Coll 30/117 'Persian Gulf. Bahrain Grievances of the Baharinah.' [‎92r] (183/203)

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Translation of a letter from His Excellency Shaikh Sir Hamad Bin
^sa al Khalifah, K*C.1• ? C.S•!.,Ruler of Bahrain, to the ei&ht
Baharinah leaders•
After Compliments,
We acknowledge the receipt of your letter which you handed
to us on 23rd Ramadhan in which you stated that you approached
us on behalf of our Baharinah subjects living in Bahrain, We
understand from your letter that you ask tis for the following
things s
(a) That the Courts of Bahrain should ado.pt a Code in order
that every judgment of the Bahrain Court should refer to
a certain clause of this tode similar to the system
existing in the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Courts •
(b) That the number of your representatives on both the
Majlis Tujjarah and Baladiy^hs should be more than at
present.
(c) That you should have equal rights in the Education which
is provided by the Government.
2. Regarding the question of the courts, we will consider
the matter according to your request which is also desired by our
other subjects and the Sunni and Shi'ah qadhis, but before
instituting a code it is necessary to compile and publish the
exist ng code which is contained in our proclamations which we
have issued from time to time during our rule, nlso it is
necessary to determine the amount of punishment which persons
disobeying this code will deserve. For this purpose we will
appoint a committee to ex mine our previous proclamations and
suggest, after consideration and consultation suitable punish
ments which will be appropriate for all forbidden things. After
completing this we will publish our proclamations in a book and
this will be the local law. nt the same time we will examine
isome codes which exist in other Muslim countries and we will
ladopt a criminal and a civil code for cases which are not sent to
[the Shara 1 Courts. But I would remind you thau this matter is of
great importance and requires hard work and much consideration
nor can it be undertaken lightly or completed in a short time.
3. Regarding the representation of our Sunni and Shi'ah
subjects on tne two Municipal Councils we agree that the number
of representatives of our subjects should be more than the
number of representatives of subjects of otner countries, al
though as you areaware, the foreign nationalities, especially in
Manamah, hold an important place in regard to com ercial affairs
and finance. InshaAllah we will deal with this matter during
the coming elections.
4. Regarding the members of the Majlis Tujjarah, as you
understand tnis Majlis consists of leading mercn.nts of all
nationalities who are capable of examining and giving reports
on cases relating to accounts and commercial affairs which are
referred to them by our courts or by the courts of the political
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . If we can find some Shi*ah merchants who are suitable
and important and who have knowledge of commercial practice and
custom in that case we shall be pleased to appoint them as
members of the Majlis Tujjarah.
5. Regarding Education, we are happy to seu the progress
which is made under the administration of our brother, Shaikh
’ADdulIah bin *Isa, who devotes himself to furthering the
education of our people. The number of students in our schools
increases ya* ly and we hope when the state of finance improves
to open more schools in the country villages in wuich there are
no schools. Our five boys' schools and the two girls' scho^'
are /