Page 68 - Records of Bahrain (5) (i)_Neat

56 Records of Bahrain

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D.O.No.C/606-4/1. Dated the 23rd July 1040.
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Will please refer to your demi-official letter
No. 490-S dated the 10th July 1940 regarding Shaikh Hamad’s
money affairs ?
2. Shaikh Hamad had not pressed his demand for a share
of the Rs. 4 lakhs concession payment for some considerable
time and I was beginning to hope that he had dropped it
when he suddenly wrote to Belgrave on the 20th July definitely

instructing him to pay over to his Privy Purse one-third of
the Rs. 4 lakhs. Simultaneously he retreated to his island
Umrn Nasan where he is supposed to bo in sanctuary.
3. I accordingly sent for Shaikh Abdullah and Shaikh Sal­
man as his representatives and went over with them the various
— £•»». 7
arguments set out in my demi-official letter Ho.C/534 dated
the 27th June 1940. The ground being thus prepared I proceed­
ed to act on the suggestion made in paragraph 4 of your letter
and requested them to inform His Highness from me that I saw
only two courses before me; the first was to inform His
Majesty's Government that Shaikh Hamad repented of his gift
of £30,000 and wished to have one-third of it back; the

second was to inform Kis Majesty's Government that not one
single beza of this gift come from Shaikh Hamad himself but
that the whole of it was from t he Government and people of
Bahrain. The two Shaikhs were of course horrified and I
applied a little soothing balm by saying that I was sure His

Highness had not realised the consequences of his action.
X asked them to see him at once and to explain to him what I
,'ble Lieutenant Colonel had /-
C.G.Prior, C.I.E.,
itical Resident in the Persian Gulf >
»; Bushire.