IOR/R/15/2/148

The file concerns the agreement reached between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia (with the consent of Bahrain) on transit dues at Bahrain (also spelled Bahrein).

The correspondence is mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch), and the Assistant Political Agent, Bahrain (Lieutenant B L Tomlinson); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle); and the India Office. Other correspondents include the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave); HM Minister, Jedda [Jeddah] (Sir Andrew Ryan); the British Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Andrew Spencer Calvert); and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia (Fuad Bey Hamza [Fu’ād Bey Hamza]). Enclosures to correspondence from the Political Resident and HM Minister, Jedda to the Political Agent, Bahrain include correspondence from the Foreign Office.

The papers cover: discussion of the terms of the proposed agreement, October-November 1935; copies of correspondence recording the agreement ('exchange of notes') between the British Legation, Jedda and the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mecca, November 1935; correspondence between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain concerning the notifying of the new customs arrangements to the public, December 1935; discussion between British officials of the effect of registering the agreement as a treaty with the League of Nations, January 1936; discussion of the text of the agreement, January-February 1936; copy of the published agreement ('Exchange of Notes'), entitled Transit Dues at Bahrein (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1936), May 1936; protests over the agreement by the Iranian Government to the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, arising from Iran's claim to sovereignty over Bahrain, June-August 1936; and papers concerning the effect on Bahrain of the possible loss of transit and customs dues, December 1936 - May 1937. (The dates given refer to main items of correspondence, and may include enclosures of an earlier date.)

The Arabic language content of the file of consists of approximately fifteen folios, including copies of correspondence and notices provided by the Government of Bahrain, and the bilingual text of the published agreement.

The date range gives the covering dates of the correspondence in the file; the last dated addition to the file is the information on the title page (folio 5) that the file was closed on 30 November 1937.