Articles From Our Experts

The Persian Gulf Squadron: British Hegemony in the Gulf?

Much Anglocentric writing on Gulf history credits the British with bringing peace to the region. But how accurate is that narrative? A close inspection of the India Office Records reveals another picture of the British presence in the Gulf.

The Persian Gulf Squadron: British Hegemony in the Gulf?

Britain’s ‘interest’ in Bahrain

A candid exchange between British officials in the 1920s reveals the extent to which Britain had intervened in Bahrain in its own interest.

Britain’s ‘interest’ in Bahrain

Manumission Statements: Insights into the Lives of the Gulf’s enslaved Population

Over 800 manumission statements, collected by numerous British administrators in the Gulf over the course of three decades, offer invaluable insights into the lives and labours of the enslaved peoples of the Gulf region.

Manumission Statements: Insights into the Lives of the Gulf’s enslaved Population

Thesiger’s Clothes: Empire and Exploration in the Arabian Peninsula

Over several centuries, the close relationship between individual explorers of the Arabian Peninsula and the British Empire was made clear in often unpublished journals and accounts held in the India Office Records.

Thesiger’s Clothes: Empire and Exploration in the Arabian Peninsula

The Menial Establishment in Britain’s Political Agency, Bahrain

There are numerous records relating to high-level British officials in the Gulf, but the letters in the India Office Establishment Files also reveal the working conditions of the lower-paid ranks of Agency staff.

The Menial Establishment in Britain’s Political Agency, Bahrain

Births, Marriages, Deaths: Bahrain’s ‘Order in Council’ in Action

Bahrain’s Order in Council gave the Political Agent the power to, on one hand, issue birth certificates, and on the other, to rule on capital punishment for convicted criminals.

Births, Marriages, Deaths: Bahrain’s ‘Order in Council’ in Action

Legal Business: The Judicial Aspects of British Rule in the Gulf

In the early 20th century, British Officials responsible for the administration of justice in cases concerning British subjects and foreigners in the Gulf had to maintain a delicate balance, so as not to stoke bad relations between neighbouring states.

Legal Business: The Judicial Aspects of British Rule in the Gulf

‘The life stream of an office’: Instructions for dealing with correspondence at the British Residency in Bushire

A document written in the mid-1940s sheds light on how the Bushire Political Residency files came to be so well organised.

‘The life stream of an office’: Instructions for dealing with correspondence at the British Residency in Bushire

Bahrain’s Chief of Police Visits the UK, 1948

The 1948 visit of Shaikh Khalīfa bin Mohammed Āl Khalīfa to Britain on a training trip arranged by the British Council provides an early example of cooperation between Britain and Bahrain in matters related to policing and security.

Bahrain’s Chief of Police Visits the UK, 1948

The Second World War Comes to Bahrain

An Italian bombing raid brought Bahrain into the Second World War’s ‘zone of operations’, sparking fear amongst Bahrainis and concerns amongst the British over the safety of the islands’ strategic oil installations.

The Second World War Comes to Bahrain