Page 330 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (II)_Neat

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BAHRAIN NATIONALITY
During the year 45 persons applied to become Hah rain subjects and of these 37 were granted
Hnliruin nationality. Most of the applicants were Iranians and Iraqis. The latter were mostly
Jews. The Iranians included several leading merchants and 'shopkeepers.
The necessary qualifications include residence in Hahrain for not less than 10 years, possest
sion of immoveable properly, and a clean police record. Most of the persons whose applications
were refused did not own property .in Hahrain.

CENSUS OF BAHRAIN
Until the year 1350 no census of the population of Hahrain had been made. Various handbooks
such as Whittaker's Almanac., the Statesman's Year Hook, encyclopaedias etc. stated that the
number of the inhabitants of Hahrain was from 130,00V) to 150,000. These figures were based upon
rough estimates which have proved to be incorrect.
For several years the Government of Hahrain contemplated holding' a census, and in 1358
His Highness Shaikh Sir Hamad, in his public, speech on the occasion of his accession anniver­
sary, announced that a census was going to he held during the coming year. In 135*) copies ol
the Baluchistan Census Report for 1931 and other census reports were obtained and studied.
It was realised that the quantity of detailed information contained in other census reports could
not at present be obtained in Bahrain, where the very idea of a census was unheard of by the
majority of the people without causing alarm and agitation among the ignorant public. Having
once held a census in Hahrain more questions could he asked and more statistics obtained at
some future date when the public realised that holding a census did not involve any of the
measures which they anticipated when the first census was held. At various times during the
months before the census was held, rumours, which were, sometimes deliberately circulated,
became current that the object of the Government was to enlist all able-bodied men for military
service abroad, to impose various forms of taxation, to set up municipalities in every town and
village and to impose some kind of compulsory medical inspections, and at one time it was even
suggested that the Government wished to collect and destroy certain communities.
The object of the census and the methods by which it would lie carried out were explained to
the public at numerous large meetings presided over by the Sunni and Shia Qadis and by the
•senior shaikhs, by talks from the broadcasting station, and in schools; by articles in the local
newspaper and by thousands of notices and hand-bills which were distributed in every town and
village in Hahrain. His Highness himself and many of the ruling family explained the matter to
their tenants and to resident bedouins who as a community regarded the census with more sus­
picion than the local inhabitants.
In every Sown and village census counters were appointed and each was accompanied by one
of the lending men of the village. In Manamah, Muharraq, and Hedd the counters wore Govern­
ment and Municipal employees, each man dealing as far as possible with the district in which he
lived. In the three towns, as well as in the villages, a leading resident from each neighbourhood
accompanied the counters and gave them valuable help. The census of the Hahrain I’etrolcum
Company was dealt with by the eompam’s stall and some of the independent units or communities
such as the American Mission, the Naval Base, etc., were counted by the head of the community
who filled in the forms which were provided by the Government. All the registers, forms and
notices were printed locally and the preliminary details were filled in by the counters some time
before the actual census and were checked and examined before the counting took place. Most
of the work of organising the census, enlisting the counters, dividing the towns into sections,
and finally checking and recording the results was done by the Land Department under the
supervision of the Superintendent, Khan Sahib Mohomed Khalil Mcmon.
The Census was held on the niglu of 34th Dil Hijjah 1350 corresponding to 22nd January
i«H» and on that night all coffee-shops and public places of amusement remained closet! f°r
several hours. Taxis, with tin* exception of a few for which special arrangements were made in
order 10 cover any emergency, ceased 10 ply and the public were asked to remain in their house.
The people cooperated admirably; on that niglu the town of Manamah appeared to be entirely
deserted except for the census counters who passed through the streets with their lanterns and
J>«>oks. Tlu* counting look place without any difficulty both in the towns and in the villages.