IOR/R/15/2/1431-1491

The 61 surviving files about rules and regulations contain predominantly printed or typewritten copies of internal Government of India circular letters, memoranda and notices. The circulars were sent to all Government of India departments, offices and stations in India, the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. The circulars contain the text of new or revised rules, regulations, procedures, instructions and guidance as well as announcements about them. Circulars containing certain types of official notices, such as resolutions to amend regulations or announcements about senior staff appointments, were also published in the Government’s official newspaper, the India Gazette.

Most circulars relate to financial and personnel management and were issued mainly by the following departments: Finance, Home, Central Revenues, Foreign and Political. This group of circulars cover:

• Staff recruitment and appointments, pay and grading, personal taxation, retirements and resignations, pensions, conduct and discipline, support for legal, language and medical studies and examinations, leave privileges including study and medical leave, travelling allowances and expenses, 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1431-1436, 1448-1452, 1456, 1462-1463, 1471, 1473, 1477-1480, 1484, 1487-1489, 1491)
• Management and administration of Indian Civil Service pension funds, including the creation of Sterling Branches of Indian Family Provident Funds, 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1441-1445, 1451, 1454, 1474-1476, 1485, 1490)
• Government accounting and audit procedures for Accounts Officers and Treasury Officers, 1930s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1472)
• The wearing of civil and military uniforms and medals; the rank and precedence of officers, including a copy of the ‘Warrant of Precedence of India’ 1937, 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1434, 1455, 1461, 1464, 1469)

There are also a large number of circulars from the Office of the Controller of Printing, Stationery and Stamps and the India Posts and Telegraphs Department, including:

• Instructions about the ordering and supply of government paper and forms, amendments to regulations such as the Stationery Office Rules 1924 and the need for economy in the use of stationery during the Second World War (1939-1945), 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1438, 1482)
• Amendments 1920s-1940s to the ‘Manual of Instructions to Officers of the Political Department of the Government of India’ 1924, the ‘Indian Word Code’ 1924 and the distribution lists for both the ‘Indian Word Code’ 1924 and the ‘Government Telegraph Code’ 1922 (IOR/R/15/2/ 1446, 1466-1468)

In addition, there are circulars, publications, statistical reports and correspondence relating specifically to the management and work of the British Political Agency, Bahrain, including:

• Circulars issued by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to the Political Agent Bahrain and other officers and clerks in the Persian Gulf service, containing local administrative and personnel instructions, local reporting requirements and procedures to be followed regarding the handling of official correspondence, 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1437, 1480, 1482)
• Results of examinations taken, mainly in Arabic and Persian and also Russian, by several Political Agents, Political Officers and clerks stationed at Bahrain and Sharjah, 1930s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1458, 1459, 1481, 1486)
• The results of the monthly typing speed tests taken by clerks employed at the Political Agency, Bahrain and reported to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, 1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1483)
• Bahrain Agency annual statistical reports on work done in accordance with the Bahrain Order in Council decree of 1913: numbers of cases heard by the Court of the Political Agent, deportation and prohibition orders issued and registrations of British subjects as Bahrain residents, 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1453)
• Copies of King’s Regulations made under the authority of the Bahrain Order in Council decree of 1913, prohibiting illegal trading in drugs and pearls in the Persian Gulf and a small amount of correspondence regarding investigations into this trade in Bahrain, mainly 1920s-1930s (IOR/R/15/2/1465)
• Bahrain Agency correspondence about measures to be taken against the circulation of counterfeit Indian coinage in Bahrain, petitions from Bahrain merchants, proclamations by the rulers of Bahrain and Dubai, Government of India circulars about counterfeit, worn, new and withdrawn rupee coins, 1930s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1470)

There are further circulars, published guides, copies of foreign nationality and related laws and also a small amount of correspondence, mainly between British Government officials, about:

• Protecting various rights of British subjects and protected persons living or travelling in Persia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, in view of customs, travel and residency restrictions imposed by foreign governments, 1920s-1940s (IOR/R/15/2/1439-1440, 1457, 1460-1461)
• The official position of the British Government on religious observance by Jews and Muslims at the wailing or western wall of Jerusalem in British-occupied Palestine, 1928-1929 (IOR/R/15/2/1461)