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Coll 5/11 ‘Air Route to India: Arab Coast Route – Emergency Landing Ground at Qatar’ [156r] (311/345)
The record is made up of 1 file (171 folios). It was created in 30 May 1932-16 Jul 1934. 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.
-4-
5« I would suggest therefore tJmt I should endeavour
to obtain from the Shaikh a letter in which he agrees to
aJJow us to establish an emergency landing ground on the
site selected and to put down the necessary landing marks
and to provide transport on payment for the carriage of the
requisite materials f etc., and he should na add that in
return for those facilities he hopes that the British
Government will afford him their support in the event of
these measures bringing upon him the hostility of his
relatione or people. 1 would reply thanking him tof the
permission granted and say that in return the British
Government undertake to support his authority within the
town of Bohah should his apprehensions prove true. The
Shaikh may try and extend the support to his coast line,
i*e. # to change the words *withln the to wi of &ohah M to
'along the coast*, and 2 think wo should accept this if
necessary, but 2 would try and limit our support to the
town of Dohah in the first instance. Prom idiat the iPoliticrii
Agent, Bahrain, reports, the Shaikh Ntt realises that we
do not wish to be involved in adventures in the interior
and would be quite satisfied with support along the coast.
2 am strongly opposed to any guarantee of succession. The
rule of primogeniture does not exist anywhere along the
Arab coast and the invariable custom is that on the death
of a Shaikh the ruling family assemble to elect a succesafer,
and the normal result As that the strongest man succeeds.
It is in our Interests that this should be so, and we
certainly do not want to be committed to supporting the
claims of a weak ruler who hae not been accepted either by
his relations or his people. As a practical issue it seems
to me exceedingly unlikely that our promise of support
would ever involve us in any action. If the relatione of
a Shaikh wish to oppose him they do not organise an armed
rebellion and besiege his fort or anything of that sort: on
the/
About this item
- Content
The file contains correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to two topics. The first topic is an attempt by the British Government to obtain permission for an emergency landing ground in Qatar during 1932. The second topic relates to the air facilities needed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Qatar, if an offer of British protection is to be made to the Shaikh of Qatar in return for an oil concession for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). In respect of this second topic, the file also contains material regarding a reconnaissance undertaken by the Royal Air Force over Qatar on the 9 May 1934 to identify suitable sites for such facilities. It includes a copy of a report on the reconnaissance – submitted by Bomber Squadron No 84, Shaibah, Iraq – on folios 27-32, along with a tracing of Qatar (folio 7) and a number of aerial photographs (folios 8-22) referenced in the report.
A draft copy of the Qatar Oil Concession can be found on folios 93-101, and notes of amendments proposed by the British Government can be found on folios 80-89. In addition, a number of 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. memoranda have also been included towards the back of the file: El Qatar, 1908-16 (folio 167), The Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. Chiefs, 1908-28 (folios 168-71), and a Précis of the Treaties and Engagements between the British Government and the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (folios 164-67).
The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Trenchard Craven William Fowle), the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, officials of the Air Ministry, and officials of the 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. .
The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (171 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 173; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 5/11 ‘Air Route to India: Arab Coast Route – Emergency Landing Ground at Qatar’ [156r] (311/345), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1956, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040867673.0x000072> [accessed 19 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/1956
- Title
- Coll 5/11 ‘Air Route to India: Arab Coast Route – Emergency Landing Ground at Qatar’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:6v, 23r:92v, 102r:172v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence