Page 309 - Records of Bahrain (3) (ii)_Neat

Bahrain and the British, 1921-1922 725
CONFIDENTIAL
No. lll/O, The Agenoy, Bahrain*

1S/7/8S.
Tho Hon*bio tho Polltioal Rosldont in tho Pornian aulf,
B u b h i r e.

Bahrain Affaire•
In roply to your tolograra No. 1218, I bog to report ao
follows:
Ab already reported tho Sheik of tho Dowasir together
with one Ahmed al LahoJ tho hoadmon of anothor email Sunni
trlbo and a notoriouo intriguer, oomotine ago vinitod Ibn
Saud. It la of .course not poooible to bo oortain of what
took pluco, but Sheik Hamad bin Eaoa told no in confidence
what ho had loarnt, and I aloo hoard from anothor well
inrormod oouroo. It would appoar that Bin Saud offered
to aaoiot thorn to roe lot any offorto of the Bahrain Rulorn

. to tax thorn, or to bring thon undor tholr offoctivo oontrol
fj Ho lu ouid to have proniood tho altornatlvoo - (1) To uae
3
^ hie influonco to support thorn ohould thoy roaiot tho
i Huloro, or If they px'oforrod (2) provide thon with a
Si
I oultablo habitat in ox’dor thut thoy could throaton to
i loavo Bahrain, and in fact, do no if necessary.

Tho poult ion aa regards thio tribe In an follows
Though nominally acknowledging cho ovorlordnhip of Shoik
liana, thoy have alwayn in thcjfpaot doclinod to recognise Sic*
Shoik Hamad am his dofinito succousor. It is believed that'
thoy entertained noino hopoo of getting oontrol of the
islando into their own hands, in the future. Bin 3aud
may bo not unawuro of those designs. Some years ago thoy
uood to pay a omull diving tax in a commuted form. Even
then, thoy resisted diroot taxation. For several yearn
thoy huvo ceased even thono payments^ and tho Ruler is

afraid to lnoist on them.
In tho past tho Ruler has relied on tho D’owanir and
other Synjii tribes to onablo him to overawe the Shiah