Page 122 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

102 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

first leaders of al-‘Ajam al-Kabir, arrived in Manama in the 1890s. He
quickly rose to prominence by establishing matrimonial alliances with
prominent Baharna families associated with houses of mourning, becom-
ing the representative of the Persian community in the Majlis al-‘Urf and
styling himself ‘Persian Consul’ in Bahrain. 64 More is known about the
life of ‘Ali Kazim Bushehri, the head of the Kazimi branch of the family.
Truly a self-made man, he worked as porter in the harbour after reaching
Manama around 1860 and then accumulated a fortune as an import
dealer in household commodities, particularly foodstuffs. Like the anon-
ymous benefactor who helped Ja‘far Muhammad Qannati, ‘Ali Kazim
established credit lines with many of the Persian immigrants who flocked
to the town, as recounted by the oral history of the Bushehri family.
Ahmad Bushehri, the head of the Muniri branch of the family, arrived in
Bahrain in 1890 under the protection of ‘Ali Kazim, who employed
Ahmad’s son ‘Abd al-Nabi in his shop in the suq. In 1906 ‘Abd al-Nabi
Bushehri became the business partner of ‘Ali Kazim, started a spectacular
career as a building contractor and took over the management of the
ma’tam around 1927. 65
The careers of ‘Abd al-Nabi Bushehri and ‘Abd al-Nabi Kazeruni
provide examples of the inner workings of Manama’s patronage system
and of the close relations between the accumulation of merchant capital
and the development of the town at the turn of the twentieth century. ‘Abd
al-Nabi Kazeruni used his connections to issue travel permits to Iran,
allegedly with the connivance of the Qajar authorities. As building con-
tractors, the two ‘Abd al-Nabis capitalised on their overseas connections
and obtained a large pool of skilled labour from Iran. Many of Manama’s
master builders, builders and carpenters started their careers under their
protection. ‘Abd al-Nabi Bushehri built the British political agency in
1900 and renovated the al-Khamis mosque in 1927, while Kazeruni
contributed to the construction of the Victoria Memorial Hospital in
66
1902–3, the first modern medical facilities established in Bahrain. The
portfolio of investments by the two ‘Abd al-Nabis in the residential
neighbourhood of Manama provides a further insight into the consolida-
tion of merchants as the landed aristocracy of the town. In fact, Persian
notables became the largest owners of urban properties before the

64
Fuccaro, ‘Mapping the Transnational Community’, pp. 45–6; Kazeruni family tree, BA.
65
‘Ali A. Bushehri, ‘The Struggle of a Family’, typescript, 225 pages, n.d., pp. 115–19, 121,
124–5.
66
Dickinson, ‘Note on the Political Situation in Bahrain’ in Political Agent Bahrain to Civil
Commissioner in Baghdad and Political Resident Bushehr, 5 January 1920, n. 6-C, R/15/
2/785 IOR. Oral history of the Bushehri family, Manama, 15 June 1998; ‘Ali A. Bushehri,
‘The Master Builder of Bahrain’, The Gulf Mirror, February 1987, issue n. 8.