The Mid-Twentieth Century: A Time of Transition in the Arabian Gulf
Whilst all eyes are on the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, it’s worth reflecting on the early years after the American discovery of oil on the Manama Island of Bahrain in 1932.
For the previous 125 years it had been part of the Great Game between Britain and Russia as each sought to control trade routes to the East. Britain, backed by its army and navy stationed in India was the leading power in the region until America struck oil.
This would change everything for everybody, although I’m not sure that the British fully realised which way the wind was blowing. The second world war delayed the change from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana, just as it also slowed the huge economic change which the oil boom would bring.
The 1940’s and early fifties find the Gulf in transition from an economy largely dependent on the trade in dates and pearls to one of unimaginable wealth, and socially from a traditional, tribal way of life, to one that embraced the urban lifestyle of the West.
The books of this period I find fascinating for the way in which they largely ignore the upheaval under way, focusing on traditional life and so providing an invaluable record of a disappearing world.
In Sons of Sinbad, 1940, Alan Villiers recounts his voyage in a traditional Arabian dhow, from Aden to Mombasa, and up the Gulf to Kuwait. It perfectly captures the pearl industry in the Gulf and provides a vivid portrait of the sailors and ships which were continuing a tradition of sailing vessels going back to ancient times when trade routes were being established. The book includes chapters on Zanzibar, the Arabian Coast, as well as Kuwait. It has become scarce, especially with the striking dust wrapper as here.
During World War II, the British Navy, Intelligence Division, produced a series of geographical handbooks for official use with restricted distribution. Iraq and the Persian Gulf was published in September 1944. Nearly 700 pages long and extensively illustrated, it provides a wealth of information backed up with photographs and charts of the region from Iraq to Oman, including Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. An essential reference work.
The Sand Kings of Oman, 1947, by Raymond O’Shea, gives us the author’s account of his time and travels through the Trucial States while stationed in Sharjah during the last couple of years of the War. The tone of the book is a bit condescending, but it does have valuable information on the sheiks and the Bedouin tribes and is enhanced by some terrific photographic portraits. A scarce book, our copy has the rare dust wrapper.
Bahrain and the Persian Gulf, 1952, is the work of the Scotswoman Maureen Tweedy. Accompanying her diplomat husband, she was able to visit many of the Gulf kingdoms including Kuwait, Bahrain (she does mention the oil), Qatar (‘it possesses far more character and attraction than some of the larger and more prosperous States’, and Oman. It’s a very informative book, Tweedy conveying her impressions with the skill of someone who had worked as a journalist. It is also very well illustrated with her own photographs. Another scarce book, again with the rare dust wrapper.
Oman and the Southern Shore of the Persian Gulf
Finally, a couple of books concerning oil. Oman and the Southern Shore of the Persian Gulf, 1952, printed in Cairo, was one of the most controversial and rarest books on the region. Most met in the English language edition, the true first, as here, has a bilingual Arabic English text. This edition is very rare as it was suppressed to avoid stirring up anti Saudi feelings in the Gulf. This was because the book was partly written to advance the interests of Saudi Arabia and its oil arm, ARAMCO who were interested in the tribal lands of the Trucial States, the Saudi argument being that there were no internationally agreed boundaries. There is also much on Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
Big Oilman from Arabia, 1958, by Michael Sheldon Cheney, gives an account of the dispute from the Saudi perspective. The author also gives us a taste of life in and around the oil camps of the Gulf and the disconcerting effects that oil was having on the Bedouin and their way of life. A remarkable first-hand narration of the changes underway.
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