'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part IA & IB. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎933] (1088/1782)

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933
lasted about a year, the ban was removed on condition tbat the Shaikh
should be responsible for their future good conduct.
In June 1900 Mr. Van Lennep^ the manager of the Shiraz branch of Matter
the (British) Imperial Bank of Persia, visited Bahrain and recommended British ^
the establishment of an agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of the Bank there. Accordingly a trade,
small experimental office was opened at Manamah, in charge of an Arab
British subject ; but the Shaikh was influenced by Indian traders In
his entourage, to whom he owed money, to discountenance
and oppose the undertaking, and after about two months it was
abandoned. In 1903 it was found that transhipment dues in Bahrain
were levied at the high rate of 2| per cent ad valorem on all kinds
of goods, but no action was possible at the time as there was no agree
ment with the Shaikh on the subject and a farm of the customs had
been granted by him on the basis of this rate; the inexpediency,
in his own interests, of a heavy duty on transhipment was however
explained to Shaikh 'Isa under orders from the Government of India.
Gieat natural difficulties in connection with the landing of cargo at
Manamah were partially removed in 1904 by the construction by the
Shaikh of a landing stage at a cost of about Rs. 30,000; and the
wharfage dues for the use of this pier were arranged on a moderate scale in
accordance with the views of the Government of India.
A detailed survey of Manamah harbour and its approaches was
made by the R.I.M.S. Investigator " in the winter of 1901-03; and
in 1904 an asphalt deposit near Jabal-ad-I)ukhan, which had been
discovered in 1902 and yielded excellent specimens of bituminous rock,
was examined by a scientific expert, but proved to be of small extent
and commercially unworthy of attention.
A visit extending over the 26th and 27th of November 1903, was Misoellaneous
paid to Bahrain, by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in the course of his inatterB -
cruise in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , which is fully described in another place.
In 1901 the senior partner of the Indian firm of Ganga Ram, Tikam
Das & Co. in Bahrain proposed that a charitable hospital should
be established in Bahrain to commemorate Her Majesty Queen Victoria,
and offered to open the subscription list with a donation of Rs. 5,000,
About Rs. 15,000 more having been subscribed, and the amount of
Rs. 20,000 thus obtained being considered sufficient to provide a hospital
building and quarters for the staff, the Government of India undertook to
maintain and equip the institution, which was eventually opened
in 1905.