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‘File 29/21 - III FOOD SUPPLY RICE’ [‎14r] (27/720)

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The record is made up of 1 file (358 folios). It was created in 30 May 1948-26 Sep 1949. It was written in English and Arabic. 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. .

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I
NO. 1573-(80/78A)
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.
BAHRAIN.
DJU1TUIJ.H .
/£,Id June, 1948
g. iU7 ^
Dear Department
We forward herewith a copy of a letter received from
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. 9 Bahrain f aoout the wheat situation in
Bahrain.
2. We have already taken up the question of the arrears
of wheat due. with Messrs. Frank Strick & Co., of Basrah and
have received a satisfactory reply. \
3. The Bahrain Government have a fairly efficient rationing
system and we have no reason to doubt that they are now Issuing
rations to X05 9 000 people as against 90,000 in 1940. The
Increase is due partly to the natural growth of the population
and partly to immigration. Owing to the comparative prosperity
of Bahrain there has been substantial immigration from Persia.
4. It will be noted that the Bahrain Government request that
either the original barley quota of 310 tons should be restored
or that they should be supplied with rice or wheat in *'
o. We have now received an application from the Bahrain
Government for Brasilian currency up to £.120,000 to enable
them to accept an offer of 2,000 tons of rice from Brazil.
It is quoted at £.60 a ton and must be paid for in "convertible
sterling". As we have no financial expert we find it a little
difficult to follow the implication of your letter No. (E7402/
115/91) of the 9th June, 1948, about Brazilian currency and
^would be grateful if you could kindly telegraph to us whether
all or any of the exchange asked for may be made available
to the Bahrain Government. We would note that that Government
has no dollars at its disposal and that they can onlp be
purchased in comparatively small quantities at a high rate in
the Bahrain bazzar. The Shaikh is arguing that the exchange
asked for ought to be made available for his Government as his
country produces oil which can be exchanged for dollars and
we believe it to be a fact that the Bahrain Petroleum Company
do make-over a substantial amount of dollar earnings to His
Majesty's Treasury.
6. We would add that we have received a similar application
for Brazilian currency from the Kuwait Government but we will
deal with this separately in the light of the reply received
to this letter.
What they really want is rice.
5. We have now received an application from the
Yours ever
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.
v*
Eastern Department
Foreign Office,
Londo
Copy to 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. , Bahrain
\

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Content

The file contains correspondence about arrangements for the purchase and shipping of rice imports mainly from African and South American countries, for consumption in Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai, Sharjah and other Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. shaikhdoms, where rice and other cereals continued to be in scarce supply after the Second World War (1939-1945). The file consists mainly of letters from Bahrain and Dubai merchants, or from the Imperial Bank of Iran and the Eastern Bank Limited on their behalf, also from the local manager of the Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited on behalf of oil company personnel, asking 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. , Bahrain to permit them foreign currency exchange facilities for the purchase of rice from Brazil and other non-Sterling countries. Also included in the file are the Political Agent’s responses, including importation recommendation certificates and letters to their banks, approving the release of sterling for the opening of letters of credit and hard currency payments to exporters.

The file also contains the successful bids made to the International Emergency Food Committee (IEFC), Washington by the British Government on behalf of Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and the other Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. shaikhdoms, for a share in the 1949 Middle East rice allocations. In relation to this matter there is the correspondence of 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and 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. , Bahrain with the Rulers of Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai and also with British officials at the Ministry of Food and the Foreign Office in London. In this correspondence, they discuss reducing existing wheat quota imports for Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. shaikhdoms in favour of increased rice quota imports, the arrangements for the local storage and stock management of the IEFC allocated Egyptian rice by British Ministry of Food officials in Cairo, the appointment of approved purchasing and shipping agents by the Bahrain and Dubai authorities to act for them and for their merchants with regard to orders, payments and deliveries of the IEFC allocated Egyptian quota rice by sea to Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai.

Extent and format
1 file (358 folios)
Arrangement

Files papers are arranged more or less chronologically.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 360; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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‘File 29/21 - III FOOD SUPPLY RICE’ [‎14r] (27/720), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/779, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026189801.0x00001c> [accessed 8 May 2024]

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