Page 182 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

162 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

unrest a crowd of about 1,500 foreign divers set sail from Muharraq to

Manama, heading to the police station where some of their comrades were

detained on charges of sedition and theft. Armed with wooden bars and

boat fittings, they paraded angrily along the sea road, surrounded the

building and freed one of the captives. The demonstrators were eventually

driven back into the sea by policemen lined up along the seafront after fierce

31

hand to hand combat. The scale of the demonstrations of 1932 shows an

unprecedented degree of class solidarity. Muharraq’s diving lodges (al-dur),

where most of the foreign divers resided, played a crucial role in coordinat-

ing the riot, and were burnt down by the police afterwards. Labour boycotts

were organised by experienced leaders who presented the demands of the

workforce to Belgrave and to the regent. In some cases ethnicity played a

role in mobilising resources. At the end of the 1930 season, for instance,

pearl divers from the Iranian coast asked to be released from the fees which

they were due to pay to enter Bahrain the following year. 32 Boat captains

displayed an ambivalent attitude towards the tide of discontent. Some used

the dissatisfaction of the divers in order to put pressure on the authorities,

launching vigorous petition campaigns in order to revert to the old system of

fixation of diving quotas. Others joined the protests in order to antagonise

rivals and to gain the favour of their crews.

Although the reforms of the pearl industry had a very limited effect in

easing the hardship of the divers, they undoubtedly strengthened their

class solidarities by fostering the development of an increasingly inde-

pendent labour force. As the transfer of debts from father to son was

declared illegal, workers no longer constituted a transferable commodity

to be used in dealings between financiers, captains and pearl merchants,

some of whom released increasing numbers of divers. By 1934 the gradual

shift from al-salafiyyah to al-khammas diving system suggests that labour-

ers could sell their services in an increasingly free market. Under the
established al-salafiyyah, divers were bound year after year to particular
boat captains, who relied extensively on merchants to finance expeditions.
In contrast, no cash advances were offered to divers who worked under the
al-khammas arrangement and no chain of creditors was involved, as

nakhudahs generally equipped their own boats. Returns were shared at

the end of each season, after which divers were free to choose another
employer. 33 After 1926, the new government also enforced a degree of
31
Political Agent Bahrain to Political Resident Bushehr, 30 May 1932, R/15/2/848 IOR;
Belgrave Diaries, 26 May 1932, AWDU.
32
Belgrave Diaries, 30 December 1936, 4 October 1930 and 26 May 1932, AWDU.
33
The Bahrain Government Annual Reports, 1924–1970: ‘Administrative Report for the Years
1926–1937’, vol. II, pp. 48–9; ‘Annual Report for the Year 1352’, vol. I, p. 440.