'File No. II/9 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Persian Gulf, Maskat & Arabian Shore of the Persian Gulf. Nov '07 - Dec '08.' [‎15v] (32/132)

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generally in the Gulf, and of the establish-
m of foreign firms and missions in Bahrein,
it seemed desirable that, if possible, provision
Sdould be m§de in the Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. for
the exercise by 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. of juris
diction over foreigners in Bahrein, before
foreign interests had so largely developed as
to render the assumption of the legal duties
of a protecting Power a matter of greater
intricacy acd difficulty. Bahrein had been
under sole British domination since 3820, and
on several occasions the Government of India
had had to interfere by armed force, either to
prevent the Chief of Bahrein from attacking
his neighbours, or them from attacking him,
or to settle matters relating to the Chiefship.
In 1880, by a treaty published for public
information, the Sheikh had bound himself to
abstain from making treaties of any sort with
any State or Government other than the
British and to refuse to permit other Powers
to establish diplomatic or Consular Agencies
or coaling depdts without the consent of the
British Government. This treaty in itself
constituted a sort of protectorate, which might
perhaps be regarded as having ripened into
maturity in consequence of the open and
regular exercise of protectorate powers by
Great Britain. It was understood that Prance,
Germany, and America had all received in
formal notice of the existence of a British
Protectorate over Bahrein and that this had
recently been announced formally to the
Pow ers most directly concerned, Turkey and
Persia. If His Majesty^ Government con
sidered it feasible in the circumstances to
assume jurisdiction over foreigners in Bahrein,
it was recommended that this should be done,
and also, that the Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. should, if
possible, be so framed as to enable the Political
Agent to perform the functions of a Notary
Public.
206. On the 1st October 1906, an indi-
Aiieged abduction of ^idual named Abdur
a Turkish girl from Rahim bin Othman
Baghdad to Bahrein. appeared before 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. , Bahrein, and alleged that he
had been commissioned by Taufig Effendi, a
clerk in the Customs Department, Basra,
to search at Bahrein for the latter’s daughter
who had been abducted from Baghdad by
certain Ottoman subjects. Abdur Rahim
stated that he had found the girl in the house
of Ali bin Amar, a resident of Koweit and
Bahrein, who claimed to have purchased her
at Koweit. He requested that the girl might
be sent to Basra and that Ali bin Amar
might also be forwarded there for trial on the
charge of having stolen the girl and allowed
her to be cohabited with illegally. 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. summoned Ali bin Amar to