The file consists of two documents:1. A letter dated 19 December 1941 from the Chief Secretary to the Government, Government of Aden, to the Political Agent, Bahrain. The letter encloses the pamphlet The Tribes of British Somaliland and advises that 'difficulty is frequently experienced with identifying individual Somalis or in deciding their nationality by passport authorities' and that the pamphlet may assist with this task.2. The pamphlet entitled The Tribes of British Somaliland by Lieutenant-Colonel R H Smith. The report is dated 30 January 1941, and was printed by the Caxton Press at Aden. The pamphlet consists of a report and geneaological diagrams of the tribes:The pamphlet commences with a list of the British Protected tribes and their geographical distribution noting that the grazing grounds of the British protected tribes are not all contained in British Somaliland. Furthermore their lands straddle adjacent frontiers of French Somaliland and Ethiopia and far into Italian East Africa. The pamphlet notes (folio 4) that the 'arbitrary boundary which divides the Somali grazing grounds into two, has been the chief cause of our administrative difficulties in the past.' The means of contact between the [British] Government and the tribes is through 'Akils, and where they exist, hereditary chiefs i.e. Sultans or Gerads'.There follows a description of each British Protected tribes, their tribal sub-divisions, grazing grounds, towns and ports, and chief means of subsistence: the Warsangeli; the Dolbahanta; theHabr Toljaala; the Habr Yunis; the Habr Awal; the Edagalla; the Arab; the Gadabursi; the Esa.British Somaliland was divided into five administrative districts each with a District Officer. District boundaries are given for Erigavo District; Burao District; Berbara District; Hargeisa District; Buramo District.The file includes genealogical diagrams showing the lineage and tribal sub-divisions of the Warsangeli; Arab; Habr Yunis; Eida Galla; Habr Awal; Habr Toljala; Dolbahanta; Esa; Gadabursi.1 file (12 folios)The file is arranged as a letter, a pamphlet, a page of file notes (folio 11).Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; 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 1-11; these numbers are also written in pencil, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence, but they are not circled.
The file contains correspondence concerning the ownership of islands off the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf including: Halul; Dalmah; Sir Bani Yas; Tumb, Little Tumb, Farur, Little Farus and Sirri.The correspondence discusses the means by which claims of British protected rulers can be established and sustained, and the benefits to establishing sovereignty particularly where the islands may have oil bearing strata. The claims of the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Kuwait to the islands are discussed drawing on their history of occupation, fishing and anchorage rights; also the history and legality of Persian claims to certain islands (Sirri, Nabiya Farur, Farur, Nabiya Tunb, Tumb, and Abu Musa) and the implications for the concession of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (ff 96-107); the interest of the Dutch Shell Company in the ownership of the islands for purposes of obtaining an oil concession (ff 108-109); the claims of Saudi Arabia to the islands (f 112).The correspondents include Sir Aubrey Metcalfe, Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; M.J. Clauson, India Office, London; Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Loch, Political Agent, Bahrain; Captain Gerald Simpson de Gaury, Political Agent, Kuwait; Residency Agent, Sharjah; Trenchard Craven Fowle, Political Resident Persian Gulf.1 file (129 folios)The papers in this file are arranged chronologically from the front to the rear of the file. There is a file notes section at the end of the file (ff 113-127).Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; 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 22-112; these numbers are written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found 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 contains correspondence discussing the ownership and status of the Hawar Islands and the competing claims of Bahrain and Qatar.It includes the following:a translation and original letter from Abullah bin Qasim Al Thani to Hugh Weightman, Political Agent, Bahrain (ff 6-9);a petition in support of Ruler of Bahrain's claim to Hawar Islands (f 74);photographs of Hawar Island: Bilad as-Shamalia; Hawar Fort; and Hawar Pier (f 33).Correspondents include William Rupert Hay, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Abdullah bin Qasim Al Thani, Ruler of Qatar, Hugh Weightman, Political Agent, Bahrain.1 file (267 folios)The papers are arranged chronologically from the front to the back of the file. There are file notes (ff 259-264) at the back of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 267; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 56-188 and ff 189-229 respectively; 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 contains correspondence relating to the tribes of Buraimi sent between Gordon Noel Jackson, Political Officer, Sharjah (Trucial Coast) and Cornelius James Pelly, Political Agent, Bahrain.A covering letter (f 2) from Gordon Noel Jackson, Political Officer, Trucial Coast (Sharjah) to Cornelius James Pelly, British Agent Sharjah, explains that the notes were compiled by the Residency Agent, [Jasim bin Muhammad Kadmari] and gives reasons for recommending that Wilfred Thesiger should avoid the area of Buraimi. Reference is made to the presence of Major Richard Bird from the oil company and that the information differed from that collected in 1908 by John Gordon Lorimer. An additional 'more accurate' note (ff 25-27) by Major Bird on the Al Bu Shamis is included.The notes provide information on each tribe under the following sections: allegiance to the two major tribal confederations of Oman (Ghafiri and Hinawi); names of chief shaikh and second in importance; tribal sub-divisions; area and villages inhabited; estimated population and strength in rifles; followed by a note on the prevalent behaviour and history of inter-tribal relationships and conflict.Tribes assessed in this manner are found in three parts of the report:the tribes of Buraimi and Trucial Oman: Na'im, Beni Ka'ab, the Manasir, the 'Awamir, Beni Qitab, Beni Qatar;Abu Dhabi tribes in Buraimi: al Dhawahir, Al Nawsir, al Najadat, al Kuwaitat, the Beni Yas;Muscat and Oman tribes: Al Duru, Al Jinibah, Al Wahibah, Bidah, Beni Yezid, Beni Ali, Ya'aqib, Hawasinah, Beni Umar, Beni Jabir, Baluch, Beni Gheith, Maqabil, Kund.1 file (30 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. There are file notes on folio 29.Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
The file consists of a note from the Persian Gulf Residency, Bahrain, forwarding Hand Book on the Persian Gulf, Correspondence between File 15/10 Foreign Office Persian Gulf Handbook.Enclosed are two copies of a Handbook on the Persian Gulf published by the Foreign Office, August 1948. The notes were prepared for visitors to the Arab states covered by the Persian Gulf Residency with information on the Residency, conditions in Bahrain, and conditions in the other Arab states.1 file (14 folios)File consists of two booklets and a page of file notes (folio 13).Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
The file discusses the proposed new radio frequencies to be used by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) for their air navigational aids, and enquiries to Cable and Wireless (Cecil Edward Gahan), Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (L E Porter), Air Staff Liaison Officer at Bahrain (G E Lewis), RAF Sharjah and International Aeradio Limited (Anthony J Hemelik) as to whether the new proposed frequencies would be acceptable to them.The word wireless has been misspelled on the cover of the file as 'wirless'.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 19-20.1 file (21 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 back cover with 21; 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 2-18; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 19-20) have been paginated with pencil.
This file concerns educational visits to Bahrain, including a visit of six Iraqi teachers to Bahrain in 1933 (ff 2-9); a visit of Kuwait teachers and twenty-seven schoolboys and their possible interest in visiting the California-Arabian Standard Oil (CASCO) camp at Dhahran [al-Ẓahrān] in February 1941 (ff 10-13); and a complaint concerning the behaviour of a party of boy scouts from Kuwait particularly concerning their singing of 'odes of an inflammatory nature' regarding Palestine (ff 14-17). Correspondence in this file is between the British Embassy at Baghdad; the Indian Assistant to the Political Agent at Bahrain; the Political Agent at Bahrain; the Political Agent at Kuwait; and F W Ohliger, Resident Manager, CASCO Camp, at Dhahran.1 file (20 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. File notes appear at the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; 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 2-17; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence (the exception being No. 16, which is located on the verso).
This file concerns the activities of a German named Gerhard Augusta Frederick Briesenick believed to be a student of Berlin University, travelling to India via the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf. The file contains correspondence between Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, Political Agent at Bahrain, and Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and John Charles Walton of the India Office, London.1 file (10 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; 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 2-11; 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, circulars and other papers relating to visits by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India (the Marquis of Willingdon, Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas) and his wife Lady Willingdon (Marie Freeman-Thomas) to Bahrain and Sharjah in May 1934, while travelling by Imperial Airways from Karachi to Basra, and their return to both of these places on the return flight back to Karachi in August 1934. Correspondents in the file include: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, the Political Agent at Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, and the Residency Agent at Sharjah, Khan Bahadur ‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif.The file includes:correspondence concerning the arrangements made for the Viceroy and Lady Willingdon’s overnight stay at the RAF rest house at Sharjah, on the night of 16 May 1934, and their meeting with the Residency Agent and the Sheikhs of Sharjah (Sultan bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī) and Dubai (Sa‘id bin Maktum Āl Maktum);correspondence concerning the arrangements made for the Viceroy and Lady Willingdon to visit Bahrain on 17 May 1934, including: arrangements for the Ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, to hold a coffee reception in a tent at the aerodrome; the presentation of a speech and gift to the Viceroy by Sheikh Ḥamad; the presentation of invited Arab and European/American guests to the reception, including a lists of invitees (ff 64-65), an invitation to (f 44) and responses from European and American guests (ff 159-167), which includes representatives of the Government of Bahrain, Bahrain Petroleum Company, and the American Mission at Bahrain; appropriate hot weather dress for the occasion;correspondence covering both visits, including: security arrangements; the organisation of gun salutes; gifts for the Viceroy;following the visits in May 1934: newspaper cuttings from the
Iraq Timesand
The Timesreporting on the visits to Bahrain (ff 101-102); correspondence regarding appropriate gifts to be given by the Viceroy to the Sheikhs of Bahrain and Sharjah; the Political Agent’s report on the Viceroy’s visit to Bahrain (ff 84-85), and the Residency Agent’s report on the visit to Sharjah (Arabic and English, ff 87-92); letters of thanks and appreciation from the Sheikhs;arrangements for stopovers by the Viceroy and Lady Willingdon at Bahrain and Sharjah in August 1934, which are to be private visits, including, at Bahrain, a visit to the house of Sheikh ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah for refreshments;following the visits in August 1934: reports of the respective visits by the Political Agent at Bahrain (ff 143-144) and the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Arabic and English, ff 145-148); arrangements for a gift of a pair of binoculars to the Sheikh of Sharjah;at the beginning of the file there is some correspondence relating to a visit to Bahrain in July 1933 by Lady Willingdon, who is passing through on an Imperial Airways flight (ff 2-7).1 file (167 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. File notes appear at the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; 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 2-167; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
This file concerns a proposed and actual visits to the Persian Gulf by the writer Lady Dorothy Mills to countries in the Middle East in 1932 for the purpose of collecting suitable material for her literary work, with permission granted to her to travel to Muscat, Bahrain and Kuwait, but not the Trucial Coast (ff 7-11); and Lady Stokes, widow of Sir Wilfred Stokes, and Miss Hastings, daughter of Colonel Sir George Hastings, to Bahrain in 1937 (ff 12-14).Correspondents in this file include: Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire; Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, Political Agent at Bahrain; and Sir Courtenay Latimer, the British Resident at Rajkot.1 file (15 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. File notes appear at the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; 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 7-13; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
This file concerns a Japanese oil broker named Shunkichi Nomura; his intention to travel from Kabul to Iraq; the possibility he may be acting for the Japanese Government; and his eventual abandonment of plans to travel to Iraq. The file contains correspondence between Captain Everard Huddleston Gastrell, Political Agent at Bahrain, and Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire.1 file (7 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. File notes appear at the rear of the file.Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 9; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
The file comprises copies of letters, telegrams and other papers relating to the attempted visit to Bahrain and Kuwait by Winifred Howard-Clitty, a writer of children’s books, in the winter of 1933/34. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle; the Political Agent at Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch; the Political Agent at Kuwait, Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson.The file includes:correspondence relating to Howard-Clitty’s application to the authorities to visit the Persian Gulf; her particular interests in collecting material for her books (including Bedouin and pearl diving stories); her intentions to travel to Kuwait in order to meet a man named Muhammad Yatim and write a book with him; her intentions to travel to Bahrain to meet with Yūsuf bin Aḥmad Kanoo;correspondence relating the circumstances leading up to the 1933 trip, specifically Howard-Clitty’s previous trip to Bahrain in 1931, where she first became acquainted with Yatim and Kanoo, and copies of correspondence exchanged between Howard-Clitty and Kanoo during the intervening period (ff 5-12);concern amongst British officials at Howard-Clitty’s intentions: relating to Yatim’s poor reputation, the prospects of a European woman visiting and intending to stay at the homes of Yatim in Kuwait and Kanoo in Bahrain (which Kanoo himself is equally uncomfortable about); reported concern of the Sheikhs of Kuwait and Bahrain at the presence of a unaccompanied European woman in their territories;continued updates from British officials in Basra during the period December 1934 to February 1934, where Howard-Clitty resided while awaiting the opportunity to meet her contacts, up until 26 February 1934, when the Bahrain Political Agent reports that Howard-Clitty has left Basra, ‘hysterical and possibly consumptive’, and angry at British officials efforts to obstruction her travel arrangements (ff 45-46). A complete account of Howard-Clitty’s stay in the region is also provided by the Bahrain Political Agent (ff 54-57);reports of Howard-Clitty’s manuscripts having been stolen while en route to Baghdad, her attempts to rewrite her manuscripts from memory, and British officials’ fears that Howard-Clitty may write a book or series of articles that are critical of the British authorities in the Gulf (ff 59-60);recommendations from India Office and Foreign Office staff in London that, in future, all women wishing to travel to the Persian Gulf be made to apply to the Political Resident (f 50).1 file (70 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. File notes appear at the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 72; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 2-64 and ff 65-67 respectively; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the top centre of the recto side of each folio or in the same position as the main sequence.