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Coll 30/69 'Bahrain: Pearling Riots in.' [‎16r] (31/161)

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The record is made up of 1 file (79 folios). It was created in 25 Jan 1932-15 Aug 1934. It was written in English. 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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Note by Mr.Belgrade, Financial Adviser to
tne Bahrain Government, on Bahrain Pearl Fishers.
*********
The diving community in Bahrain consists of 3
categories: the shore merchants who do the big buying and
selling and who either own or finance the boats, the nakhudas
or boat captains, and the large inarticulate mass of divers,
illiterate Arabs who were previously cheated and oppressed
fcy their employers, or rather their owners, the boat captains.
About 15,000 local divers go out from Bahrain every season
and it has been estimated that about 100,000 men from the
whole Gulf are employed on the banks every year.
Attempts to improve the diving system met with
difficulties. The divers were suspicious and apathetic, the
merchants and captains were violently opposed to changes that
would loosen their hold over the men and until the present
Shaikh succeeded his father it was considered unpolitic to
press for reforms. In 1924 His Sxcellency Shaikh Hamad in
conjunction with Major Daly, who was then 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. , and
with the support of the Government of India, took the matter
in hand. Only a very few of the more far sighted merchants,
and the Shia and Sunni Qadis, supported the movement, but the
reforms were finally pushed through mainly owing to the keen
ness and energy of Major Daly.
The principal features are as foil owe:-
The amount of the advance and the amount of interest
permissible is laid down by law. No other charges may be
debited against a diver. Merchants and boat captains are
compelled to keep regular accounts, which were made out by a
humber of diving clerks who are authorised by the Government.
Every diver keeps a small book issued Xxy the Government which
shows his account with his captain. Boat captains are for
bidden to sell the pearls privately but must do so in the
presence/

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Content

The file concerns demonstrations by pearl divers in Bahrain in 1932, in the course of which two people were killed. The disturbances arose following the issue of a proclamation by the Government of Bahrain announcing changes in inheritance law. However, the file states that the basic cause of the 'riots' was economic: a protest against the smallness of diving advances. The papers record the British view of the causes of the disturbances and their circumstances; the role of Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain; the response to the events of the British Government; and comments in the German press.

The papers include a letter 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. , Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) to 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. , giving a detailed account of events (folios 65-79); papers concerning Belgrave's reaction to a Parliamentary question by the Labour MP David Grenfell about the events, and Belgrave's role in them (folios 40-51); and correspondence between the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, the Foreign Office, and other British officials concerning an article in the German press entitled 'Swan Song of the Pearl Divers' by Hans Joachim von Bassewitz, which was highly critical of British handling of the incident (folios 4-38).

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (79 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 81; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 30/69 'Bahrain: Pearling Riots in.' [‎16r] (31/161), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3786, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037421634.0x000020> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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