IOR/L/PS/10/1039

Correspondence, minute papers, memoranda, and draft papers concerning reforms in Bahrain. The principal correspondents are officials at the India Office, Foreign Office, and the Government of India (Foreign and Political Department). Further correspondence, mostly included as enclosures, comes from the Colonial Office, Admiralty, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Prescott Trevor), Political Agent in Bahrain (Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly), British Legation in Tehran, British Consulate in Damascus, High Commissioner in Palestine, Government of Bombay (Political Department), and Government of India (Finance Department).

Throughout the file the papers deal with reports and complaints of the oppression of the Baharna by their Sunni rulers and those connected to them. The British response to the situation is then discussed and communicated. Matters covered include:

• The need for administrative reform to redress inequalities in the system
• The proposal to press for the deportation of Shaikh Abdullah, one of the ruling Shaikh Isa's sons and someone thought to be largely responsible for injustices committed against the Shia Baharna
• Agitation in the Persian press in response to perceived injustices, highlighting Persia's claim to Bahrain
• The forced retirement of Shaikh Isa and the instalment of his son, Hamad, in his stead
• Trouble between the Baharna and the Dawasir tribe (loyal to Ibn Saud of Nejd) in Budaiya and the proposal to bombard the village.