IOR/R/15/4/13

The file contains correspondence mostly between Khan Bahadur Saiyid Abdur Razzaq [Sayyid 'Abd al-Razzāq], Residency Agent at Sharjah, the Political Agency at Bahrain, the rulers of the Trucial Coast (United Arab Emirates), and several merchants.

The papers relate to the trade of goods between the Trucial Coast and Bahrain, India, Persia, and Saudi Arabia during a period of heavy restrictions and shortages because of the Second World War. Several matters are covered, including:

• monthly import/export statements for the ports of Sharjah and Dubai (July 1941-April 1942);
• requests from local merchants and rulers for permission to import certain goods, often car parts in the case of ruling sheikhs;
• statements and statistics relating to the Civil Requirements Programme which was set up to ensure essential goods from India would reach the Persian Gulf;
• requests for prices and the imposition of price controls;
• the fear that local merchants might trade with the enemy, including a list of merchants operating in the Trucial Coast (folio 85);
• British discouragement of exporting goods, especially foodstuffs, from the Trucial Coast;
• the need to import more food from India in order to alleviate famine along the Persian coast in April and May 1942.