IOR/R/15/2/767

This is a correspondence file about the operation and impact on the population and economy of Bahrain and the Trucial Coast sheikhdoms, of Government of India export licensing restrictions for the supply of tea and to a lesser extent, coffee, sugar, dates and cotton piece goods, to the Persian Gulf, during the Second World War (1939-1945). Letters, telegrams and memoranda are exchanged mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain and the Adviser to the Bahrain Government, and also between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent, Bahrain and several Government of India officials, particularly the Tea Controller for India, the Export Trade and Foreign Trade Controllers in Bombay and Calcutta and other officials, mainly in the Departments of Commerce and External Affairs.

The file contains numerous supply and trade statistics, mainly for tea, and in particular the regular lists compiled by the Director of Customs and Port Officer for Bahrain, acting in his wartime capacity as the Food Controller, Bahrain. His lists show the monthly distribution of licenses for the export of tea quotas, and to a lesser extent coffee, from India to Bahrain, together with the names of the Bombay exporters and the Bahrain importers for each consignment. Throughout the correspondence, British officials discuss their several enquiries into Indian tea exports to Arab countries that they suspect are re-exported or smuggled into Germany and other enemy countries. The Political Resident in the Persian Gulf also raises his concerns about the potential impact of Government of India export controls on the economy of the Arab Gulf States and shaikhdoms if he should strictly enforce them, since they would inhibit normal trade with Iran (Persia) in essential commodities subject to severe wartime shortages, such as fresh food and firewood. The file also includes numerous letters exchanged between Bahrain importers, Indian exporters and the Political Agent, Bahrain about shipments of tea and other commodities to Bahrain.