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An overview of Bahrain Political Agency files dealing with the impact of the Second World War on the Gulf region.
The British Empire in the Gulf during the Second World War
The India Office Private Papers offer a personal perspective on military, political, social and economic history over the period 1750–1947; in their private correspondence and diaries, people could write in different, often more open, ways.
The India Office Private Papers
A guide to the Departmental Papers: Political and Secret Separate (or Subject) Files (IOR/L/PS/10), describing what the files represent, their subject matter, how they are organised, and the different types of papers they contain.
Finding Aid: Departmental Papers: Political and Secret Separate (or Subject) Files
This article looks at the India Office Records Map Collection’s holdings relating to the Arabian Peninsula and The Gulf. It considers why the India Office assembled such a significant collection for so distant a region, and outlines the variety and organisation of the material.
Maps of the Arabian Peninsula and The Gulf in the India Office Records Map Collection
An East India Company diary from the early nineteenth century demonstrates some of the challenges encountered when cataloguing older India Office records.
Cataloguing Challenges: The Bushire Residency Diaries 1803-07 as an Example
In 1920, a gift from Ibn Saud in the form of a female oryx was the first ever to have survived the difficult journey from Arabia to London.
The King’s Oryx: Ibn Saud’s Diplomatic Gift to George V
An overview of records on the Qatar Digital Library originating from the Political (External) Department (IOR/L/PS/12), including a description of the records and the subjects they cover.
Finding Aid: Political (External) Department Records
Certain collections within the British Library’s manuscript holdings represent dark links between Britain’s nineteenth-century colonial and military activities, and its acquisition of cultural and intellectual heritage.
The Prize Agents of 1857 and the Acquisition of the Delhi Collection
Against a backdrop of bold manoeuvres by different states in the nineteenth century, the British Agent at the Court of the Imam of Muscat wrote numerous letters focused on small matters of prestige.
Soft Power, Harsh Rivalries at the Court of the Imam of Muscat
Britain’s historical presence in the Gulf was based on a claim to be fighting “piracy”. But what did British officials mean by this, and how was it interpreted by the region’s residents?
“Piracy” in the India Office Records: some historical context
Ḥunayn Ibn Isḥāq: a Medieval Arab scholar who transformed his understanding of ancient Greek medical texts into manuals for the benefit of many successive generations of students.
The Making of Medical Manuals: The 'Questions and Answers' Format in Ḥunayn Ibn Isḥāq’s Medical Manuals
During the first four centuries of Islam, almost all the Greek scientific literature available in manuscripts was translated into Arabic in an effort, centred on Baghdad, known as the ‘translation movement’.
Scientific Translators and Powerful Patrons
How and why did the British Library come to hold 14,000 Arabic manuscripts within its collections?
The Arabic Manuscripts Collection in the British Library
The words camphor, lemon, syrup and tamarind all derive from Arabic formularies – books in which Arabic-speaking physicians and pharmacists preserved and adapted the knowledge of earlier civilisations and presented new drugs to the public.
Medieval Arabic Formularies: Compounds and Simples
Today’s leaders look to their medical, economic, military, and other expert advisers, but historically rulers have also consulted astrologers, dream-interpreters, and specialists in other forms of divination and occult sciences.
Power and Prognostication in the Cairo Sultanate
An overview of the records created by the UK’s Political Agency at Kuwait between 1904 and 1949, and an examination of some of the subjects covered.
Finding Aid: IOR/R/15/5 Political Agency, Kuwait (1904-1949)
During the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran, Britain established the Anglo-Iranian Relief Fund not only to deliver humanitarian aid to the Iranian people, but also to justify and promote its military presence inside the country.
British humanitarian efforts as propaganda in Iran during the Second World War
The private papers of George Nathaniel Curzon offer a window on the workings of the British Empire.
Finding Aid: Mss Eur F111-112 Papers of the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1866-1925)
What do the records created by the British Political Agency at Muscat have to offer us?
Finding Aid: Muscat Political Agency Records
Oman’s lease of a major Persian port was defined by obscure origins, and a relationship that was generally uneasy and often contentious – a situation that British authorities were happy to exploit. This is the first article in a series of two.
No Place Equal to It: The Omani Lease of Bandar Abbas, Part 1 – 1794-1848
A 1787 letter requesting plants from the Persian Gulf for a newly established botanical garden in Kolkata illuminates the way in which the pursuit of scientific knowledge became part of the EIC’s global economic endeavour.
A Quest for Knowledge: The Basra Date Palm, the Botanical Garden in Bengal
Following the formation of Saudi Arabia in 1932, Britain continued to maintain close relations with the new state’s founder and ruler, King Ibn Sa‘ūd, although it would eventually be supplanted by the United States in its role as Saudi Arabia’s key western sponsor and protector.
Britain, Ibn Sa‘ūd, and Saudi Arabia, 1932-1953
How did a fourteenth century illustrated ‘Treatise on the Art of Riding and using the Instruments of War’ end up in the British Library’s Arabic manuscript collection? A ‘Nincumpoop’ of the Napoleonic era, who moonlighted as an antiquarian, holds the answer.
Sir Thomas Reade: The ‘Nincumpoop’ Collector of Arabic Manuscripts
Although British power in the Gulf was founded on maritime truces with local rulers, in the early 20th century land-based attacks increased, creating the need for new agreements.
When Maritime Protection Is Not Enough: Britain’s Agreement to Protect Qatar’s Borders at Sea and on Land
An overview of the records created by Britain’s Political Residency at Bushire between 1763 and 1948, including a description of the records and the subjects they cover.
Finding Aid: Political Residency, Bushire IOR/R/15/1: 1763-1948
Murder, suicide, communal riots, racial snobbery and a colourful, much-maligned British Agent caught up in the midst of it all: a record of life in Gwadar 1928–32.
M. Waris Ali’s ‘Absurd’ Account: A Native Agent and the Riots at Gwadar
Britain and its Allies maintained supremacy over the Gulf’s airspace during the Second World War, but mechanical failure could quickly turn the tables, making crewmen dependent on the region’s local population for their survival.
Air Crashes in the Gulf during the Second World War
The death of the Persian Ambassador in Bombay almost spelled disaster for relations between Persia and British India in July 1802.
Anglo-Persian Relations: The Death of Hajji Khalil Khan, 1802
al-Bīrūnī’s Qānūn is the most complete astronomical encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. It represents the most successful attempt to correct and rewrite Ptolemy’s Almagest, and was based on the results of three centuries of research in Islamic lands.
al-Bīrūnī: a high point in the Development of Islamic Astronomy
An enormous effort was made to translate almost all known Greek literature into Arabic during the 8th to 10th centuries, and Baghdad was at the centre of this work. Why was it that so many of the translators were Christians?
Why Were So Many of the Greek-Arabic Translators Christians?
What do the Gombroon Diaries convey about eighteenth-century Persia [Iran] and the Gulf (1708-1763)?
Finding Aid: IOR/G/29/2-14 Gombroon (Bandar ‘Abbas) Diaries and Consultations (1708-1763)
A vast range of material that spans several thousand years, including a large collection of Arabic manuscripts and material related to the Gulf, is held in the British Library collection.
The British Library: How Many Institutions Became One
A government department unique in its scope and power, the India Office had a profound impact on the history of the Gulf.
The India Office: The Government, in London, of British India
A guide to the East India Company ships’ journals and related records (IOR/L/MAR/A and B series files) and miscellaneous East India Company and India Office marine records (IOR/L/MAR/C files) on the Qatar Digital Library.
Finding Aid: IOR/L/MAR Marine Department Records (1600-c. 1879)
From its origins as a small London enterprise, the East India Company (EIC) emerged as a powerful commercial and political organisation, whose presence in the Gulf helped shape the region’s modern history.
A Brief History of the English East India Company 1600–1858
Captain Owen’s plan to take over the portal town of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean put British officials in a contentious situation with the Sultan of Muscat and Zanzibar.
Mombasa: Britain’s Shortest-Lived Protectorate?
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
Due to increased tensions between the British and French, in the 1780s, the Gulf was drawn into a global battle for supremacy. Spying was a significant aspect of the struggle to control strategic shipping routes.
Spies, Ships and Strategic Communication: Anglo-French Competition in the Gulf
Despite inauspicious beginnings, Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ’s official visit to England in 1919 proved a success.
Shaikh Ahmad goes to England: The Politics of Official State Visits
In 1910, British officials discovered that the Persian authorities at Bandar-e Lengeh were charging travellers a domestic rate to travel to Bahrain, reigniting a decades-long dispute over Persian claims to the islands.
Passports and Politics: Britain and Persia’s Disagreements over Bahrain
Among pre-modern Arabic scholars, the Almagest was generally regarded as the most authoritative work on astronomy. This esteem for Ptolemy's text, however, contrasted with a common practice among Arabic readers not to consult the Almagest directly but to rely on later commentaries for studying Ptolemy's theories.
Arabic Commentators on Ptolemy's Almagest
In the ninth century, Ḥunayn ibn Ishāq decided to explain Greek terminology, instead of simply adopting it, in his translations of the medical treatises of Galen. In doing this he helped establish Arabic as an international language of science.
Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq and the Rise of Arabic as a Language of Science
By charting waters within and creating accurate maps of their spheres of influence the East India company, and later India Office, ensured that they had an advantage over competing powers.
India Office Records Map Collection: A Vast and Powerful Resource
Ptolemaic astronomy became known in mediaeval Europe mainly through translations from Arabic. Latin translations of the Almagest reflect the complex tradition of Ptolemy in the Arab world and show the translators' individual approaches to a demanding and unfamiliar science.
The Latin Reception of the Arabic Tradition of the Almagest
With the city of Muscat in disarray and growing dissent on the coast, the absent Imam of Muscat had to rely on his close relative to take charge and defend his territories. The person to assume this mantle? Influential, commanding, and female.
In the Absence of Men: Female Leaders in 1832 Oman
From East India Company intelligence to news of the discovery of oil, the India Office Records demonstrate the exchanges that took place between Britain and Qatar over the last three centuries.
Qatari History: Pivotal Moments Revealed in India Office Records
Viewed alternately as both luxury and necessity, ice has been valued in warm climates for millennia. Technological advances altered methods of producing, storing, and using ice, but it remained a highly sought-after and regulated product well into the twentieth century.
Ice: Hidden Depths below the Surface
The vast archive known as the India Office Records, occupying approximately nine miles of shelving in the British Library, contains the documents created or received in London by three organisations crucial to the British colonial effort in the period 1600–1858.
The India Office Records
The Death of Karim Khan Zand, ruler of Persia, in 1779 marked the beginning of a bloody period lasting 15 years and culminating in the rise to power of the Qajar dynasty.
The Brutal End of Persia’s Zand Dynasty
An unassuming financial file that forms part of the India Office Records contains an unexpected example of British, Arabic-language propaganda.
‘For the Sake of Freedom’: British World War II Propaganda Posters in Arabic
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
Gwadar was an enclave of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman for nearly 200 years, but records show that while the Sultans were reluctant to lose sovereignty over the territory, they were nevertheless open to negotiations with the British.
Gwadar: the Sultan’s Possession
The vast trove of material held at the British Library that pertains to Britain’s Colonial exploits owe their present organisation in part to the early acknowledgement by officials in the EIC and India Office of the importance of record-keeping.
History of the India Office Records and Private Papers
In AD 137, Ptolemy compiled a catalogue of forty-eight constellations containing 1022 stars. ʽAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī revised critically Ptolemy’s catalogue, added new stars and identified those appearing in the Arabic folk tradition.
ʽAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī and the Revision of Ptolemy’s Star Catalogue
An overview of the records in the IOR/F/4 Series, including how they were created, their format, and subject matter.
Finding Aid: IOR/F/4 Board’s Collections (1620-1859)
In 1830, the long-term relationship between Prince Najaf Ali Khan Zand and the Government of Bombay was put to the test when the Prince was accused of murder.
The Politics of Foresight in nineteenth-century Anglo-Persian Relations: The Trial of Prince Najaf Ali Khan Zand
During WWII food shortages in the Middle East caused by locust swarms were tackled by a largely forgotten, but ultimately successful war supported by British administrators in the Gulf.
The Forgotten War against Locusts that Helped Win the War
Common household practices such as consuming hot soups and drinks when one has caught a cold are rooted in humoral medicine, which was the dominant medical paradigm from the time of Galen to the nineteenth century (and beyond) across much of the world.
Galenic Humoral Pathology
Not all prisoners during wartime are soldiers. During the First World War, many countries interned “enemy” civilians.
Civilian Internment in the First World War
Not only did the Asian subcontinent’s hot and humid climate present a significant threat to the health of British administrators, but it also presented new challenges to their business of recordkeeping.
A Nineteenth-Century Approach to the Conservation of Government Records
An overview of India Office Military Department records relating to Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Finding Aid: IOR/L/MIL Records of the Military Department (1708-1957)
The Persia Collection: casting light on Britain’s thorny relationship with Persia [Iran] throughout the 1930s, Second World War, and Anglo-Soviet Occupation.
Finding Aid: The Persia Collection in the Political (External) Department Records
The British Government had a strong interest in Kharg, a small, strategically placed island in the Gulf.
A Strategic Position: British Seizures of the Island of Kharg
Ships have always been important in the history of the Gulf, and therefore are prominent in the India Office Records and other documents on the QDL. This is the first article in a series of three by the author, providing context and explanation for nautical terminology in the records.
Part 1 – Nautical Terminology in the IOR files: An introduction
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
Between the world wars, Reza Shah Pahlavi brought great changes to Iran and a challenge to British predominance in the Gulf, the legacy of which is still felt in the region.
Reza Shah Pahlavi and the Gulf
In medieval Islamic societies, education in the mathematical sciences was based not on solving problems, or producing new results, but rather on careful study of the accomplishments of past masters.
Studying the Mathematical Sciences
Mathematicians in medieval Islamic societies were the first to grasp the real significance of Menelaus’ Spherics. They followed Menelaus’ approach to spherical geometry and went on to develop spherical trigonometry as an independent branch of mathematics.
Menelaus’ Spherics
The establishment of the Bahrain Agency in 1900 cemented previous British interest in the Persian Gulf and set the tone for increased economic and political involvement in the 20th century.
The Political Agency, Bahrain: Inside the Organisation that Ran Britain's Interests in Bahrain
Ownership of a medal of the Order of the Lion and Sun becomes the subject of an unseemly quarrel, as related by the British Envoy in Tehran.
An Embarrassing Diplomatic Dispute in Baghdad, 1847
Upon the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, instructions sent to the Native Agent at Sharjah on how to visibly mourn her death reveal aspects of the construction of empire via ritual mourning practices.
The Death of Queen Victoria: the Politics of Mourning for the British in the Gulf
An overview of the records created by the Bahrain Political Agency, 1899-1953
Finding Aid: IOR/R/15/2 Political Agency, Bahrain (1899-1953)
From 1900 to 1933 the Persian Oil Concession was the backdrop to a stand-off between the British and newly-renamed Iran.
From Persia to Iran: the Politics of the Change of Name and its Impact on the Oil Concession
Astrology was considered a scientific discipline in the Middle Ages, when political powers patronised astronomical research that was considered necessary for obtaining ‘scientific’ astrological predictions.
Sahl ibn Bishr and the Rise of Astrology in Abbasid Times
From the early days of its existence, the East India Company sought a secure base, known as a factory, in the Gulf from which to conduct trade with Persia. In 1763, it finally established a base which would provide some continuity to its operations, namely Bushire.
The Political Residency, Bushire
For over a hundred years, in tandem with the colonisation of Palestinian land, Palestinian history has been systematically erased, suppressed, and distorted. The QDL however contains multiple sources on Palestine and Palestinians.
Finding Aid: Sources on Palestine
In the pre-modern Arabic-speaking lands, as the world over, the lives of people and animals were intertwined in manifold ways. This resulted in the production of numerous Arabic scientific, veterinary, and related texts on the world of beasts.
The usefulness of animals in the Arabic scientific tradition
‘Islamic’ and ‘Western’ are terms used to describe different styles of binding but experts agree that much further research is required to create more meaningful categories.
‘Islamic Style’ Binding: A Misleading Term Ripe for Further Research
It’s hard to imagine a natural resource as important to the history of the development of the Gulf States as oil. But in the early days of oil exploration, nothing was more important than water.
Water, not Oil, the Most Valuable Resource in the Gulf
How geophysicists working in the Gulf were able to contribute in the 1930s to the scientific community’s understanding of the earth’s magnetic field.
Kuwait, Carnegie, and Terrestrial Magnetic Observations
The name Mīr Muhannā is much celebrated in Iran today because he stood up to imperialism and won.
A Thorn in England’s Side: The Piracy of Mīr Muhannā
Wherever European navies sailed, they introduced their own designs of ships and adapted those they saw being used locally. This is the second article in a series of three by the author, providing context and explanation for nautical terminology in the India Office Records.
Part 2 – Nautical Terminology in the IOR files: European Ships in the Age of Sail
In the tempestuous history of the British Residency at Mocha, one of the most notable incidents was the bombardment of the city in December 1820. This followed allegations from British officials and Arab leaders of shocking misconduct on both sides.
The ‘disgraceful treatment’ of Lieutenant Dominicetti: The Bombardment of Mocha in 1820
The struggle for power in Muscat 1866–68 following the death, in suspicious circumstances, of Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sultan of Muscat.
Assassination and Intrigue in Muscat 1866–68
The movement for political reform in Kuwait in 1938 signified change in the region and highlights the country’s – and Britain’s – response to the ideas and forces that delivered it.
Kuwait’s Majlis Movement: National and Regional Developments Brought into Focus
At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain’s concerns over a possible French invasion of India through Persia led to its deepening intervention in the Gulf.
The Impact of the Napoleonic Wars in the Gulf: The Franco-Persian Alliance and Napoleon’s Threat to India
In the immediate post-WWII period, despite British opposition, the U.S. sought to increase its influence in the Gulf by distributing propagandistic material in Arabic.
U.S. Propaganda in Post-WWII Bahrain
The Private Papers of One of the Gulf’s Most Important Political Residents, 1862–72, provide a fascinating insight into British Policy in the period as well as providing a more personal insight into the life of a British official.
Lewis Pelly’s Private Papers
In the thirteenth century, Ibn al-Nafīs wrote a substantial commentary on Avicenna’s entire Canon of Medicine thereby revising existing understandings of human physiology and anatomy. His theory of the pulmonary transit of blood formed a cornerstone of the modern theory of blood circulation.
Ibn al-Nafīs and Pulmonary Transit
The death of an African sailor who had been severely flogged for attempted desertion, exposes the brutal nature of early nineteenth-century maritime life, in which justice could be as capricious as a strong tailwind.
Crime or Punishment? The Cruel Death of a Sailor at Bushire in 1820
Looking to strengthen Persia as a potential buffer for the defence of India, Britain provided military assistance to the Crown Prince of Persia in his struggle against Russian expansion into the Caucasus.
Anglo-Persian Relations: The British Military Mission to Persia, 1810-1815
There are many different types of vessels used from the Red Sea to India. All of them have developed over the years to suit the local conditions. This is the third article in a series of three by the author, providing context and explanation for nautical terminology in the India Office Records.
Part 3 – Nautical Terminology in the IOR files: Non-European Ships in the Age of Sail
In the medieval and early modern periods, the same group of individuals who developed new mathematical methods and theories were often directly involved in the historical, philological preservation of ancient texts.
Competing Theories of Spherical Trigonometry
How the anti-British sentiments of a British adviser assisted the foundation of Saudi Arabia.
‘Calls himself an Englishman’: The shifting loyalties of Harry Philby
For eight hundred years, the Arabic scientific tradition was superior to that found in western Eurasia. It gave birth to new theories and fields of scientific inquiry that laid the foundations for the Scientific Revolution, and continued to flourish thereafter.
Arabic Scientific Tradition
Early examples of watermarks in paper can display a variety of seemingly obscure imagery. What were these images attempting to communicate? Why were they used, and what is their significance?
The Imagery of Early Watermarks
Considered deadly to the “European constitution”, the hot and humid climate of the Gulf was blamed for the deaths of countless British officials in the early nineteenth century.
A Deadly Climate
The culmination of extensive travel and research, George Curzon’s Persia and the Persian Question was a critical success. Yet was its author happy with it?
George Curzon’s Persia and the Persian Question: Published, yet unfinished?
During the early ʿAbbāsid period (ninth century CE), a diverse group of scholars collaborated on the long-term project of translating an elaborate work of pure geometry dealing with the properties of the parabola, ellipse and hyperbola – Apollonius’ Conics.
Translating a Work of Higher Mathematics
How did an illustrated Arabic manuscript on the Art of War come into the possession of an illegitimate son of a King; his extraordinary and ultimately tragic life leading to its acquisition by the British Library?
An Earl, a Collection and a Gun: the Curious Provenance of a British Library Manuscript
The peoples of the Islamic world excelled at designing and building water-clocks as these manuscripts show.
Robots, Musicians and Monsters: The World’s Most Fantastic Clocks
Around 150 AD Claudius Ptolemaeus wrote the great handbook of astronomy, later known as the Almagest, which became the prevalent handbook for the knowledge of the stars in Europe for about 1500 years. The text was handed on to the Europeans through Arabic translations in the ninth century AD, and translated into Latin in the twelfth century.
The Arabic Translations of Ptolemy's Almagest
An overview of records on the Qatar Digital Library created by Britain’s Residency Agency in present-day UAE (IOR/R/15/4), including a description of the records, the subjects they cover, and how they are organised.
Finding Aid: IOR/R/15/4 Residency Agency, Trucial Coast (1930-1951)
A vast array of cartographic material has been hidden amongst the India Office Records’ administrative files; this material provides a fascinating insight into the workings of British imperial knowledge gathering in the Gulf and beyond.
Cartographic Material in India Office Reports
During a period often characterised as one of decay and decline, the Andaluso-Tunisian astronomer Ibn al-Raqqām wrote his Risālah fī ‘ilm al-ẓilāl, the most important treatise on sundials of the Islamic West. The instruments he describes are much more elaborate and sophisticated than the surviving examples of Medieval sundials from al-Andalus and the Maghrib.
Ibn al-Raqqām’s treatise on sundials
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