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‘File 29/25 DATES QUOTA – 1944-’45 FOR BAHRAIN AND TRUCIAL COAST’ [‎25r] (49/188)

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The record is made up of 1 file (92 folios). It was created in 10 May 1944-24 Jan 1950. 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. .

Transcription

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The 1412 tons, which were not quota dates, were bought
at different prices varying between Rs. 12/- and Rs. 6/-
per basket, the total cost amounting to Rs, 3,70,000/-.
The average cost per basket of non-quota dates was Rs. 10/-
At the end of the season non-quota dates were being offered
for sale in the harbour of Manamah at very low prices but
as the Government held a very large stock of expensive
Basrah dates it was decided that a ban should be imposed
on the purchase of any more imported dates in order to
avoid the danger of the Government being left again, as
was the case in the previous year, with a quantity of
unsold dates on hand. Large quantities of dates, identi
cal to those bought from Messrs. Andrew Weir & Co. were
being hawked round the Gulf and after being refused by
Bahrain they were sold on the mainland at Rs, 3/- or Rs. 4/
per basket. The Government’s action in forbidding the
import of cheap dates caused some resentment among the
public who were not acquainted with the facts of the situa
tion; this unsatisfactory position was the direct result
of the inability of the authorities in Iraq to prevent
dates being smuggled out of Iraq and sold in Gulf ports.
3. The 790 tons of dates from the 1942 crop, held
by the Government, are the remainder of the 1000 tons
referred to by me in my letter to you No. 1902/50SF of
October 5th 1942. Only about 210 tons of these dates
were sold since that date and if these dates were reweighed
it would be found that there was a very considerable
shrinkage. These dates are now offered for sale at one
quarter of the price which they cost the Government, only
a small proportion of them are fit for human consumption
but they are useful for feeding animals. On this transac
tion it is probable that the Government will be about
Rs. 2,70,000/- out of pocket.

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Content

The file contains correspondence about a British Ministry of Food scheme in 1944 for ensuring a controlled supply of Iraqi dates at reasonable prices to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. shaikhdoms during the Second World War (1939-1945), because local date crops were insufficient and imported dates were subject to wartime quota arrangements. Included in the file is a comprehensive memorandum written by the British Ministry of Food Dried Fruits Division in Wales in 1944, describing in detail the Ministry’s wartime scheme for the central purchase and coordinated distribution of Iraqi dates throughout the Middle East, India and Africa, following the short Iraqi date crop of 1942. There is also correspondence between 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. , Bushire and the 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. in London in 1944, about the merits of the British governmental central purchasing scheme for Iraqi dates, for keeping prices down, preventing wartime profiteering, ensuring fair distribution and discouraging the sale of smuggled Iraqi (and Persian) dates in Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ports. These concerns are discussed repeatedly in correspondence throughout the file.

In 1944, 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 discusses in detail with 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. and other British officials in Sharjah, as well as the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, why the Sheikhs of 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 of Dubai and Sharjah prefer to use their own commercial agents and local merchants for the procurement of their respective allocations of quota imports of Iraqi dates, rather than as hitherto, the British company Andrew Weir of Basra (appointed Crown purchasing agents in the Middle East). From May 1945 onwards, their official discussions focus on gathering information about the annual requirements for dates in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. shaikhdoms in the current year, as well as the total number and quantity of their current date exports and imports, in preparation for the gradual relaxation of Government of India wartime trade restrictions on the export and import of dates by Bahrain and the other Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. shaikhdoms under British protection, with Iraq, Saudi Arabia and India.

Extent and format
1 file (92 folios)
Arrangement

Files papers are arranged more or less chronologically.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 94; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-93; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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‘File 29/25 DATES QUOTA – 1944-’45 FOR BAHRAIN AND TRUCIAL COAST’ [‎25r] (49/188), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/785, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026481800.0x000032> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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