Page 157 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

Restructuring city and state 137

decades, for instance, they were reluctant to appoint officials in charge of
the administration of neighbourhoods, fearing to lose authority in their
traditional strongholds. Only in connection with the national census
of 1941 was the town divided into eighteen districts presided over by
mukhtars, census officials directly appointed by the government. After
World War II when Manama’s census wards were transformed into
electoral districts following changes in the municipal electoral system,
58
mukhtars started to serve the municipality as registration officers. The
treatment of the barasti population also offers an illuminating example of
how council deliberations could contravene the principles of urban regen-
eration which had inspired the establishment of municipal government.
When in 1927 some residents complained about the hygiene standards of
several hut compounds located in the inner city, asking the council to
make landlords accountable for their upkeep, the majlis dismissed their
request on the grounds that ‘owners cannot be held responsible for their
tenants’ behaviour.’ 59
Councillors also sought to further their profile as private benefactors by
taking advantage of the role of the municipality as the new body in charge
of dispensing state patronage to the urban population. Donations were
channelled towards urban services previously controlled by the notable
class, which were integrated into new administrative networks. Through
the council the baladiyyah supported old charitable enterprises (al-‘imal
al-khayriyyah) such as the distribution of meat during Ramadan, the
maintenance of graveyards and the provision of shelter for the poor.
When the government granted a monthly subsidy for the distribution of
food to the needy soon after the outbreak of World War II, council
members unanimously increased it by one-third out of the municipal
treasury. 60 Through the majlis, notables continued to establish, sponsor
and support religious services. In 1933, Muhammad Tayyib Khunji, a
relative of the renowned Persian philanthropist ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Lutf ‘Ali,
received municipal land to build a mosque on the outskirts of Manama.
Some notables also used the majlis as a platform to voice popular concerns
to protect spaces of religious devotion from the often random growth of
the inner city. In 1937 ‘Abd al-Nabi Bushehri successfully contested plans
for the expansion of the American Mission Hospital which threatened to
affect the Shi‘i cemetery. The contributions of majlis members also

58
MMBM, 1 and 24 Safar 1360/28 February and 23 March 1941, R/15/2/1925 IOR;
MMBM, 1 Dhu al-Hijjah 1369/15 August 1950, R/15/2/1932 IOR.
59
MMBM, 18 Dhu al-Hijjah 1346/7 June 1928, R/15/2/1923 IOR.
60
R/15/2/1925 IOR: ‘List of Projects Undertaken by the Baladiyyah of Manama in 1360–61
(1941–43)’; MMBM, 4 Jumada al-Ula 1360/31 May 1941.