'The Seven Independent Arabian States [Yemen, ‘Asir, Hijaz, Najd, Kuwait, Jabal Shammar and al-Jawf]' [‎178r] (355/680)

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. .
CONFIDENTIAL. P . Z . 4718/1934.
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Historical Memorandum on Bahrein.
[The Memorandum which follows deals with the history
of Bahrein from the point of view primarily of the political
status o, the islands at various periods and in particular
with^ the claims to sovereignty over them put forward bv
ersia at various dates since 1783, and with the corre
spondence and discussions which have taken Dlace in
connection with such claims.
The principal authorities quoted, apart from oriainal
despatches and letters, are the following
(1) Lorimer; " Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. "
(2) Selections from "Records of the Government of
Bombay, \ol. XXIV (1856)
(3) Aitchison ; " Treaties " (1933 Edition), Vols. XI
<( (Persian Gnlf) and XIII (Persia).
(4) Precis of Correspondence regarding the Affairs of
&ldanha S (1^06). Ulf " (1801 " 1853 )' ^ ^
(6) Curzo.^ " P^sia!'" The Gulf " (1928 )-
(7) Hertslet: " Memorandum on the separate Claims of
(ISU) 7311 t0 soverBI S'nty over Bahrein"
(8) P.G. 13 ; " Historical Summary of Events affecting
the British Position m the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , 1907-28 "
if'
•SM'
I.—Geographical Situation.
* ^^ ri * n . c \P a ^ t y 0 f Bahrein consists of the archioelap-o
Itmtn^Nabi'^Hh a 0f d B h hrein ' M " harrac <' Umm Na'asan,
Din a, ri ; ^ abl and by a number of lesser islets nnH
roc ^s. I aken altogether these form a compact group almost
of the ftrsiLaulf^rivTdes 0 thfmdtpeX ^ 234 -
Kingdom 'of Sa udTArabi^T 1 ^ fr0m COaSt 0f in
. "■ term " ^alirein " formerly embraced the promon
tory of Qatar and the oases of Qatif and Hasa on the
Arabian mainland as well as the islands of the archinelacm
and according to Lonmer, " some authorities would attribfte
to it m the past an even more extended application, affirm,n® Lor - "• 233 -
t at it once denoted the whole western side of the Persian
Runs-al-Jibal to the mouth of the Shatt -el-Arab."
II.—Bahrein prior to 1783.
*1, very conflictin g evidence available goes to shnw
that Bahrein was subject to Persian rule for a feriod in
early part of the Christian era, and between IS! 615 and
Abdul Malik and^^r. l>eeU COnquer f d b y one Keshan bin
dqui iviaJiK and to have come under the swav of fh^
Oommiyyad Caliphs, m the latter vear nnH ^ h , y 0± . the ,
under the control of the Caliphs Itil rem ? m ? d
Abbaside dynasty in the 11th centuiy whenYt atfn been
subject to chiefs of its own race. Its mediaBvi/ hi«5fr> ^ m - e
obscure, but a writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. who visited the islands in A D Von
refers to the fact that half of the tnt • n ! ^
belong to the Chiefs of Hasa on the A mb mat land
the Arab geographer, writiug about a century later, states
A
Bombay
Selections,
XXIV, 23.
Gr. Of I.
Desp. No. 18
of 22.2.1870,
para. 2.
Wilson,
PersianGulf,
pp. 85-6.
Wilson,
88-90.