed me those in the north and west of the
island. Sir Rupert also arranged for H.R. the Sheikh of Bahrain to
receive me and he accorapanied me on that occasion. I met various
oirtcers of the Bahrain Government and was specially interested to find
that. Mr. S. Hills, Head of the Public Works Department, la basically a
graduate in agriculture of Cambridge University, It was pleasing to
meet iJmn Sahib Mohammed Khalil, whose jiome country in India X know well,
x mn grateful to him for the general infomation he gave me on Bahrain
conditions and for .interpreting for me the conversations which we had
with (mltivators during our tour of the west, I wish to express my deep
appreciation of all that was done by Sir Rupert Kay and Mr. Belgrave to
enable me to seo conditions at first hand and to meet people likely to be
of interest and help to me in fulfilling the purpose of my visit.
PERSIAN GULP RESIDENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. AC35A
2. The territory covered by the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. includes not
Kuwait, Qatar, the Trecial Coast and Muscat. I did not
tnese latter areas on this occasion. Regarding them an handbook
on the rersian Gulf gives the following information ; -
_ . i3 a waterless desert offering no scope for agricultural
development. The annual rainfall of 5 to 6 inches a year is inadequate
to support crop cultivation and at best can give a limited amount of
grazing In ^avourable years to the flocks of visiting nomads from the
Xiiai.nl-and, The local water is brackish and even drinking water has to be
brought in by country craft.
2&tar. This peninsula is rainless, hilly and barren,
^ Truoial Coaat, Of the seven Sheikhdoms in this area the
territory of the largest is said to be mostly desert. In the submontane
part of one of the smaller, however, there are fairly extensive date
gardens and natural vegetation. This territory could not be visited in
guc time available. Sea transport is slew whilst air transport to Sharjah
is available only once a week and even then, in order to study conditions,
one must be prepared to spend a week until the arrival of the next plane/
Much of the country consists ©f bare hills but for a
miles along the Batinah Coast north of Muscat, there is a
xertile area in which date gardens are abundant. There are said to be
fertile oases in the Cte&r, hills also. To visit this area from Bahrain
a period of two to three weeks would be required.
Further south, Dhafar province produces coconuts, millets and
sugarcane. Its possibilities for agricultural development have been
exaaiined already, in November, 1947» by the Director of Agriculture,
Aden. '' <
BAHRAIN
3* The territory known as Bahrain consists of a group of small
islands, Bahrain island itself is by far the largest of them: it is
almost 30 miles long by about 10 miles broad at its widest point. Its
/total...