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'File A/2 I Slave Trade. Correspondence with Bushire regarding slaves and their manumission certificates and applications' [220r] (445/686)
The record is made up of 1 file (343 folios). It was created in 18 Jan 1932-27 Sep 1939. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
of mine that she had been brought to the Kcj&z from Egypt
after having been intimidated into telling any officials
who enquired about her that she was her captor*8 wife. A
number of slaves are said to be obtained from Yemen, ’Asir
and elsewhere, kidnapped by bedouin.
6. I think that it is only right to mention that
while the principle of slavery and the slave trade is
indefensible and while cruelties and abuses indisputably
exist, the practice of domestic slavery on this side of
Arabis is not necessarily the appalling lot which the word
''slavery’' conjures up in the western mind. A slave is more
often than not better fed arid looked after than a free mpn
of similar standing and has probably greater opportunities
for making a position for himself in the world.
7. Though perhaps not immediately relevant to your
question, I would also draw attention to the great reforms
that have been instituted in the condition of the pearl
divers of Bahrain, who were in the past practically slaves
to a burden of debt. During the last ten years the Bahrain
Government have reformed the Pearling Court and have
instituted an accounts system, which is gradually(but with
ever increasing rapidity)bringing to an end this form of
bondage. The Adviser to the Bahrain Government hopes, when
time permits, to write an account of these excellent reforms
and of their results. I mention them here, as they appear
to be little known to the public: indeed, there was no
reference to them in Lady Simon’s book "Slavery” written
as late as 1929•
Lieut-Colone!
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.
, Bahrain.
About this item
- Content
The file contains correspondence related to around sixty cases, involving slaves who have applied for manumission at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Bahrain. Copies of correspondence relating to many of these cases can also be found in the following Bushire Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. files: 'File 5/161 IV Manumission of slaves at Bahrain: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/205), 'File 5/161 V Manumission of slaves at Bahrain: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/206), and 'File 5/168 V Manumission of slaves on Arab Coast: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/209).
Many of the items in the file relate to the financial difficulties caused by Gulf's dwindling pearling industry, and the effects this had on the status of region's slaves. The file includes numerous applications made by pearl divers for barwa – documents freeing them of their contractual obligations to their nākhud ā (boat captain). Copies of barwas are included throughout the file. Other correspondence (folios 98-99) raises the issue of pearl divers with debts fleeing from the pearling towns on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. to Bahrain.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (343 folios)
- Arrangement
The correspondence and other papers included in the file are arranged in a rough chronological order, as they were received and filed by staff at the Bahrain Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . This means that the papers are not arranged on a manumission case-by-case basis, the result being that correspondence related to specific cases is scattered through the file. Office notes at the end of the file (ff 284-339) mirror the chronological order of the correspondence.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 340; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 286-338; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The file contains five foliation anomalies, including f 1a, f 1b, f 1c and f 82a, and missing out f 14.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'File A/2 I Slave Trade. Correspondence with Bushire regarding slaves and their manumission certificates and applications' [220r] (445/686), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1825, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100083766365.0x00002e> [accessed 23 November 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1825
- Title
- 'File A/2 I Slave Trade. Correspondence with Bushire regarding slaves and their manumission certificates and applications'
- Pages
- 1r:1v, 1ar, 1bv:1cv, 2r:9v, 11r:52v, 54r:82v, 82ar:82av, 83r:87v, 89r:97v, 98v:125v, 127r:129v, 132r:147v, 149r:164v, 166r:228v, 300r:340v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence