IOR/R/15/2/770

This is a correspondence file about Indian tea exports to the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah under the quota system and the export licensing restrictions imposed by the Government of India during the Second World War (1939-1945), when tea and other essential commodities were in short supply. The file contains the correspondence of the Political Agent, Bahrain with the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast and the Residency Agent, Sharjah; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire and the Tea Controller for India, Calcutta. Included in the file are several circular lists compiled by the Tea Controller for India and the Political Agent, Bahrain. These lists show the tea quotas for the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms and neighbouring Arab States, the names of the Indian merchants in Calcutta and Bombay licensed to export tea to the Trucial Coast, details of shipments of tea and its distribution among Bahrain and Dubai merchants on importation.

The file also contains copies of official correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and others, mainly Government of India officials in the Department of External Affairs, New Delhi. They discuss reductions in the Indian tea quotas allowed for export to the Trucial Coast for the following purposes: local consumption, re-export to neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia, as barter for fresh meat and other essential supplies from Iran, for consumption by the British Residency and Consulates of the Persian Gulf. The file also contains a small amount of merchant correspondence, mainly between the Chairman of the Persian Gulf States Pool (an association of Indian tea exporters), Calcutta and the Political Agent, Bahrain about the allocations of both regular quota tea and frustrated (spoiled) tea for export to the Trucial Coast.