File 1508/1905 Pt 3 'Bahrain: postal arrangements; mails; post office' [‎109v] (66/180)

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their present subsidy or under other existing conditions, reverts to the alter
native proposal originally made by you in which I concurred.
This was, you will remember, that the Turkish mails for Ojeir should be
made over to the British Post Office at Basrah, and be conveyed along with our
own mails by fast steamer to Bushire and thence by fortnightly steamer to
Bahrein where they would be taken over by an Ottoman official who would
make his own arrangements for forwarding them to Ojeir.
I am desired to inform you that this arrangement commends itself to the
Government of India, and that so far as they are concerned, there is no objec
tion to its being introduced as soon as may be found convenient by the Turkish
authorities. I note in this connection that the British India Steam Navigation
Company have suggested that their Agent in Bahrein could arrange for the
regular despatch and receipt of the Turkish bag to and from Ojeir.
In pursuance of the above, I request that you will he good enough to
communicate with me in due course, for the information of the Government of
India, the ultimate decision of the Turkish authorities both in regard to this
A1 Ilassa mail question, and also with reference to the contemplated Turkish
steamer service, the establishment of which was mooted in connection
therewith. •
No. 36 , dated the 7 th February 1906 (Confidential),
From— Captain S. G. Knox, I.A., 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. , Koweit,
To— Major P. Z. Cox, C.I.E., 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.
I have the honour to reply to your letter No. 129, dated the 21st January
1906, on the subject of the Turkish post between Basrah and A1 Hassa.
2. I have learnt that there lives in Zubair a Turkish postal agent, an
Arab of the family of Ash-Shabeybi. The family is, I am told, also
represented in A1 Hassa. It appears that the ordinary Turkish post runs
between Basrah and Zubair and that the Government bags for A1 Hassa are
handed over to the Shabeybi agent. He entrusts them to Ahmed and Othman,
sons of the family of A1 Mazyad and natives of Koweit. These men have been
what I may call the hereditary postal carriers between Koweit and Basrah
and they bring the post to Koweit, handing it over to Muhammad-bin-
Bashayyar who is a Hassawi shop-keeper who has been living in Koweit for
the past 30 years.
Private letters destined for A1 Hassa, as well as the Turkish Government
mails, are also deposited in his house. There is no question of stamps, post
marks or other formalities. Muhammad bin Bashayyar in his turn hands over
the^ letters to the Hassa runners, one of whom is Abdul Hadi-ul-Gassas, an
ordinary Bedouin of the Umtair tribe and two are of the Ajman tribe ; they
take the letters on to A1 Hassa. Thus the already existing arrangements are
primitive and what appears to have happened is that the Turkish Postmaster
at Basrah has taken advantage of them to forward the Turkish mail bags.
Since the arrival of the British India mail is so uncertain, I am thinking of
making a similar arrangement for my own weekly mail bags, when the steamer
does not call here.
3. Muhammad bin Bashayyar has come before me and explained his
position without reserve or hesitation. He says he is a sub-agent of Shabeybi
and looks to him for pay and that he was only concerned with the Govern
ment mail bags and letters for Hassa. With private letters between Basrah
and Koweit he had nothing to do and I must refer to the sons of A1 Mazyad.
If I may believe him, this informal postal arrangement dates from the time
the Turks took A1 Hassa, but he mentioned that the Wali was dissatisfied with
the existing arrangements, and was inclined to prefer a sea route, in which
case his occupation would be gone.
4. I could ask Sheikh Mubarak what his precise connection is with regard
to these mails, but I can already anticipate his answer, viz., that the postal
contractor asked him whether it would be safe to send the mails in this way,
and that Sheikh Mubarak replied that he would guarantee their safety in his