IOR/R/15/2/1375

The file comprises correspondence relating to the shipment and transhipment of cargo on local vessels (frequently referred to as country craft) from Karachi to Qatar (spelt in various ways, including Kattar, Gutter, Quatar) and, to a lesser extent, other ports on the Arab coast of the Persian Gulf, including Bahrain, Jubail [Al Jubayl], Katiff [Al Qaṭīf], Ra’s al-Khaymah, and Dubai. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Collector (and Assistant Collector) of Customs at Karachi; the Political Agent at Bahrain (Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, and staff from the Agency’s Vernacular Office); the Director of Customs at Bahrain (Claud Cranbrook Lewis DeGrenier); the Ruler of Qatar (Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī).

Much of the correspondence is routine, and follows an established pattern: 1) enquiries from the Assistant Collector of Customs to the Political Agency at Bahrain after specific vessels, listing the contents of their cargo and requesting confirmation of their arrival at port and the landing of their cargo; 2) letters from Political Agency staff, in English and in Arabic, forwarding enquiries about inbound vessels to the Director of Customs at Bahrain (for vessels headed to Bahrain), the Ruler of Qatar (for vessels headed to Qatar) or the Residency Agent at Sharjah (for vessels headed to the ports of the Trucial Coast); 3) replies from the Director of Customs at Bahrain, the Ruler of Qatar, and the Residency Agent at Sharjah, either confirming the arrival of vessels and the landing of their cargo, or writing that the vessel has not yet arrived in port; and 4) letters from the Political Agency back to the Collector of Customs at Karachi, replying to the original enquiry, occasionally making reference to enclosing landing certificates, which are accepted as proof of the landing of the cargo. Some letters from the Assistant Collector of Customs at Karachi to the Political Agent at Bahrain, dated 1936 and later, make reference to enclosed export manifests, and enquiries about the authenticity of their endorsements.

In addition to the routine correspondence, the file also includes:

• correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain and the Director of Customs at Bahrain, concerning the shipment of goods to Bahrain via Qatar as transhipment cargo (ff 12-15);
• correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain and the Secretary of the Calcutta Marine Insurance Association, relating to loss of vessels at Persian Gulf ports, and regulations at Dubai for registration of vessels (f 28, ff 30-31, ff 46-50).