IOR/L/PS/12/3786

The file concerns demonstrations by pearl divers in Bahrain in 1932, in the course of which two people were killed. The disturbances arose following the issue of a proclamation by the Government of Bahrain announcing changes in inheritance law. However, the file states that the basic cause of the 'riots' was economic: a protest against the smallness of diving advances. The papers record the British view of the causes of the disturbances and their circumstances; the role of Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain; the response to the events of the British Government; and comments in the German press.

The papers include a letter from the Political Agent, Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, giving a detailed account of events (folios 65-79); papers concerning Belgrave's reaction to a Parliamentary question by the Labour MP David Grenfell about the events, and Belgrave's role in them (folios 40-51); and correspondence between the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, the Foreign Office, and other British officials concerning an article in the German press entitled 'Swan Song of the Pearl Divers' by Hans Joachim von Bassewitz, which was highly critical of British handling of the incident (folios 4-38).

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.