IOR/R/15/2/1616

The file is concerned with the Bushire Residency [Persian Gulf Political Residency] Toshakhana — a store of gifts kept with the Bahrain Political Agency, so that they would be available for presentation to the Trucial Coast Shaikhs when needed. Regular stock accounts are submitted to Bushire to keep the Residency updated on the number and range of articles being held on its behalf. The file is primarily concerned with the acquisition of new articles for the Toshakhana, their circulation to British officers serving in the Persian Gulf, and the purchase of surplus stock by said officers; weapons and ammunition make up the bulk of these transactions, and wartime restrictions are reflected in the file. The file therefore contains supporting correspondence, invoices, payment receipts, as well as export licenses and 'No Objection Certificates' to facilitate the export of weaponry. The principal supplier is Suleman Omer and Company, and the principal shipping agent is Gray Mackenzie and Company Limited.

The main correspondents within the file are as follows: the Political Agent, Bahrain (Edward Wakefield, Michael Dixon, and Tom Hickinbotham); the Political Resident, Persian Gulf (Charles Geoffrey Prior and William Hay); the Secretary to the Political Resident; the Political Officer, Trucial Coast (Maurice Patrick O'Connor Tandy, Richard Bird, and Raymond Murphy); the Political Agent, Kuwait (Cornelius James Pelly); and the Political Agent, Muscat.