Page 146 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

126 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

the municipality. Often applied outside Manama, they were de facto
recognised as state legislation. In spite of the conundrum faced by
Bahrain’s modern legal system in the making, it is clear that in the
1920s the municipality acted as one of the key sources of legislation in
parallel with the Customs administration and the Department of Land
Registration. The agency and Belgrave tended to view ‘excessive’ munic-
ipal influence as evidence of the political ambitions of Shaykh Hamad
and of the municipal councillors, the latter often accused of corruption,
mismanagement and nepotism. Between 1929 and 1930, the agency and
Belgrave dismantled the early municipal regime headed by the regent.
After the amendment of the municipal by-laws, the majlis was dissolved
and Shaykh ‘Abdallah, Hamad’s brother, was appointed as the new pres-
ident. 32 The separation of municipal authority from that of regent can be
interpreted as a move towards state centralisation which shifted the bal-
ance of institutional power from the municipality to the new administra-
tion headed by Belgrave.

The collapse of pearling and the chain of debt, 1927–35
Before the oil era the organisation of the municipal administration pro-
ceeded at a slow pace. In the inner city, the pillars of the early municipal
regime were taxation, the enforcement of health regulations and the
management and upkeep of spaces of public utility, particularly the mar-
kets. In 1920, the newly formed baladiyyah carried out a census of shops
and houses for the purpose of taxation in order to support municipal
services. Up to the mid 1920s, taxes levied on imports into Bahrain also
financed the organisation of the municipal machinery, as rates revenue
was insufficient to cover municipal expenses, particularly the payment of
the salaries of its employees. In the following years the government
continued to subsidise the baladiyyah with grants raised by the road tax
and customs duties in order to support the growing numbers of baladiyyah
workers which included tax collectors, clerks, watchmen and inspectors. 33
Outside Manama’s historic neighbourhoods, the boundaries of the
control exercised by the baladiyyah were extremely fluid. Although the

32
Political Agent Bahrain to Belgrave, 19 February 1929 and Belgrave to Political Agent
Bahrain, 15 Ramadan 1347/25 February 1929, R/15/2/1218 IOR; text of speech by
Belgrave to Manama Municipal Council, 22 April 1930, R/15/2/1250 IOR; ‘Annual
Report for the Year 1365’ in The Bahrain Government Annual Reports, 1924–1970, vol.
III, p. 46.
33
‘Municipalities, General Principles’ in Political Resident Bushehr to Secretary of State for
Colonies, 19 August 1921, 8, L/P&S/10/349 IOR; MMBM, 14 Jumadi al-Thani 1367/24
April 1948, R/15/2/1932 IOR.