Page 180 - DILMUN NO 20

Historical Links between lndia and the Gulf ‫ﻭ‬٩٠‫ﺭ‬

operations, Their vessels on return journeys were loaded with an assortment
of staple food-stuffs and materials of lndian origin. Some of them chose to
settle and run their business from there, investing their pearl revenues in
real estate and other economic activities. Among these merchants were
Albassam and Algosaibi from Saudi Arabia, Alebrahim and Aljina'i from
k‫ق‬uwaitA, lzayani and Alurrayed from Bahrain,and Almidf‫ق‬aand A0sayeghfrom
the Trucial Sheikdoms. 53

ln lndia, the Gulf's pearls were bought, p‫ﺕ‬ercedp, olished, manufactured into
jewellery, and re-exported to Europe or sold to lndian Maharajas, bringing
both, Arab and lndian merchants, immense wealth.

It is necessary here to state that the indian role in the Gulf pearling industry
was confined to such activities as purchasing, providing loans, and
participating in the construction and ownership of the vessels. There was no
actual involvement of the lndians in pearl-diving operations, probably due to
Britain's refusal to grant them permission to compete with the locla divers
fearing the outbreak of hostilities between the Arabs and lndians should it
decide othewise. 54 However, this must not lead to a conclusion that the
lndians never tried to get involved in the pearl-diving process, There were a
number of occasions in which lndian merchants got permission from hte local
chiefs to practise pearl-diving but were interrupted by the British Political
Resident. 55

The Gulfs Commercial Dependency on india

Throughout the l9th centuyr and unitl the immediate post-oil discovery years,
lndia was, not only the main market for Gulf pearls but also the Gulf's major
supplier of all sorts of merchandise. There are 'statistical tables dating back
to 1873 showing quantities of Indian exports to Bahrain which prove that
these constituted a major share compared to other countries, The value of
lndian exports that year was 1,167,375 rupees which was more than a third
of total imports". 56 India continued to be the biggest exporting country to
Bahrain, and probably to other Gulf states, until hte early 1930s. For
example, lndian goods constituted72.47percent of the total imports of
Bahrain in 1929 / 1930. 57