'File 27/4 Miscellaneous Trade Reports' [‎7v] (19/702)

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The Maria Theresa dollar is used as currency, but the rupee is almost as
well known.
The area supplied from these ports is sparsely populated, and with the
exception of some trade with the northern parts of Oman, there does not
appear to be outlet for an extensive commerce.
QUESTIONS AEEECTING THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. REGIONS
GENERALLY.
It is satisfactory to note that the use of the rupee is increasing in the
coast regions of Oman, Bahrein, and the Arab coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , for
exchange risk is eliminated where silver dollar prices are not needed. But
as the Maria Theresa dollar is the common medium of exchange in the
interior of Arabia, it cannot be expected that the rupee will altogether dis
place it at the coast ports. It has been suggested that a double rupee, which
would be of about the same size and weight as a dollar, might be issued, but
I fail to perceive any advantage in such a coin. The single rupee is already
nearer the exchange value of the dollar, and its fiduciary value is thoroughly
recognized iu these regions.
The Indian subsidiary coins are reported to be widely used in Bahrein
and the Arab coast, but in Oman a quarter anna or pice, similar to the Indian
coin of that denomination, has unfortunately been issued in excess, its current
value being about 1 pie. It is to be hoped H.H. the Sultan may prohibit
further issues of this coin, and ultimately introduce Indian subsidiary coins.
This would tend, I think, to establish the rupee as the currency of Oman, a
result which would benefit trade as it is so largely with India.
The average rate of freight by direct British steamers between the Persian
Gulf and Europe ompared with that between India and Europe might
suggest that there is still room for competition. There seems to be a possible
opening for a coasting trade in these regions. A line of light draught cargo
steamers, connecting with ocean steamers at such points as Muscat, Bunder
Abbas, and Bahrein or Bushire, might secure a great part of the trade now
carried in sailing craft to the minor ports of Oman and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and
during the pearl fishing season carry provisions to the fishing fleets in
exchange for shells, which at present cannot be brought to market. A
reliable landing, delivery, and forwarding agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. is much needed at certain
ports, markedly at Bushire.
The bulk of the Foreign trade of Oman, Bahrein, and the Arab coast of
the Gulf is transacted through India, and is in the hands of British Indian
traders, who obtain most of the manufactured goods they require from
British shipping houses in Bombay. The limited market in any one of these
places offers, I think, too small a field to promise a remunerative opening
for a British or European trader in competition with our British Indian
subjects; although perhaps an energetic trader settling in Bahrein or Bunder
Abbas, if furnished with satistactory references, might secure in addition to
general mercantile business, such other affairs as landing, forwarding, banking,
and shipping agencies, which all together might produce an adequate
recompense for residence in a somewhat trying climate and monotonous
surroundings.
In any case the collective value of our trade with these regions appears to
me to deserve more attention than it at present receive. Oman and the
Gulf are within easy reach of Bombay by passenger steamer, and any
Bombay firm making a study on the spot of the condition and needs of the
traders and markets of these regions, and keeping in touch with them by
occasional visits, might collect and develop many threads of business. The
shell trade, for instance, might reward attention. There appears to be a fair
market for this article in Europe, and larger quantities than are at present
exported may be procurable in Baherin and Lingah. Economy might also
perhaps result from ttfe^ rough cutting of discs for buttons, &c., in Bahrein,
where labour is cheap, instead of, as at present, exporting the whole shell, of
which a great part must be valueless.
The inconvenience and loss of time caused by detention in quarantine
stations in the Gulf is particularly vexatious to business men who wish to