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Coll 30/33 'Persian Gulf, Trucial Coast. Policy of H.M.G. List of Trucial Sheikhs' [‎343r] (685/818)

The record is made up of 1 file (407 folios). It was created in 27 May 1929-8 Aug 1939. 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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<ji Police—whose four-year contract expires about the same time—should depart with
the Indian policemen at the end of 1930. In view, however, of the probability that
Bahrain may shortly have to submit to an influx of American and other foreign
drillers and oil workers, I do not think it advisable to dispense with the services of a
European Commandant of Police unless and until we are satisfied that the threatened
invasion—which would certainly include a number of tough characters*—will not
take place. On the analogy of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the Gulf Syndicate
would probably start a security service of its own, and the Bahrain Stater wdll require
a European Commandant of Police to deal with it, and with the bad characters
attracted by the chance of employment.
5. I turn now to the Customs Department. This was an old bone of contention
between Shaikh Isa and the Government of India. It was Colonel Mead who first
sn gg es t e( l bringing it under control, under the mistaken assumption that Shaikh Isa
was really as poor as he pretended when the pretence suited him. In any case, the
question of the Customs Department came for a time to be looked upon as a trial of
strength between Shaikh Isa and the Government of India.
The old system was to farm out the Customs to a Hindu contractor and, as was
only to be expected, the revenue accruing to the State was much less than it should
have been. This loss was estimated at one lakh One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. a year, but judging from
the yield of the Customs since it has been put under conscientious European control,
it must have been considerably more.
Customs is the main source of revenue to the State and brought in during the past
year Rs. 11,24,079, out of a total of Rs. 12,15,694.
The Director of Customs is not only in charge of the department from which he
takes his name, but he is also Port Officer and controls the passports, registration of
boats, and various minor revenue departments.
Owing to the lack of natives with sufficient education and honesty to take charge
of the various departments, a foreigner must be appointed to control them. At
present the head is a European. Is anything to be gained by substituting an
Egyptian, Syrian or Iraqian ?
lo the untrained eye of an Englishman, an Egyptian might look more indigenous
than an Englishman, but to a resident of the Gulf he would still be a foreigner.
The Customs is not a political department, and in Persia it can be staffed by
foreigners without upsetting the political balance; but in a small nation like Bahrain
the personality of the man who collects 90 per cent, of the revenues must count for
something. As in the case of the Adviser, why jettison a European, who can be
trusted, in order to replace him by some foreign Oriental about whose integrity and
whose intrigues one can never be sure ?
0. Captain Prior, the present 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. at Bahrain, summed up the situation
very well in one of his reports to me, when he stated that Mr. de Grenier collects the
revenues of the State and Mr. Belgrave conserves them. If the efficient collector and
conserver are removed, what is to happen to a State which has become accustomed to
a far higher rate of public expenditure than ever before in its history ? Not only
have the claims of the idle and ever increasing A1 Khalifa been generously met, but
for the first time Bahrain has been administered for the good of its people, and not
merely for the benefit of its ruling family. With a decline in revenue, discontent is
sure to return. If the European Adviser were removed, his place would be taken by
an Arab from Bahrain—almost certainly one of the A1 Khalifa. With the exception
of Shaikh Abdulla there is at the moment not a single member of the A1 Khalifa fit
either by character or education to fill the post. Bahrain in the present day is not
such a principality as those of the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , slumbering in the conditions of the
seventh century. Thanks to its geographical situation as the gateway to Najd and to
the pearl trade of which it is the centre, it has always been a trading centre, and has
attracted to itself a number of foreigners, who are in contact with the outside world.
Thanks to the interest taken by the Government of India in 1923, its administration,
once a by-word, is now the admiration of the Gulf. The more enlightened citizens
of Dubai, for instance, envy Bahrain, though the ruling Shaikhs have no desire to
copy it.
7. ft has repeatedly been said that Bainain has been westernised too hurriedly.
It is necessary to examine this statement, for although there is a substratum of truth
in it, 1 think it conveys a wrong impression that all native institutions have been
ruthlessly swept away. The reforms instituted in or shortly before 1923 related to—
(a) Municipalities.
(b) Reorganisation of the Customs Department.
(c) Institution of a proper police force.

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Content

This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding British Government policy on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. . Specifically, this includes discussions concerning the possibility of appointing an Assistant 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. to the region, incorporating it into civil air routes and whether or not Britain should take more formal control of the area. The correspondence is primarily between officials at the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in Bushire, the External Affairs Department of the Government of India, the 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. , the Air Ministry and the Foreign Office.

In addition to correspondence, the file also contains the following:

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

Extent and format
1 file (407 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 409; these numbers are written in pencil 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-382; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 30/33 'Persian Gulf, Trucial Coast. Policy of H.M.G. List of Trucial Sheikhs' [‎343r] (685/818), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3747, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100057172201.0x000056> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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