Category Archives: From the Archives

RAQABIYYA, or Neck Tax

RAQABIYYA, or Neck Tax Granny, chewing a date, transmits her soul, then presses it between the baby girl’s lips. “[They] suffer from the tyranny of their masters more keenly than language can express,” observes Captain Robert Taylor of the East India Companyas he passes … Continue reading

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200 Years of British-Bahraini Relations? Pirates, Rogue Diplomats, and a Missing Treaty

2016 is apparently the 200th anniversary of British-Bahraini relations. The story goes that, in 1816, Britain and Bahrain signed a Treaty of Friendship which has endured the centuries, that these allies have grown to be amongst the closest and warmest … Continue reading

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The Hakim of Bahrain

From the Archives is a blog series about Bahrain and its history. The stories told are drawn primarily from the records, documents, correspondences kept at the British National Archives and India Office archives. This week, a smaller piece on the 1920s, … Continue reading

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Old Greybeard of Bahrain

From the Archives is a blog series about Bahrain and its history. The stories told are drawn primarily from the records, documents, correspondences kept at the British National Archives and India Office archives. This week, a smaller piece on the 1920s, … Continue reading

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Post Script & Bibliography

I didn’t intend it to be this long. I started the blog in May and just as I was getting into it, was hit by the pressure of the last weeks of university. When I was freed up, I wanted to … Continue reading

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Year of the Nationalists, Part 5: Uncomfortable Peace

From the Archives is a blog series about Bahrain and its history. The stories told are drawn primarily from the documents, notes and correspondences kept at the British National Archives and India Office archives. Part 4 of Year of the … Continue reading

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Year of the Nationalists, Part 4: The Hidden Intervention

From the Archives is a blog series about Bahrain and its history. The stories told are drawn primarily from the documents, notes and correspondences kept at the British National Archives and India Office archives. Part 3 of Year of the … Continue reading

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A Chasm without Karama

From the Archives is a blog series about Bahrain and its history. The stories told are drawn primarily from the documents, notes and correspondences kept at the British National Archives and India Office archives. * * * December 21, 1921 … Continue reading

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Year of the Nationalists, Part 3: the Suez Crisis

Part 2 of Year of the Nationalists can be read here. Events in Bahrain were not happening in a vacuum. The Bahraini nationalists were part of a broader movement that was taking the entire Arab world by storm. 1954, the … Continue reading

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Year of the Nationalists, Part 2: National Union

Part 1 of Year of the Nationalists can be read here. BBC report on anti-Belgrave sentiment in Bahrain After the murderous events of 11 March 1956 in the Manama souq that saw several killed and more injured, the High Executive … Continue reading

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