'File 12/1 II Persian Claim to Bahrain, April 1946-December 1950' [‎3r] (5/20)

by this figure I mean people who claim to be Persian
subjects. As you know according to our nationality rules
everyone who is born in Bahrain and who is not registered
as a foreigner is counted to be a Bahrain subject. At
present there is a tendency for people who are not legally
Bahrain subjects to claim Bahrain nationality, mainly be
cause passport facilities and employment are simplified
for Bahrain subjects, but Persians who are Bahrain subjects
in Bahrain become very definitely Persian as soon as they
set foot in their own country and they all acquire Persian
travel documents while in Persia.
2. The number of people in Bahrain who are regis
tered as being entitled to rations is now 105,000, but as
many people do not draw rations I believe the total popu
lation may be considerably more than this figure. I am
still of the opinion that the population is about equally
divided between Sunnis and Shias, the latter sect includes
Persians and Hassawis. I entirely disagree with the re
port quoted in para 2 of your letter. The Bahama are
not Persians and would strongly object to being described
as such. Admittedly they are of the same sect as the
Persians but apart from this they have little in common
with Persians and they are more closely connected with
the Arabs of Bahrain than with the Persians who live in
Bahrain. None of the country Bahama speak Persian and
only a few the town. A Bahama have.intermarried with
UU A
them K in those cases it has almost invariably been Bahama
men who have taken Persian wives, not Bahcss^i girls who
have been given in marriage to Persian men. When Persian
women are absorbed into Bahama families they seem to
acquire the Bahama point of view and are hardly distin
guishable from Bahama. In spite of their common reli
gion Persiansand Bahama keep themselves entirely sepa-