Page 109 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

Ordering space, politics and community in Manama, 1880s–1919 89

economically rewarding, association with the meat trade brought him
social prestige and a large following among the population, particularly
during Ramadan when the ruler ordered the distribution of meat to the
poor. 36
Access to market properties became a sign of the growing political
importance of the merchant class in general, and of those tax-farmers
who served the tribal administration in particular. The acquisition of
shops and warehouses gathered momentum in the early twentieth century
when tax-farmers were able to capitalise on Shaykh ‘Isa’s incessant short-
ages of cash. Although there is evidence of sales conducted through the
shariah court, market properties continued to be exchanged according to
customary practice. Shaykh ‘Isa could not alienate land through sale, as it
was part of his estate which he distributed routinely to family members.
Instead, he granted personal donations (al-hibah) to merchants and cir-
cumvented tribal custom by receiving cash. Merchants generally favoured
this agreement as a guarantee of repayment against their fear of future
confiscation. Tax-farmers, in particular, used their position to develop
their own properties. After 1899 Ahmad ibn Sallum entered into a part-
nership with the contractor of the Shaykh’s ‘amarah, ‘Abd al-Nabi
Kazeruni, to develop an exclusive cluster of shops near the harbour.
Abu Qasim Shirazi, Shaykh ‘Isa’s meat contractor, acquired large sections
of the wood market, as suggested by the sale of these properties between
1925 and 1928. 37
The rise of a new class of Shi‘i landholders, however, did not radically
transform patterns of ownership of real estate in both import and local
markets. The majority of properties continued to be under the control of
Al Khalifah and of key Sunni allies as family endowments (awqaf dhur-
riyah). By the 1890s at least two-thirds of the properties in Suq al-‘Ajam
were in the hands of Hawala merchants; the Baharna retailers who sold
herbs, opium and spices in Suq al-‘Attarah were also paying rent to
Hawala landlords. The control of market properties partly explains the
paramount economic position enjoyed by the Hawala in the early Al
Khalifah period. The mosaic of partners in inheritance displayed by
some of these properties suggests that the community was able to main-
tain its position over time through a tight web of marriage alliances, which
allowed many households to have a share in the control of endowments.

36
Waraqah al-hibah (certificate of royal donation) from Shaykh ‘Isa, Jumada al-Thaniyyah
1330/May–June 1912, R/15/2/806 IOR.
37
File n. 53, IT; taqrir al-bai‘ (sale registration), 26 Jumada al-Thaniyyah 1315/21
November 1897, 29 Rajab 1326/27 August 1908 and 9 Jumada al-Thaniyyah 1326/8
July 1908, BA.