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The Persian Gulf in Modern Times This page intentionally left blank The Persian Gulf in Modern Times People, Ports, and History Edited by Lawrence G. Potter THE PERSIAN GULF IN MODERN TIMES Copyright © Lawrence G. Potter, 2014. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-48576-2 All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-50380-3 ISBN 978-1-137-48577-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137485779 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Persian Gulf in modern times : people, ports, and history / edited by Lawrence G. Potter. pages cm Includes index. 1. Persian Gulf Region—History. 2. Persian Gulf Region— Historiography. 3. Persian Gulf Region—Social conditions. I. Potter, Lawrence G. DS326.P746 2014 953.6—dc23 2014026563 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2014 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book was made possible (in part) by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Note on Transliteration xi Introduction 1 Lawrence G. Potter Part I The Historiography of the Persian Gulf Chapter 1 Rethinking the History of Port Cities in the Gulf 23 Nelida Fuccaro Chapter 2 Narrative and the Historian’s Craft in the Arabic Historiography of the Gulf 47 Fahad Ahmad Bishara Chapter 3 The Historiography of the Persian Gulf: A Survey of the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Persian Sources 73 Gholam Reza Vatandoust Chapter 4 Narrating the Gulf: Literary Evidence for History 103 Muhsin al-Musawi Part II Port Cities and Littoral Society Chapter 5 The Rise and Fall of Port Cities in the Persian Gulf 131 Lawrence G. Potter Chapter 6 Muscat as a Port City 153 J. E. Peterson vi M Contents Chapter 7 Bushehr: Southern Gateway to Iran 173 Willem Floor Chapter 8 Inside a Gulf Port: The Dynamics of Urban Life in Pre-Oil Kuwait 199 Farah Al-Nakib Part III Peoples of the Gulf Chapter 9 Indian Communities in the Persian Gulf, c. 1500–1947 231 James Onley Chapter 10 The Baloch as an Ethnic Group in the Persian Gulf Region 267 Carina Jahani Chapter 11 “Purity and Confusion”: The Hawala between Persians and Arabs in the Contemporary Gulf 299 Ahmed al-Dailami Chapter 12 The African Presence in Eastern Arabia 327 Matthew S. Hopper Chapter 13 Identity Transformations of African Communities in Iran 351 Behnaz A. Mirzai Notes on Contributors 377 Index 383 Illustrations Tables 3.1 Archived Documents on the Persian Gulf at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ah 1263–1340/ad 1847–1921 93 3.2 Documents on the Persian Gulf at the National Archives of Iran 1260–1368 Sh./ad 1881–1989 94 3.3 Articles on the Persian Gulf in the newspaper Ittela’at 1306–1380 Sh./ad 1927–2001 95 7.1 Commercial routes from the Persian Gulf (1910) 178 7.2 Distribution of imported goods at Bushehr (1912–1913) 189 9.1 Principal Indian ports and towns trading with the Gulf, c.1500–1947 234 9.2 Indian merchant groups and communities in the Persian Gulf, 1500–1947 237 9.3 Portuguese colonies in western India 246 9.4 Indians under British protection in southern Iran, 1869 249 9.5 Indians in the Gulf, c.1905 v. 1948 252 9.6 Gulf trade with India (as a % of overall trade), 1904 254 Maps 5.1 Port Cities in the Persian Gulf 133 10.1 Distribution of the Baloch in the Persian Gulf Basin 268 13.1 Slave trade routes in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, ca. 1900 354 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments his book is based on a conference held at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates from March 17 to 19, 2009. TIt was sponsored by Gulf/2000, a major international research and documentation project on the Persian Gulf states based at Columbia University (http://gulf2000.columbia.edu). Additional sponsors were The Middle East Institute at Columbia University, the American University of Sharjah, and the Dr. Sultan Al-Qasimi Centre of Gulf Studies. The confer- ence could not have taken place without the support of Peter Heath, then Chancellor of AUS, and Nada Mourtada-Sabbah, at the time Assistant to the Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs, whose ability to get things done was critical to its success. It was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah and president of AUS, who also attended. All participants were most grateful for their gracious hospitality and for providing a magnificent venue at the Al-Qasimi Centre. The conference was one year in the making, and during this time my colleague, Dr. James Onley of the University of Exeter, provided invaluable advice and help at every step. Without his active col- laboration, it could not have taken place. I also appreciate the patience and wise counsel of Haideh Sahim throughout the extended publication process. Prof. Michael R. Izady obliged as before by providing several outstanding maps. I would also like to thank our longtime indexer, Lisa Rivero, for an excellent job. Above all thanks goes to Gary Sick, the executive director of Gulf/2000, for supporting what was the eleventh major international con- ference sponsored by the project. This truly has been a collaborative interna- tional project, and it has been a pleasure to work with so many talented and dedicated scholars as this book moved to completion. We believe we have an outstanding volume that greatly advances our understanding of the ports and peoples of the Persian Gulf. Lawrence G. Potter This page intentionally left blank Note on Transliteration ince this book is aimed at a wide readership we have tried to simplify the spelling of Arabic and Persian words, and have forgone diacriti- Scal marks in the text. The system of transliteration employed will leave some, especially Iranists, unsatisfied, as it does not make allowance for pronunciation. In this book the initial ain has been dropped (thus Shah Abbas not ‘Abbas), diphthongs have been rendered as -ai (Husain) and -aw (Faw), the izafa (ezafeh) is rendered by -i, short vowels are rendered as u (not o) and i (not e), and Persian words take a final -a and not -eh (thus Shahnama). In the case of proper names, those already familiar in an angli- cized version have been retained (e.g., Tehran, Reza Shah, Saddam Hussein). Since there is no universally accepted system of transliteration some com- promise has been necessary. Introduction Lawrence G. Potter his book seeks to contribute to rethinking and reorienting the his- tory of the Persian Gulf from approximately the late eighteenth to Tthe mid-twentieth century.1 As such, it highlights long-term regional trends that are often obscured in treatments of the modern era focusing on new nation-states. The important role the Gulf plays in connecting the Arab and Persian shores is emphasized, as is the region’s maritime orienta- tion toward the Indian Ocean rather than the land-based empires of the Middle East. The Persian Gulf and its littoral constitute a distinct region that deserves to be studied over a long period of time to better understand the evolution of present-day states and societies. The chapters of this book fall under three general themes: historiography, port cities, and peoples. The volume first considers how the modern history of the Gulf has been written, particularly by local historians, and which actors and what information have been included or excluded from standard narratives. Although the study of modern Gulf urbanism is flourishing, the historical study of individual Gulf ports and their dynamics has just begun. It was in these ports, the locus of the mercantile elites, tribal amirs, and vari- ous religious and ethnic groups that migrated or took refuge there, that the history of the Gulf as a whole played out. After discussing neglected aspects of regional history, some of the gaps begin to be filled in with studies of the ports and their peoples. In doing so, the authors of this book propose alter- native ways of writing the history of the Gulf. The treatment here goes beyond previous approaches that have stressed imperial history, the role of the British, tribes, the oil industry, and the rent- ier state. It also seeks to deflect the narrative of regional states that tries to enhance their own legitimacy. Through their funding of research, control of visas, and access to historical sources, governments may encourage or hinder research on specific topics. In recent times, Gulf history has become highly 2 M Lawrence G. Potter politicized, and the historic hybridity of its port cities has been obscured. In the Arab states, this has led to an emphasis on a Najdi heritage to the exclusion of the many minority groups—such as the Persians, Indians, Baluch, Hawala, and Africans—that played a key role in local history.