IOR/R/15/2/87

The file concerns the removal of the Dowasir [Dawāsir] (also spelled Dawasir) tribe from Bahrain following disturbances between the Dowasir and other Bahraini communities.

The correspondence is mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain (also spelled Bahrein) and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. Other correspondents include Shaikh Hamad, Deputy Ruler of Bahrain [Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah]; Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser the Government of Bahrain; Bin Saud, Sultan of Nejd [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]; and British naval commanders in Persian Gulf. Enclosures to correspondence from the Political Resident to the Political Agent, Bahrain include copies of correspondence with the Government of India and the rulers of Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

The papers covers the following:

• reports from the Political Agent, Bahrain;
• relations between the (Sunni) Dowasir and Bahraini Shiahs (also referred to as Baharnah);
• reported aggression by the Dowasir against Baharnah, June 1923;
• involvement of Bin Saud;
• confiscation and sale of property belonging to the Dowasir by the Government of Bahrain;
• departure of two thirds of the tribe to the island of Raka, October 1923;
• the Dowasir reported to have gone to Dammam [Dammām], November 1923;
• involvement of the Royal Navy, November 1923;
• the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jabir as-Subah [Aḥmad bin Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ] agrees to deny the Dowasir entry to Kuwait, November 1923;
• involvement of Shaikh Hamad of Bahrain;
• the Dowasir and pearl diving;
• terms for the readmission of the Dowasir to Bahrain, and return of their property, 1927.

The Arabic content of the file consists of approximately twenty letters (with translations) between British officials and local rulers, including Shaikh Hamad of Bahrain and Bin Saud.