'File 8/11 Proscribed newspapers and seditious press articles' [‎99r] (197/260)

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D.O. No.216-C .
Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Bahrain,
26th October 1930.
Please refer to the correspondence ending with your
demi official letter 562-S dated the loth October 1930.
I will explain matters to the Shaikh when an oppor
tunity occur , but it will be difficult to get him to carry
away the correct impression.
I .see no objection to threatening the Persians with
the loss of their priviled^ed position in Bahrain, but if the
threat were put into execution the consequences would be more
serious for us than lor them, End we should be cutting off
our noses to spite the Persians f face f •
In the first place, Belgrave has not a second to
spare and as neither he or Prke nor any Al Khalifa know a
word of Persian it would be necessary to find them a whole
time magistrate, who would have to be either an Englishman
or an Inaian to dothe work. For reasons unknown to me,
Belgrave, who is a very sound on most subjects, detests all
Persians and I doubt if he could deal with them impartially.
When I was new to Bahrain, I found his advice regarding the
Persians quite unreliable and I invariably regretted having
takeh it.
Iheir cases are oiten very complicated, ( you will
have noticed the bankruptcy of Muhammad Sharif ) and as the
Bahrain Court are sublimely ignorant of all formi of law,
save lor a smattering ol the Shara'a, the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. would be
bothered by oven more references than they are now. The
Persians are the most intelligent section of the Bahrain
public, and are accustomed to a high standard of work and
would raise a clamour if subjected to the arbitrary methods
of
The Hon'ble Lieut-Colonel H.V.Biscoe, I.A«,
Political Resiaent in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire.
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