Page 36 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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and was found lo be of little value. In 1949 Sir Herbert Stewart the agricultura
expert at the British Middle East Office visited Bahrain and submitted a detailed
report.!,0) On his recommendation the Bahrain Government have since 1950
em ployed a British Agricultural Officer on their farm at Budaiya. He has tried
out various crops and has experimented in cattle and sheep breeding. No attempt
yet appears to have been made to improve the dale cultivation or the handling
of the crop.
29. The material development of Bahrain has been effected very gradually.
A power house was first opened in 1930. It has been extended from time to time
since then but never seems quite to keep pace with the demand for current. A
State Hospital was opened in 1940. In 1941 a causeway and bridge linking the
main island and Muharraq were formally opened by Shaikh Hamad. In 1949 a
piped water supply from Manamah and new Bahrain Government offices were
completed. Since the last war many roads have been improved and many houses
built both by the Bahrain Government and by private persons. The Bahrain
Government have now embarked on a project for deepening the entrance channel
to the Khor Qalaiyah and building a jetty and wharf at Jufair. Work on this
started towards the end of 1953. It is hoped that when it is completed ocean-going
steamers will be able to come alongside the wharf for the discharge of their cargoes
instead of lying several miles off Manamah or at the Sitrah anchorage and
discharging into lighters as at present.
30. Little has been done as yet to establish secondary industries. In 1946 a
Persian mill-owner Hussain Agar wished to erect a cloth factory in Bahrain but
abandoned the scheme because of the conditions imposed by the Bahrain
Government. More recently Messrs. Chas. Kendall and Partner proposed to
establish a cold storage plant but dropped the project because the Ruler insisted on
having too much control over it. In 1953 a proposal to form a local company for
this purpose was under consideration.!") In or about 1950 a member of the ruling
family constructed a small lime plant. At the end of 1953 Messrs. Gray, Mackenzie
and Company were constructing a slipway adjoining the Muharraq causeway for
the repair of launches and other small craft, and a proposal to use natural gas from
the oil-field for industrial development was under consideration.('*)

III.—The Zubarah Dispute

31. Zubarah is a ruined and uninhabited village on the north-west coast of
Qatar peninsula in which the Ruler of Bahrain claims certain rather ill-defined
rights. This claim has become an obsession with the present Ruler, as it was with
his father; it tends to embitter his whole outlook and has at times threatened to
cause a deterioration in his relations with Her Majesty’s Government.
32. A note giving the history of the case down to 1946 was forwarded to the
Foreign Office by the Political Resident in 1948 with a representation to the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs which had then been received from the
Ruler.!*3) Zubarah was founded by the A1 Khalifah, the Bahrain ruling family, in
1766 and from there they captured Bahrain in 1783. Between 1811 and 1842 the
place became entirely deserted but it was rebuilt in the latter year by one of the Al
Khalifah. By 1868 the Al Thani the present ruling family in Qatar had risen to
power and in 1871 the Turks occupied the peninsula. In 1872 Shaikh Isa of
Bahrain wished to establish a garrison at Zubarah but was advised by the Political
Resident not to do so. In the following year the Government of India agreed that
the Ruler of Bahrain had no clear or important rights on the mainland and
instructed the Political Resident to advise him not to interfere there. In 1875
Isa replied to the letter received from the Political Resident on the subject saying
that he would refrain from interfering in the mainland except his city Zubarah
which was his property. The Political Resident wrote to him again saying that
reports which he had received showed an increasing necessity for “ avoidance of
all interference in the mainland (whether at Zubarah or any other place no
exception is made).” The Government of India also instructed the Political
(4n) B.M.E.O. to F.O. 105/39/385 of May 7. 1949 (E 5865/1281/91 of 1949).
(4I) P.R. to F.O. 11012/27/53 of May 20. 1953 (EA 1105/4 of 1953).
!4’) P.R. to F.O. 1087/11 /53 of December 22. 1953 (EA 11010/2 of 1953).
!43) P.R. to F.O. Despatch 103 of July 1. 1948 (E 9053/276/91 of 1948).
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