Coll 30/9(2) 'Persian Gulf Annual Administration Reports' [‎35r] (71/88)

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3P. a A T A R .
(1) Hla .Exollency Sheikh Abdullah
bln Oa»la A1 Thanl. C.I.E .
This old man (reputed to be 84 years of age)
remained surprisingly well during the year* His grip on
the affairs of his barbarous Sheikdom remains unimpaired
and unyielding though, when relaxed, he lapses into a ch^ld
like senility* The death of his otherwise unloved and
unlovable son, Hamad, affected him deeply*
In May the Shaikh contributed Rs.1,00,000/-
to a fund for helping Arab Refugees from Palestine. His
son Shaikh Hamad contributed Rs.30,000/-.
(ID Ihe Catsr Succession.
In May Shaikh Hamad, the second son and heir-
apparent of the Ruler, died in the hospital at Dukhan of
Messrs* Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited* Shaikh
Hamad who was a chronic diabetic, obese, and in poor
general health, was taken ill early in May with a fever and
diarrhoea* After treatment by an Indian doctor he was
removed by Dr.Anderson, the Company^ Chief Medical Officer,
to Dukhan where he warned to be progressing favourably but
had a relapse towards the end of the month and died on the
27th May* His death was dlagonlsed as due to heart failure
and toxaemia following an attach of sysentery*
Shaikh Abdullah was faced with the difficult
question of choosing a successor.Shaikh All, his eldest son,
has always been regarded as a person of weak intellect and
has hitherto lived the life of e complete nonentity* Only
a fortnight after Shaikh Hamad 1 s death, however, his eldest
son Shaikh Abdul Aziz died at Karachi while on a visit
there. Shaikh Abdullah was thus left to choose between
Shaikh All and the second son of Shaikh Hamad, Shaikh Khalifah,
a youth of 18 and a minor. The decision exercised his $lnd
for some months but in November he announced that All was
to be his successor and Khalifah to be second in the line of
succession* This decision was announced before a meeting
of Qatar notables whom he got to sign a document that they
approved of Shaikh Abdullah*s decision and recognised the
succession as announced by him*
am Zrsgrgps
Afther the war the oil company was handicapped
for a time by a scarcity of technicians and proper equipment
but in the year 1948 they made appreciable progress. A
brief account of their activities is at paragraph 20 of this
report* Being largely a British Company, Petroleum Con
cessions Limited have only a limited dupply of dollars and
are so compelled to concentrate their efforts and resources
on essentials. While therefore their drilling progra me
ana pipe line construction are up-to-date, they put up
109.9°F on 11- 6-48.
62°F on 31-12-48.
1(X# on 14-1-4*- and
3— 3—48*
30% on 28-11-48.
9*6 centimetres*