'Government of Bahrain Annual Report for Year 1359 (February 1940 - February 1941)' [186v] (44/74)
The record is made up of 1 volume (36 folios). It was created in 1941. It was written in English. 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.
m
BAHRAIN NATIONALITY
Uurin K the year 45 p- isons applied to become Bahrain subjects ami ol these 27 were e ranled
Bahrain natinnaiity. Most ot the applicants were Iranians ami Iraqis. I he latter were nmM y
lews The Iranians included several leading merchants and shopkeepers.
' The necessary oualitications include residence in Bahrain for not less than .0 years posses-
sjnn of immoyeahle property, and a clean poli.e record. Most of the persons whose apphcat.ons
were refused did not own property in Halnain.
CENSUS OF BAHRAIN
Until the year . W no census of (he population of Bahrain had been made. Various handbooks
such as Whittaker's Almanac, the Statesman's Year Book, encyclopedias etc. slated t 1a it
number of the inhabitants of Bahrain was from 130,000 to 150,000. 1 hese li^urcs urn- mm< upon
rou^h estimates which have proved to be incorrect.
For several vears the Government of Bahrain contemplated holding: a census, and in 1358
His Highness Shaikh Sir Hamad, in his public speech on the occasion of h.s access,on anniver
sary, announced that a census was goin R to he held during the comii>B i™'- '35<> copies ol
the Baluchistan Census Report for 1931 and other census reporls were obtained and Mm h
It was realised that the quantity of detailed information contained in other census reports . ould
not at present he obtained in Bahrain, where the very idea of a census was unheard o ,> c
majority of the people without causing alarm and agitation among the ignorant public. g
once held a census in Bahrain more questions could be asked and more statistics ohtaimd at
some future date when the public realised that holding a census did not involve am ol the
measures which they anticipated when the first census was held. At various times during die
months before the census was held, rumours, which were sometimes deliberately cir. ula ed,
became current that Hie object of the tlovernment was to enlist all able-bodied men foi mihtary
service abroad, to impose various forms of taxation, to set up mumcppalit.es in every town anil
village and to impose some kind of compulsory medical inspections, and at one time it was even
suggested that the Government wished to collect and destroy certain communities.
The object of the census and the methods by which it would he carried out were explained to
the public at numerous large meetings presided over by the Sum., and Shia Qadis and byte
senior shaikhs, he talks from tbo broadcasting station, and in schools; by art.cles ... the loea
newspaper ami by thousands of notices and band-bills which were distributed m every town and
village in Bahrain. His Highness himself and many of the rulmg lam.ly explained tie ma
their tenants and to resident bedouins who as a community regarded the census w.th more sus-
ptcion than the local inhabitants.
In every town and village census counters were appointed and each was accompanied by one
of the leading men of the village. In Manamah, Muharraq, and Hedd the counters were Govern-
ment and Municipal employees, each man dealing as far as possible with the dis r.e, in wl
lived. In the three towns, as well as in the villages, a leading resident from each ■
accompanied the counters and gave them valuable help. The census ol the Bahra.n I Urol u*
Company was deal, with by the eompam s staff and some of the independent
such as the American Mission, the Naval Base, etc., were counted by the head ol the com,
who filled in the forms which were provided by the Government. All the registers, lorms and
notices were printed locally and the preliminary details were filled in by the counters some
before the actual census and were checked and exammfd before the counting look P'" 1 ' .
of the work of organising the census, enlisting the counters, dtv.dmg the towns ,nto , . •
and finally checking and recording the results was done by the Land Department under the
supervision of the Superintendent, Khan Sahib Mohomed khahl Memon.
Theeensus was held on the night of a4th Dil Hijjah 1359 corresponding to «ml januai?
to,, and on that night all coftee-shops and public places of an.usen.ent rema.n«l closed I
several hours. Taxis, with the exception of a few for which special arrangement, were made
order to cover any emergency, ceased to ply and the public were asked to remain .n thc.rh^
■n,, ^...pl.. eooperated admirably; on that night the town ot Manamah appeared to be entin^
.leserted exeep, for the census counters who passed through the streets with their lanterns
books The counting look place without any dilVa ulty both in (he towns and m the villages.
About this item
- Content
This volume is the Annual Report of the Government of Bahrain for the year 1359 AH (1940-1941) and gives te details of the Revenue and Expenditure of the Bahrain State and contains notes on the activities of the various Government departments, as well as the budget 1360 and some particulars of importance which took place in Bahrain during the year. It includes text, photographic images, and tables, and architectural plans. The report appears to be compiled from reports from various Government departments and officials. An index appears on folio 167r, followed by a General Review by Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, dated May 1941 (folio 168r).
The contents are divided into the following sections and sub-sections:
- Budget 1359 (folio 169r);
- Summary of Revenue and Expenditure 1357 (folio 170r);
- Statement of Revenue and Expenditure 1357 (folio 170v);
- Note on Revenue 1357 (folio 172r);
- Note on Expenditure 1357 (folios 172r-172v): Special Public Works;
- The Pearl Industry (folios 172v-173r);
- Police and Public Security (folios 173r-175r): Strength, State Police (Recruitment, Routine, Prisoners, Promotions and Appointments), Naturs, Crime, and General;
- Public Health (folios 175r-181v): Report on the work of the Medical Department, male side, by Dr R H B Snow, State Medical Officer (Summary of Statistics of Male Patients of the Bahrain Government Hospital and Dispensaries, The Out-Patients (Government Hospital, Dispensaries), Bahrain Government Police (The Police Clinic), The Inpatients (Major Operations, Minor Operations), School Medical Examinations, Review of the Anti-Malarial Work) and Women's Section, report by Dr M M McDowall (The Women's Hospital, Health of School Girls);
- Land Department (folios 181v-183r);
- Judicial (folios 183r-183v): The Bahrain Court, The Bahrain Small Court, Sunni Shara [Sharia] Court, Shia Shara Court, Majlis Tijara [Majlis Tijārah], Shia Appeal Court, and High Appeal Court;
- Municipalities (folios 183v-184r);
- Shia Wakf [Waqf] Department (folios 184r);
- Education (folios 184r-185v): Report by Mr C R L Adrian Vallance, Director of Education;
- Female Education (folio 185v);
- Minors Department (folio 185v);
- Agriculture (folio 186r);
- Passport Department (folio 186r);
- Bahrain Nationality (folio 186v);
- Census of Bahrain (folios 186v-188r);
- General (folio 190r): Floods, Death of Shaikh Jasim and Haj Abu Ali bin Rejab [Ḥajj Abū ‘Alī Rajab], Bahrain Broadcasting Station, Visit of H.R.H. the Amir Sa'ud, Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Alkhalifah [Muḥammad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah] in Malta, Air Attack on Bahrain, and Papal Insignia bestowed on His Highness Shaikh Hamad [Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah];
- Electric Department (folios 190v-191r): Electricity Department (Wiring Contracts, Temporary Wiring, Air Conditioning), Government Telephone Department, Transport Department, Fire Section, Traffic Section, Oil Royalty and other Gauging, and General (Anti-Malaria Campaign, Electricity Charges, Financial Position, Prospects for 1360);
- Statement of Energy Sold, etc. (folio 192r);
- Profit and Loss Account (folio 193r);
- Customs Department, report by Mr C C L de Grenier, Director of Customs and Port Officer (folios 194r-198r);
- Budget 1360 (folios 199r-200r).
Illustrations appear on four folios and they are labelled as follows:
- Folio 171: 'Lay-out of Government Hospital Buildings, Manama';
- Folio 174: 'The State Police on parade salute His Highness the Ruler, on the occasion of his Accession Anniversary';
- Folio 182: 'March past a mounted section of His Highness’ state police';
- Folio 189: 'Roads flooded during unusually heavy winter rains'.
On the front cover there is an inscription that reads 'Printed at the Times Press, Basrah' (folio 165r), and on folio 166r there is a label that reads 'Owing to reasons with the war the printing of this report was delayed for many months'. Handwritten annotations and corrections are present (for example, folios 167r and 195v).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (36 folios)
- Arrangement
This file contains an index (folio 167r) which references pages of the report.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: Folios 165-201.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Government of Bahrain Annual Report for Year 1359 (February 1940 - February 1941)' [186v] (44/74), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/750/5, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024140827.0x0000ab> [accessed 30 December 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100024140827.0x0000ab
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100024140827.0x0000ab">'Government of Bahrain Annual Report for Year 1359 (February 1940 - February 1941)' [‎186v] (44/74)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100024140827.0x0000ab"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0002d7/IOR_R_15_1_750_0386.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0002d7/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/750/5
- Title
- 'Government of Bahrain Annual Report for Year 1359 (February 1940 - February 1941)'
- Pages
- front-d, front-d-i, 166r:200v, back-d-i, back-d
- Author
- Belgrave, Sir Charles Dalrymple
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact copyright@bl.uk with any information you have regarding this item.