File 29 War: Food Supplies

The 29 surviving files about wartime food supplies contain the correspondence of the Political Agent for Bahrain with other British officials in the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and India, as well as rulers, officials and merchants in Bahrain, Dubai, Sharjah and Qatar. They discuss the maintenance of adequate stocks of essential foods and other commodities to meet local consumption needs in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf during and after the Second World War (1939-1945), in the face of severe war-time shortages and restrictions on normal trade with India, Iraq and Iran imposed by the Government of India. The correspondence includes reports, statistics, regulations, procedures, complaints and investigations about export prohibitions and import quotas, food rationing and price controls, the prevention of smuggling and black market profiteering. There are also references to the food supply situation in Kuwait and Muscat, the role of British official food agencies in the Middle East and alternative sources of supply in Australia, America, Asia and Africa.

The War Food Supplies subject files belong to the Confidential Office file series and are arranged according to their Confidential Office file number. Each individual file reference consists of the subject number '29' followed by an oblique stroke and a unique, sequential file number, for example: file '29/1'.

Unrestricted

The British Political Agent, Bahrain was responsible for the enforcement of Government of India wartime restrictions, quotas and prohibitions on the supply of essential food and non-food commodities, from India to the Arab ports of the Persian Gulf under his jurisdiction. Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, which included the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah, fell within the remit of the Bahrain Political Agency. The ruling shaikhs and their governments were responsible for food rationing and price control within their shaikhdoms. They were also expected to curb and punish black market profiteering and smuggling by their subjects, in accordance with their treaty obligations and British protected status. Both the Political Agent and the Shaikh of Bahrain established their own merchant and food advisory committees to consider matters of commerce and public welfare. On the Trucial Coast, the Dubai Food Company was formed to deal with the importation and distribution of controlled goods, under the supervision of the Political Officer for the Trucial Coast at Sharjah, and its meetings were presided over by the Shaikh of Dubai. The Political Agent submitted regular reports and statistics to the Political Resident, the Government of India and British Middle East food agencies, about food requirements, stock levels, consumption and prices in his district. Government of India export licences and permits for the shipment of Indian quota goods to the Persian Gulf were issued by Export Trade Controllers (also referred to as Foreign Trade Controllers) at Indian ports, to approved exporters and shippers. The Political Agent, Bahrain was responsible for issuing import licences and permits to approved merchants in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah, who had been allotted a share in India quota goods by their own authorities.