'Adminisistration [Administration] Reports 1931-1935' [‎29r] (57/416)

CHAPTER Vin.
Administration Report of the Bahrain Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for the year 1931.
year. i>m<mnrf '~ CaPtain C ' G ' Pri ° r teld charge ° f the A S enc y throughout the
to t A Sai y id Sad| 3iq Hasan held charge of the duties of Indian Assis-
AMu 1 ] Ha,v e ^ hen he lef t J 01 In i ia bein 8 succee ded by Khan Bahadur
Wd a^British Consd q Pr ° C ' t0 Kandahar Where he had been trans -
t ti, He i llad an , exc ®P tional knowledge of Arabic, and his transfer was a great loss
leading mSants ^ WaS Hked and res P ected both b y the Shaikhs and the
^c e iw t 0/ the Al Khalifa Family .—Shaikh Hamad has been on
excellent terms w.th the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. throughout the year, and with the return of
I . Holmes his health improved. He agreed to a 10 per cent, cut in the A1 Khalifa
ami y allowances but made no attempt to reduce his personal expenditure and
s now m financial difficulties. He has little sense of values and gave unnecessarily
large presents to his many visitors during the year. His Excellency is of too
generous a disposition and these self invited visitors, who are almost all neighbour-
mg shaikhs, have no object m coming other than lining their pockets, for in
these parts the host is expected to give his guests presents and tip their servants
lavishly. Shaikh Hamad cannot be made to realise that the more he gives to
these People, the more will come to Bahrain. If taken to task, His Excellency
will say that he does it to serve the British Government by demonstrating to his
Government 1116 ^ ^ and ^PP 111688 1x0 enjoys in the shadow of His Majesty’s
Shaikh AbduUa bm Isa is apparently genuinely interested in his portfolio of
Education, but shows a tendency to pass on more disagreeable problems to the
for , dl ®P, osa !- He took his usual hunting trips to the mainland, seeking
busta rds and bedoum brides with equal zeal. h
Shaikh Muhammad bin Isa proceeded to India for the sake of his health at
the close of the year His real object m going was to save money, since he gets
free tickets froin the British India Steam Navigation Company and he finds he can
live cheaper m Bombay than Bahrain. An improvement in the Manama Munici-
^ PresTdeir 78 n0tlCeable when his brotller ’ Shaikl1 Abdulla, takes over his duties
Shaikh Salman has done good work on the Bahrain Court and is the only
member of his family who is not afraid of hard work. The Bahrain Court are
handicapped by a tendency on the part of Shaikh Hamad to revise their orders
v hen they give decisions unfavourable to prominent men, but with the death of
Shaikh Isa and the accession of Shaikh Hamad, Shaikh Salman’s position will
become much stronger. Shaikh Salman is on excellent terms with the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .
Shaikh Rashid bm Muhammad is President of the Majlis al IM, or Commer-
well Court’ and also tke Dlv mg Court. He has little influence, but has done quite
dnnp S wpl1 kl1 a S° WS ?^ 0mise ° n the Lower ^rain Court and has
intelligent of ^ ^ Ha ^ d ha \ n0t mUCil character > ^ the most
intelligent of the Shaikh s sons, and now that he has been provided with glasses
he is making most praiseworthy efforts to remedy his lack of education.
vnn The . Polltlcal Agent’s efforts to persuade Shaikh Hamad to see that his two
youngest sons Daij and Ahmad, received some education did not meet with much
uccess, but a local man has been found to teach them two mornings a week It
was suggested that three mornings a week would be more useful, but His Excellency
felt this would be too great a strain for his Benjamin, Daij. P •
Bahrain £ate.-Mr. Belgrave proceeded on leave on the 12th April and re-
turnea on hez8th October. During his absence Captain Parke acted for him He
teWhil bad," 11 laStlC reC€ttiCn 011 tlS retUTn ’ and tbe Sbaikk 8eemed g lad
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