IOR/R/15/2/72

The volume relates to the visit to London in 1919 of Sheikh Abdullah [also spelled Abdulla in the papers] [Sheikh ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah], the son of Sheikh Isa [Sheikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah], Ruler of Bahrain (also referred to in the papers as Bahrein).

The volume consists mainly of correspondence (especially telegrams) between Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner at Baghdad, the Political Agent, Bahrain, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Government of India, and Sheikh Isa (the latter in both English and Arabic).

The papers consist of:

• correspondence relating to Sheikh Abdullah's visit to London, dated May - October 1919, including his attendance at the peace celebrations, July 1919, and his reception by King George V at Buckingham Palace, August 1919, and by the Secretary of State for India, August 1919;
• correspondence dated April - June 1920 concerning a letter (not transcribed) from Sheikh Abdullah to Sir (Frederic) Arthur Hirtzel, dated 4 September 1919, in which the Sheikh had requested the right for his father, Sheikh Isa to have authority over all Arab subjects residing in his territory, the selection of members of the Majlis al Urfi, permission from the British Government to open the port of Zubarah, and the privilege of referring issues directly to the Government in London whenever necessary, with replies to all of these points from the Government of India, in a letter to Sheikh Abdullah dated 5 May 1920 (with translation in Arabic); and,
• correspondence concerning the exchange of gifts between Sheikh Abdullah and Captain Norman Napier Bray, formerly Political Agent, Bahrain, who had had accompanied the Sheikh while he was the guest of the British Government, September - November 1920.