IOR/R/15/2/134

The file’s correspondence relates to British plans for the education of Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah’s eight sons. Much of the arrangements are discussed between the Bahrain Political Agent (Major Clive Daly until September 1926, followed by Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Barrett until April 1929, followed by Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Prior), the Political Resident (numerous individuals in the period concerned) and the Advisor to the Government of Bahrain, Charles Dalrymple-Belgrave.

Allusion to the need to educate Shaikh Ḥamad’s children, and their perceived lack of education and values, is made repeatedly throughout the file, along with questions over whether an English, Indian, or tutor of other nationality would be best suited (for example, folios 51, 94-97). Early correspondence (1923/24) includes enquiries into sending some of Shaikh Ḥamad’s sons overseas for their education, for example at the Mayo College in Ajmer, India (folios 9-11), or the American University of Beirut (folio 17). The emphasis of the correspondence changes quickly towards finding an appropriate candidate to work in Bahrain as a private tutor to Shaikh Ḥamad’s children, and a large portion of the file is comprised of establishing criteria for the appropriate candidate, job descriptions, application letters, resumés, and letters of recommendation for a number of candidates. A fold-out table compiles the details of a number of candidates, including notes about their education and previous work (folio 66). The appointment in 1927 of a tutor who is already an Indian Government servant reaches an advanced stage of negotiations, before being objected by the Government of India in July 1928 on the grounds that the applicant has a criminal conviction (folio 77). Another candidate, an Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslim, is finally transferred to the role from the Ajmer Provincial Service in 1930 (folio 99).