The file contains correspondence about local affairs in Trucial Oman. These mainly focus on the hostile relations between the Shaikhs of Trucial Oman, and the involvement of some rulers in the restriction of local activities. The file also contains reports sent between the Bahrain Agency, the Sharjah Residency and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf when any trouble, meeting or peace agreement took place between the local rulers. The reports focused on demands for reforms raised by locals, notables and merchants. These were asking for various reforms including budget, education, health and sanitation, peace and order, removal of all sorts of corruption in the various departments, and the grant of justice and freedom to the inhabitants in trade and other crafts.The representatives of the British Government in the Gulf raised their concerns to the Shaikhs of Trucial Oman regarding the safety of British subjects, and employees. The file also contains petitions raised by the notables and merchants of Iranian and Indian communities living in Trucial Oman to the British authorities. These were also concerned about their own safety.The main correspondence is between the Residency Agent in Sharjah, the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the British Agency in Trucial Oman, as well as the various Shaikhs of Trucial Oman including Shaikh Said bin Maktum, Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Sultan bin Salim, Ruler of Ras al-Khaimah.1 file (261 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 263; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional incomplete foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-238; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
The file comprises correspondence concerning three cases involving dhows, as follows:correspondence relating to a collision between a Bahrain-registered dhow and an Anglo-Iranian Oil Company tug at Khorramshahr in November 1943. Much of the follow-up correspondence concerns the seizure by the Iranian authorities of passports belonging to two Bahrainis who travelled to Khorramshahr to assist in affairs following the collision, and the Bahrain authorities’ efforts to have the passports returned. Principal correspondents in the case include: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham); the British Consul at Khorramshahr; the Adviser to the Bahrain Government (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) (ff 2-15);correspondence dated 1944 relating to an enquiry made by an Indian company, Kanayalal Deepchand Hinduja, seeking the whereabouts of their vessel, the
Fathel Rahman, missing while travelling from Bombay to Basra, with the Political Agent at Bahrain reporting, after enquiries made with the Customs Director at Bahrain and the Residency Agent at Sharjah, that nothing is known of the vessel (ff 16-21);correspondence dated June 1949 relating to an incident taking place off the coast of Sharjah/Dubai, in which a dhow engine caught fire, resulting in the death of one crew member and the injury of another, the latter taken on board HMS
Flamingofor medical care. The principal correspondent in this case is the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (Captain P Skelton) (ff 22-27).1 file (28 folios)The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 28-29) mirror the chronological arrangement.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 30; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-20; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
The file contains correspondence about the supply of various essential commodities from India, by sea from Bombay and Karachi to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah for local consumption, during the Second World War (1939-1945). Several commodities are mentioned including spices, nuts, oils, cotton and leather goods, hosiery, soap, matches and cement. These goods were in short supply due to wartime conditions and subject to Government of India export restrictions and import quota arrangements in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms under British protection. The main correspondents are the Political Agent for Bahrain, the Director of Customs and Port Officer for the Government of Bahrain, the Export Trade Controllers (also referred to as Foreign Trade Controllers) in Karachi and Bombay, as well as other Government of India officials, mainly in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi. They discuss the allotment of Government of India surplus quota goods among merchants in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah and exchange distribution lists that contain the names of all approved importers (local merchants), together with the names of their Indian exporters or shippers in Bombay and Karachi, and the type and quantity of the controlled commodity allotted to them. In addition, there are detailed submissions from the Political Agents for Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, expressing concerns about new Government of India instructions for improving the coordination of export control procedures in India with import control procedures in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms, in particular, that Export Trade Controllers in Indian ports only grant export licenses and permits to Indian exporters and shippers who appear on their established shippers lists. The file also contains merchants’ correspondence, from several importers in Bahrain and their nominated export agents or shippers in Karachi and Bombay, complaining to the Political Agent for Bahrain, about the refusal of the Export Trade Controllers in Indian ports to grant them export licences and permits.1 file (240 folios)Files papers are arranged more or less chronologically.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 242; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-217 and between ff 218-241; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
The file contains correspondence relating to the investigation and settlement of several debt recovery claims made against mainly Arab subjects of the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, by merchants of Dubai and Sharjah who are British Indian subjects. The main correspondents are the Political Agent at Bahrain and the Residency Agent at Sharjah. The correspondence includes petitions and statements made by claimants, debtors and witnesses, as well as several letters from the Ruler of Dubai [Āl Maktūm, Shaikh Saʻīd bin Maktūm bin Hasher] and the Ruler of Sharjah [Al Qasimi, Shaikh Sultan II bin Saqr]. There are also several documents relating to debt settlements mediated either by the Residency Agent, a committee of local merchants or the Ruler.The majority of the correspondence is in both English and Arabic. The file contains one letter written in Persian. A few items of Indian merchant correspondence are signed in Gujarati as well as in English or Arabic, and in one instance in Sindhi. The earliest documents in the file are a debt bond made in 1911 and an Acknowledgement of Debt made in 1926.The following five debt cases are discussed extensively. The claims made by Khaja Habib bin Hasan Jasbani and Khojah Alli Hasan Joosbani (and other variations of their names) who are originally from Hyderabad, against: the estate of the former British Residency Agent at Sharjah, a Bahraini pearl merchant resident at Dubai, and two brothers of Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr the Ruler of Sharjah. The claim of Kishandas Nathanmal, originally from Tatta [Thatta] in Sindh Province, against a brother-in-law of Shaikh Said bin Maktum the Ruler of Dibai [Dubai]. The claim of the Dubai branch of the merchant firm Dharamdas Thawerdas against both the Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Mohamad bin Ahmed Al Dalmook (spelt variously) as guarantors for the indebted estate of Dubai merchant Essa (also spelt Isa) bin Thani. The claims of several traders in Dubai and Sharjah against Dhamanmal Jagoomal (spelt variously) and the counter claims of the latter, including representations made on his behalf by his son Mohandas Dhamanmal Jagoomal of Bombay, about the looting of his father’s shop in Sharjah by local residents. The request of the Ruler of Dubai, for British assistance with his two debt recovery claims against the Dubai branch of the Mesopotamia Corporation Limited, and the Wali of Khasab in Oman, a subject of the Sultan of Muscat.The file also contains correspondence relating to complaints of ill-treatment made by a medical practitioner from Egypt who is resident at Dubai, and the counter-claims made against him by his in-laws in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The file ends with the investigation and recovery of possessions stolen from a Bahraini subject by a traveller from Kuwait, who is also suspected of complicity in the smuggling of goods into Dubai on behalf of a Persian merchant from Bushire.1 file (340 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 342; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 2-304, and ff 312-331; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
The file contains numerous courtesy letters expressing friendship, congratulations and thanks, which are exchanged mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Shaikhs of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The majority of courtesy letters received by the Political Agent, Bahrain are from the Dubai shaikhs, particularly from Shaikh Mani bin Rashid Maktum [Āl Maktūm, Shaikh Mana bin Rashid] who is the cousin of the Ruler Shaikh Sai’d bin Maktum [Āl Maktūm, Shaikh Saʻīd bin Maktūm bin Hasher]. Several of the letters from Shaikh Mani bin Rashid Maktum contain complaints against Sayid Abdul Razaq the Residency Agent at Sharjah.The file also contains a small amount of claims correspondence relating mainly to debt repayment. This correspondence includes petitions received from local merchants and other inhabitants of Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah, as well as letters from the Residency Agent, Sharjah to the Political Agent, Bahrain reporting his investigations into some of the claims made and any settlements reached. The majority of letters are in Arabic and are also translated into English. Included in the file are two merchant letters in Persian and a short extract from a German ornithological report in 1937, together with an English translation, about white storks.Finally, there is a small amount of correspondence in 1937 between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Government of India regarding legal opinion on the service of summonses in the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms.1 file (202 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 204; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-157; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.