Coll 30/18(1) 'Persian Gulf: Bahrein, Customs dues on goods in transit; attitude of Ibn Saud' [‎519r] (1042/1162)

CONFIDENTIAL.
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.
BAHREIN, 1908-1928.
1
A.—Administration.
1 ' Bin r Ali ’, K ; C - LE - , (1919) ’ c - s l : (1915). (bora 1848,
succeeded loud), was relieved oi control of the administration in 19 9 3 by the
Government of India with the approval of His Majesty’s Government, but
remains titu ai kheikh ol the Islands, his eldest surviving son, Sheikh
Hamad, (1021) (born lb/4, right of succession publicly recognised
by Government of India in 1901, entitled to a salute of seven guns) who
has three sons, born m 1895 (Sheikh Salman), 1898 and 1902, and two brothers
Sheikh Mohammed (born 1877) and Sheikh Abdulla, C.I.E. (1915) (born 1880k
having taken over responsibility for the administration as the fully
empowered agent of his father. Sheikh Isa, although no longer in fact
the ruler of Bahrein, is understood to continue to carry weight locally, and
his wife, a vigorous and unscrupulous lady in the sixties, who prior to his
deposition was stated completely to dominate her husband, remains an
important influence in the State.
2. I he principality is an independent Arab State, under the protection
of His Majesty’s Government, but not a British Protectorate. Its ruler is
precluded by his engagements, of which an abstract is printed in the Precis
of treaties appended to this Memorandum, from receiving the representatives
of, or entering into relations with, foreign Powers, and from ceding, selling,
mortgaging, or giving for occupation, save to His Majesty’s Government, any
part of his territory. He is bound to suppress the slave trade, and to
prohibit traffic in arms, within his territory, and he is precluded from granting
a concession for oil, or for pearl fishing, save with the approval of His
Majesty’s Government.
3. The internal administration is conducted by the Sheikh (Hamad),
assisted since 192G by a European Financial Adviser* (Mr. 0. Dalrymple
Belgrave) and since 1924 by a European Director of Customs (Mr. de
Grenier),I who has, it is understood, been given a year’s notice, expiring in
June 1929, on the initiative of the Government of India, and a European
Chief of Police who is also Assistant to the Financial Adviser (Captain
L. S. Parke). J All these officers are servants of the Sheikh and are paid j Tei.from Pol.Kes.tos.
from Bahrein funds. Their contracts and their conditions of service, like 11
their original selection for employment, were, however, approved by the p. 3070 .
Government of India.
4. His Majesty’s Government and the Government of India are repre
sented in Bahrein by thg 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 (at present Lt.-Col. C. C. J. Loi l > i)31 -
Barrett, C.S.L, C.I.E., formerly First Assistant Resident at Aden), an
appointment created in 1904, and borne on the cadre of the Political
Department of the Government of India. 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. is directly
subordinate 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. . He does not
hold His Majesty’s Commission as a Consul, and exercises no consular
functions. Under the Bahrein Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. , 1913, as amended by
the Bahrein (Amendment) Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. of 1922, he is. the Ifistrict
Magistrate and Sessions Judge, and exercises jurisdiction (subject to appeal
to the Court of 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 respect of British and foreign
subjects in Bahrein. His jurisdiction in the case of foreigners, exercised in
the case of foreigners other than Nejdis since 1904— 0 , was regularised by
the Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. of 1913 (which, owing first to the undesnability of
complicating the 1913-4 negotiations with 9 urkey and then to the war,
was not actually brought into operation until February 1919) and was
extended to cover all foreigners in 1920.
* Appointed for four years in the first instance, subject to three months’ notice from
June 1926, on Rs. 1,000—50—2,200, &o. (Tel. from G. of I. to Pol. Res., 142 n, 2o Oct. ld-o ;
F 3915/25.) 1 ^
t Appointed for three years from 14 Jan. 1924, P. 2146, letter from G. of I. to Pol. es.,
No. 480x, 10 April 1924 ; Pol. Res.’s. Ir. to G. of I., 22 Dec. 1923, 7168 ; P. 487/24.
2979d 75 10.28