File 4535/1928 Pt 8 ‘ – PERSIAN GULF – QUESTION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTECTORATES OVER KOWEIT, BAHREIN, MUSCAT, TRUCIAL COAST.’ [‎72r] (137/194)

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.
B. 396
P. 4231/28'
BAHREIN, 1908-1928.
A.—Administration.
. . 1 ? h ? i SJ 8a Bin 1 Ali -, K ; C ' LE - ( ]91 ‘ J ). C.S.I. (1915), (born 1848,
succeeded 1869), was relieved oi control of the administration in 1923 by the
Government of India with the approval of His Majesty’s Government, but
l! 1 "' 1 "' 3 PP'lar Sheikh of the Jslands, his eldest surviving son, Sheikh
Hamad, G.^.I. (1921) (born 18/1, right of succession publicly recognised
by Government of India in 1901, entitled to a salute of seven guns) who
has three sons, born in 1895 (Sheikh Salman), 1898 and 1902, and two brothers
Sheikh Mohammed (.born 18/ 7) and Sheikh Abdulla, C.I.E. (1915) (born 1880)
ha\ mg taken over responsibility for the administration as the fully
empowered agent of his father. Sheikh Isa, although no longer in fact
tlie iiilerof 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 m the State.
f j: \] le . is an independent Arab State, under the protection
ol His Majesty s Uovernment, but not a British Protectorate. Its ruler is
precluded by his engagements, of which an abstract is printed in the Precis
o 1 1 reaties appended to this Memorandum, from receiving the representatives
of, or entering into relations with, foreign Powers, and from ceding sellino-
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 grantiuo-
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 1926 by a European Imancial Adviser* (Mr. C. Dalrvmple
Belgrave) and since 1924 by a European Director of Customs (Mr. de
Gremer) T who has,, it is understood, been given a year’s notice, expirino- in
June 1929, on the initiative of the Government of India, and a European
Miief of lohce who m also Assistant to the Financial Adviser (Captain
from Bahrein^biurli th ^ ° mcei ' S a ;' e ^vants of the Sheikh and are paid * T eI .from Pol. Re S . tos.
o Bahrein Lunds. . 1 heir contracts and their conditions of service like s. for i., t. io, Sept, n
their original selection for employment, were, however, approved by the ^ 2451/26 an ^
Government of India. v
4 His Majesty’s Government and the Government of India are repre
sented in l^hrein 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. , Bahrein (at present Lt.-Col. C. C J
Barrett, G.S.I., G.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 1 olitical Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . He does not
p° . 1S ^ 8 Commission as a Consul, and exercises no consular
functions. Tnder 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 District
. agistrate 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 m Bahrein. His jurisdiction in the case of foreigners, exercised in
the case of foreigners other than Nejdis since 1904-6, was regularised by
the Order m Council of 1913 (which, owing first to the undesirability of
complicating the 1913-4 negotiations with Turkey and then to the war
was not actually brought into operation until February 1919) and was
extended to cover all foreigners in 1920.
t * ^r nte ‘! f Tkir r D' earS in the first instance, subject to three months’ notice from
l jU 3915/25 )° n RS ’ 1 ’ 000 ~ o0 ~ 2 > 200 ’ &c - (Tel. from G. of I. to Pol. Res., 142n, 23 Oct. 1925 ;
t Appointed for three years from 14 Jan. 1924, P.2146 letter from O of T P/vi Poo
No. 480x, 10 April 1924 ; Pol. Ees.’s. Ir. to G. of I.’, 22 Dee 1923 7168“ P. 487/24 ’
2979d 75 10.28
Lor. i, 931.