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Land registrations. 27

has been taken.
If the Ruler of Bahrain enforces this custom it

will assist him to establish his authority over his
family. This authority in days gone by was very

great but now it is merely nominal, The custom
would ensure that the Ruling Family retained their

estates without which they would expect even greater
financial support from the State than they now obtain.

It might be suggested, in fact it actually was suggested
by Shaikh Hohomed, that the Ruler on the death of some

member of the family might take over all his property

and leave the family unprovided for. When discussing
this point with other members of the Khalifah family

they all assured me that public opinion and family
opinion would be sufficiently strong to prevent the
Ruler from adopting such a oourse even if he was

inclined to do so*