Page 151 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

Restructuring city and state 131

outside the inner city so that houses and land could be taxed. 44 The
proliferation of ‘illegal’ landlords also troubled Belgrave who feared the
turbulence of the dispossessed barasti residents, notoriously inclined to
resort to violence to voice their dissatisfaction. After 1930, the govern-
ment even attempted to enforce the registration of mortgages in order to
provide a degree of legal protection to the most vulnerable sections of the
population. These measures encountered opposition from the people they
sought to protect, since debtors were generally disinclined to register
45
mortgages as they were traditionally considered private transactions.
The collapse of pearling was a momentous event in the history of
Manama. The recession shattered the town’s port economy and threat-
ened to undermine both the traditional socio-political order and the
young municipality. The flagrant abuse of authority on the part of coun-
sellors, na’turs, tax-collectors and policemen resurfaced to haunt the most
vulnerable segments of urban society. For the majority of municipal
subjects from the popular quarters of the inner city and shanty towns, it
was as if the clock had turned back to the dark days of al-fidawiyyah.

Recreating the merchant class in the oil era

By 1936–7 oil started to alleviate rising social and political tensions. The
development of the oil industry offered employment to the discontented
urban workforce caught in the vicious cycle of debt while reviving the
ailing finances of the municipality. Although the baladiyyah was never
subsidised directly by oil income, it benefitted substantially from the
development of Manama’s modern service economy. Houses for rent, in
particular, became extremely lucrative as foreign firms established their
headquarters in the inner city. Income from taxation on houses and
commercial premises accounted for the sharp rise in municipal revenue,
46
particularly after World War II. The early oil era also reinstated
Manama as a regional trade emporium and enhanced the position of its

44
Political Agent Bahrain to Political Resident Bushehr, 12 January 1935 and Belgrave to
Political Agent Bahrain, 29 February 1940, R/15/2/11869 IOR. For other court cases
involving the transfer of properties to Persians, see cases n. 303, n. 2241, n. 2291, n.2292,
n. 2294 of 1932 and n. 300 of 1933, R/15/2/1896 IOR.
45
The mortgage of houses which was used to cover the debts was considered an optional or
temporary sale (bai‘ khiyari) and treated as a private transaction which was customarily
not certified in the religious courts. I‘lan Hukumah al-Bahrayn, n. 4 of 1349, R/15/2/1896
IOR; I‘lan Hukumah al-Bahrayn n. 2 of 1354 and n. 1 of 1359, R/15/2/1229 IOR; Shaykh
Hamad ibn ‘Isa ibn ‘Ali to Political Agent Bahrain, 13 Sha‘ban 1353/21 November 1934
and Belgrave to Political Agent Bahrain, 9 April 1932, R/15/2/1896 IOR.
46
‘Annual Report for the Year 1365’ in The Bahrain Government Annual Reports, 1924–1970,
vol. III, p. 48.