IOR/R/15/2/177

The file concerns publicity about Bahrain in newspapers and journals, much of it of a sensitive or critical nature. The sources of the articles are the British and Indian press, the European press (Italian and German newspapers), and the Arabic press (based in Iraq, Egypt, and Syria). The transcripts of articles from the Arabic language press appear in English translations. The transcripts of articles and press summaries are accompanied by correspondence from British officials (especially the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf), Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser to the Bahrain Government, and other officials.

The papers include:

• correspondence between Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, Political Agent, Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and William Arthur Moore, editor of the Statesman, Calcutta, dated January - February 1934 and November - January 1935 concerning a proposal that Moore come to Bahrain in 1935 in order to write a series of articles about the Persian Gulf;
• correspondence relating to the correction of an inaccuracy in an article entitled 'Persian Gulf Oil Wells' published in the Observer of 15 April 1934, dated May - July 1934;
• papers relating to an anonymous article critical of Belgrave in the Al Shabab newspaper of Cairo dated 6 October 1937 entitled 'The Country of Bahrain: What Befell her through Colonisation', including attempts to identify the author of the article, November 1937 and August - September 1938, discussion of counter-propaganda, December 1937 - February 1938, and four 'counter-propaganda' articles by Belgrave for insertion in the Arabic press entitled 'Bahrain and what is Said about it', February 1938;
• papers concerning an extract from the Bombay Chronicle dated 3 January 1938 containing a letter entitled 'Plight of Indians in Bahrain Petroleum Company', in which seven Indian employees had made complaints about working conditions, pay, and accommodation at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), February - July 1938;
• press agency reports issued by L'Orient Arabe, Cairo containing details of articles in the Arabic press relating to the Persian Gulf, July - September 1938;
• translation of anonymous article published in Al-Rabita El-Arabiah dated 31 August 1938 entitled 'People of Bahrain are Displeased with the Bad Administration of the British Authority';
• translation of article that appeared in the Frankfurter Zeitung of 7 August 1938 entitled 'On the Bahrain Islands: the Play for Oil and Power in the Persian Gulf'.

The Arabic and French language content of the file is confined to letterheads of L'Orient Arabe, Cairo, apart from an Arabic version of the pseudonym 'Young Man' at the end of the letter on folio 52.

The last item of correspondence in the main body of the file is dated 21 September 1938. The closing date in the overall date range is supplied by a note on that item dated 15 November [1938].