Page 57 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

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1971. Il was this protection which resisted Turkish claims to
sovereignty in 1870 and again in 1874, and thwarted an attempted
Turkish-inspired invasion from Qatar in 1895.
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& The history of modern Bahrain dates from the accession, as ruler, of
Shaikh Issa bin Ali al Khalifa in 1869. He ruled for 54 years and was
V i
k succeeded by Shaikh Hamad (1923-1942), the grandfather of the
present Ruler, Shaikh Issa bin Sulcman al Khalifa, who succeeded his
father in 1961. The past 100 years have seen a succession of treaties
& with Great Britain — the Exclusive Agreements of 1880 and 1892,
which recognised the appointment of none other than British Consular
£ Officers, and an agreement that there would be no cession of territory;
the appointment of a British Political Agent in 1902 and the recognition
>rV
by Turkey (in 1913) of Bahrain’s treaty with Great Britain; and, finally,
the emergence of Bahrain as an independent Arab State having special
treaty relations with Great Britain.
These special relations permitted the assembly of the I.E.F. in
Bahrain en route to Mespotamia in October 1914; and, until recently,
the establishment of a permanent Royal Navy base and a military base
which formed part of Britain’s Strategic Reserve. In 1946, the Foreign
Office took over the obligations previously held by the Indian Govern­
ment and the British Political Residency moved from Bushire to
Bahrain.

For centuries, the wealth of Bahrain depended greatly on the
pearling industry; and, although the industry continues on a dimin­
ished scale, the methods used in the 10th century, as recorded by the
Arab historian, Abu Zaid Hassan, show little change even today. How­
ever, the introduction of Japanese cultured pearls greatly undermined
the natural pearl market in the 1930’s and it was fortuitous that a new
and even more valuable industry emerged at the same time and saved
Bahrain’s economy.
A New Zealander, Major Frank Holmes, was largely instrumental
in obtaining the concession which led to the discovery of oil in May
1932, and its first commercial production in 1935. By 1954 the
refinery was processing 10 million tons of oil a year — much of it
imported by submarine pipeline from Saudi Arabia — and income from
oil royalties had risen to £4 million a year. In recent years, the State
income has further increased and has allowed of major undertakings

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