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210 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

merchants who were traditionally hostile to the Iranian government. 37
Many Shi‘i entrepreneurs, who were either members of the municipal
council or had connections to the Al Khalifah, became the proud pos-
sessors of dual citizenship. When they visited Iran, they obtained travel
documents and were treated as Iranian subjects, a status which they often
expressed openly in Manama. Some of those who had acquired Bahraini
passports in 1937 also attempted to register their properties in the name of
38
their children born after 1929. In contrast with the reluctance of rich
Persian residents to sever links with their motherland, immigrants relent-
lessly pursued their quest for property and nationality. As applications for
passports became conditional on the ownership of property, many
Persians and coastal Arabs used land acquisition to attempt to legalise
their position in Bahrain. A large number of Persians and labourers from
al-Ahsa’, for instance, requested a passport after they had acquired small
plots of government land in the outskirts of Manama. Inundated with
applications by the early 1940s, the passport office started to turn down
requests, particularly from Persians. Between 1948 and 1950 all applica-
tions for nationality lodged by Persians were refused while Arab nationals
continued to be treated favourably in order to assuage the sensibilities of
nationalist protesters and leaders. 39
The stirrings of Arab nationalism also forced the administration to
uphold its policy of ‘land and country’ for public consumption. In 1949,
a ban was enforced on the sale of ‘Arab’ land owned by Bahrainis to
foreigners. Three years later, in the tense climate which preceded Fitnah
al-Muharram and the establishment of al-Ha’yah, legislation was issued to
the effect that the sale of real estate owned by Iranians, Saudis and citizens
of other Arab Gulf countries was restricted to Bahrainis in an attempt to
limit the property drain. 40 As suggested by this legislation, the avowed
policy of ‘land for Bahrainis’ was clearly incongruent with developments
on the ground. Since the late 1930s the position of Manama as the
commercial centre of the Gulf’s nascent oil industry had boosted foreign
investment in real estate. During the war the property market thrived.

37
In 1948 only 233 local Persians had Bahraini nationality. Belgrave to Political Agent
Bahrain, 21 March 1948, R/15/2/490 IOR.
38
R/15/2/152 IOR: I‘lan Hukumah al-Bahrayn n. 53 of 1356, 27 Sha‘ban 1356/1
November 1937; ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Shaykh Muhammad Khoeij to Political Agent,
22 February 1938.
39
The Bahrain Government Annual Reports, 1924–1970: ‘Annual Report for the Year 1365’,
vol. III, p. 56; ‘Annual Report for the Year 1369’, vol. IV, p. 7; ‘Annual Report for the
Year 1370’, vol. IV, p. 39; ‘Annual Report for the Year 1371’, vol. IV, p. 38.
40
The Bahrain Government Annual Reports, 1924–1970: ‘Annual Report for the Year 1368’,
vol. IV, p. 33; ‘Annual Report for the Year 1372’, vol. V, p. 35. Political Agent Bahrain to
Political Resident Bahrain, 8 February 1958, FO 371/132893 PRO.