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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [315] (324/748)
The record is made up of 1 volume (371 folios). It was created in 1916. 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.
INDUSTRIES AND TRADE
315
same period the figures under the three main heads averaged as
follows :—
Exports.
£1,826,430
60,970
219,350
The principal commodities imported are rice, piece-goods,
coffee, dates, sugar, tea, tobacco, spices, fuel, and animals for
slaughter. Real exports other than pearls are of small value and
importance, Bahrein heing a distributing and not a producing
centre , a few textiles and a little sail-cloth almost complete the
tale of local manufacture. The principal share of the Bahrein trade
falls to the lot of India, which is responsible for more than half of
the total, though many goods arriving from that country are really
of Europea.n origin, sent there for reshipment owing to the lack of
direct facilities, and to the fact that Bahrein has grown accustomed
to placing orders in Bombay. Next to India come Persia and 'Iraq
less than 10 per cent, falling to all other countries. The natural
result of this preponderance is that trade is largely in the hands of
Indian and Persian merchants. Besides legitimate commerce, there
is a contraband traffic with the South Persian coast. In 1914 there
was but a single British firm in Bahrein, Gray, Paul and Co., who
are agents for the British India Steam Navigation Co. ; the only
other European commercial house was that of R. Wonckhaus & Co.,
of Hamburg, which had been established for some years. On the
outbreak of war there were two resident members of the latter, the
manager, who was arrested and interned at Karachi, and his
assistant, who belonged to the active reserve of the German Army,
and escaped to Basra. The branch was then closed. There are
no banks, and transactions are largely carried out by means of
Indian currency notes.
Steam communication is chiefly in British hands, the British
( India Steam Navigation Co. maintaining a weekly service up from
Bombay and Karachi, and a fortnightly down to Karachi and
Bombay. The Arab Steamers, Ltd., a line started in 1911 in oppo
sition to the British company, call from Bombay about once every
three weeks, and again on the return voyage from Basra. The
boats of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
Steam Navigation Co. from Bombay call
on th<5 outward voyage once a month, and again on their return.
Before the war, the steamers of the Hamburg-Amerika line called
about once a month on the outward voyage, thus providing the
only regular direct access to Bahrein from Europe.
Imports.
P earls £810,000
Specie 461,280
General merchandise . . . 7ftQ 74.0
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Arabia, Volume I, General (Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Department: May, 1916) and contains geographical and political information of a general character concerning the Arabian Peninsula. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, from sources, including native information obtained for the purpose of compiling the volume, since the outbreak of the First World War. Separate chapters are devoted to each of the districts or provinces of the Arabian Peninsula and include information on the physical character, as well as social and political surveys.
The volume includes a note on official use, title page, and a 'Note' on the compilation of the volume. There is a page of 'Contents' that includes the following sections:
- Chapter 1: Physical Survey;
- Chapter 2: Social Survey;
- Chapter 3: The Bedouin Tribes: A. Northern Tribes, B. Tribes of the Central West, C. Tribes of the Central South, D. Tribes of the Central East, Supplement: Non-Bedouin Nomads;
- Chapter 4: Hejaz;
- Chapter 5: Asir;
- Chapter 6: Yemen;
- Chapter 7: Aden and Hadhramaut: A. Aden and the Interior, B. Hadhramaut;
- Chapter 8: Oman: A. The sultanate of Oman, B. Independent Oman;
- Chapter 9: The Gulf Coast: A. The Sultanate of Koweit [Kuwait], B. Hasa, C. Bahrain, D. El-Qatar, E. Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ;
- Chapter 10: Nejd;
- Chapter 11: Jebel Shammar;
- Chapter 12: The Northern Nefūd and Dahanah Belts;
- Chapter 13: Settled Tribes of the North-West;
- Chapter 14: Settled Tribes of the West;
- Chapter 15: Settled Tribes of the South;
- Chapter 16: Settled Tribes of the Centre;
- Appendix: Note of Topographical and Common Terms;
- Index;
- Plates.
The front of the volume includes a 'List of Maps' and a 'Note on the Spelling of Proper Names'. Maps contained in this volume are:
- Map 1: Arabia: Districts and Towns;
- Map 2: Orographical Features of Arabia;
- Map 3: Land Surface Features of Arabia;
- Map 4: Tribal Map of Arabia.
The volume also contains fifteen plates of photographs and sketches by Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, Douglas Carruthers, Captain Gerard Leachman, Dr Julius Euting, George Wyman Bury, and Samuel Barrett Miles.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (371 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in chapters. There is a contents page, list of maps, alphabetical index, and list of plates.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last of various maps which are inserted at the back of the volume, on number 371.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [315] (324/748), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/E84/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037114036.0x00007d> [accessed 9 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/E84/1
- Title
- 'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:381, 384:726, ii-r:ii-v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence