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116 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

[Belgrave] succeeded in accomplishing was such that it was regarded by
some as unparalleled in the Arab world.’ 8
The profile of Belgrave as state builder was unique in the history of
British involvement in the Middle East and his appointment to a position
of influence in Bahrain was certainly timely. In the 1950s, the employ-
ment of British advisors in Kuwait, Qatar and the Trucial States in fields
such as education and public security encountered mixed success partly
for their limited scope and partly for the changed political climate which
9
surrounded the British presence in the Arab world. By then, the position
of Belgrave in Bahrain had become untenable as a result of the growth of
Arab nationalism and of a strong anti-British sentiment which marked the
twilight of the British imperial age east of Suez. The growing concentra-
tion of power in the hands of the advisor (or al-mustashar, as Belgrave
became known in Bahrain) attracted criticism from both indigenous
activists and from the British Residency, leading to his dismissal by direct
intervention of the Foreign Office in 1957 after the nationalist protests. 10
In many respects, the departure of Belgrave sanctioned the end of imperial
reform in Bahrain. Before the declaration of independence in 1971 the
appointment of new advisors was purely cosmetic, reflecting the progres-
sive devolution of authority to the indigenous administration on the one
hand, and the direct control exercised by the British Residency over
public security on the other. Belgrave has left an indelible mark on the
popular mythology of statehood, if not on the official narrative of mod-
ernisation and oil development promoted by the government. While his
name and photographs feature very seldom in the displays of Bahrain’s
national museum and in history books, the memory of Belgrave has lived
on in the lively political debates which have characterised the post-
independence years.

The changing rhetoric of empire
With reform already on the agenda at the turn of the twentieth century, the
political agents who established the new administration between 1919 and
1926 arrived in Manama with instructions to seek the amelioration of
local government and to turn public opinion in favour of British rule.
In 1919 the enforcement of the Bahrain Order-in-Council encountered

8
G. Balfour-Paul, The End of Empire in the Middle East: Britain’s Relinquishment of Power in
Her Last Three Arab Dependencies (Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 109.
9
Balfour-Paul, The End of Empire, pp. 108–9.
10
For an account of Charles Belgrave’s life and experiences in Bahrain see C. Belgrave,
Personal Column (London: Hutchinson, 1960).