IOR/R/15/2/152

The file deals with wireless broadcasting to Bahrain (also spelled Bahrein), particularly the start of the Arabic service by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in January 1938. The papers also have much information about broadcasting to Kuwait and other parts of the Persian Gulf.

The correspondence is mainly between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, Bahrain. Other correspondents include Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser to the Government of Bahrain; the India Office; the BBC; and Shaikh Abdullah bin Isa Al Khalifah [Sheikh ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah] of Bahrain. Enclosures to correspondence sent to the Political Agency Bahrain by the Political Resident and the India Office include correspondence from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, Government of India, and other British officials in the region, in particular the Political Agent, Kuwait.

The papers (folios 1-51) cover: concern over the broadcasting to the Middle East of anti-British propaganda by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), April - June 1933 and February - March 1935; information on the number of wireless sets in Bahrain and the capacity of those sets to pick up broadcasts from Europe, April - June 1933; mention of a considerable increase in the number of wireless sets in Bahrain, February 1935; concern over broadcasts from Egypt, 1935; Government of India papers on censorship of broadcast matter, May 1936 (with enclosure dated May 1932); letter from the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle) to the Government of India, in which he notes the increase in the number of wireless sets and wireless listeners in the region, the decreasing importance of the Soviet Union and rise of other powers (such as Italy) in broadcasting terms, and the use of Arabic over a wide area, and suggests that the United Kingdom should broadcast 'publicity' (which he differentiates from propaganda) to the Arab world, 21 December 1936; and quality of reception and opinions on the value of broadcasts in Bahrain, February 1937.

The papers (folios 51-291) cover: initial plans by the BBC to broadcast in Arabic, February - March 1937; discussion of the best location from which to broadcast, June -August 1937; reception and reaction to broadcasts at Bahrain, September 1937; broadcasts from the Italian station at Bari, e.g. September 1937; discussion of Jerusalem broadcasts in Arabic in enclosures to India Office letter dated 13 October 1937; outline of new BBC service, December 1937 (enclosures November - December 1937); concern over the 'colonisation menace' (i.e. British colonialism) expressed by the Italian broadcasting station at Bari, December 1937; the announcement in December 1937 of the commencement of BBC broadcasts on 3 January 1938; bulletin of BBC Arabic programmes for January 1938, enclosed with correspondence dated December 1937 (other weekly bulletins of programmes later in the file); broadcasts connected with the wedding of King Farouk of Egypt, January 1938; discussion of a factual error in a BBC news announcement, 16 January and 1 March 1938; reactions to broadcasts in Bahrain, and Political Agent's recommendations for improvements, January - February 1938; recommendation that Arabic music should be played instead of English music, January - February 1938; criticism by the Political Agent, Kuwait of lack of variety in the Arabic music that was broadcast, March 1938; proposal for the formation of a local committee of radio listeners in Bahrain, June 1926. The dates given refer to main items of correspondence, and may include enclosures of an earlier date.

The Arabic language content of the file consists of approximately twenty folios of bulletins of BBC Arabic programmes, and correspondence between British officials and senior members of ruling families.

The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence; however, the earliest document is an enclosure on folio 33 dated 19 May 1932, and the last dated addition to the file is an entry in the notes on folio 313 dated 6 July [1928].