Slavery in the Gulf in the First Half of the 20th Century A Study Based on Records from the British Archives 1 2 JERZY ZDANOWSKI Slavery in the Gulf in the First Half of the 20th Century A Study Based on Records from the British Archives WARSZAWA 2008 3 Grant 1 H016 048 30 of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education The documents reproduced by the permission of the British Library Copyright Jerzy Zdanowski 2008 This edition is prepared, set and published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe ASKON Sp. z o.o. ul. Stawki 3/1, 00193 Warszawa tel./fax: (+48 22) 635 99 37 www.askon.waw.pl [email protected] ISBN 9788374520300 4 Contents List of Photos, Maps and Tables.......................................................................... 7 Glossary ..................................................................................................... 9 Preface and acknowledgments ...................................................................11 Introduction: Slaves, pearls and the British in the Persian Gulf at the turn of the 20th century ................................................................................ 16 Chapter I: Manumission certificates ........................................................... 45 1. The number of statements ................................................................. 45 2. Procedures ...................................................................................... 55 3. Eligibility .......................................................................................... 70 4. Value of the certificate ...................................................................... 74 5. Reliability of the slaves stories .......................................................... 80 Chapter II: The slaves ............................................................................... 85 1. Origins ............................................................................................. 85 2. Slaves position ................................................................................ 98 3. Female slaves .................................................................................117 4. Slaves and labour ........................................................................... 125 Chapter III: The British ........................................................................... 137 1. The policy and instructions ............................................................. 137 2. Relations with local rulers ............................................................... 142 3. Manumission and debts .................................................................. 152 4. Prevention of slavery and recovery of slaves ................................... 155 5 5. Repatriation ................................................................................... 174 6. Agitation against emancipation ........................................................ 177 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 181 Bibliography ........................................................................................... 184 Annex: The list of slaves whose statements were recorded at the British Agencies ........................................................................ 191 6 List of Photos, Maps and Tables Photos The Buxton Memorial in London erected to commemorate the emancipation of slaves after the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. ...................... 29 A statement (IOR: R/15/1/208) ......................................................................... 58 A statement (IOR: R/15/1/209) ......................................................................... 62 A manumission certificate .................................................................................. 75 Map A map of the Arabian Sea region ...................................................................... 35 Tables Table 1. Number of statements in 19211949 ................................................... 47 Table 2. Cumulative participation of male and female statements by years ...... 47 Table 3. Percentage of statements made by female and male slaves ............... 48 Table 4. Number of statements made by Africans, Baluchi and Yemeni .......... 48 Table 5. Percentage of statements made by Africans, Baluchi and Yemeni ..... 49 7 8 Glossary abd a slave amir a prince, ruler, or chief Arab Coast the coast of the Persian Gulf from Kuwait to Ras Musandam Baharinah Shii Arabs in Hasa and Bahrain baghala the largest type of dhow with decks and a crew up to 100 men, used for ocean sailings boom a large boat barwah an agreement between a captain and a diver bin an Arabic term for son of bint an Arabic term for daughter of dhow any boat or ship in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea with a lateen sail ghasa divers ghaus a diving season al-ghaus al-bard the earliest diving season, literally cold diving, which started in the middle of April and continued for 40 days al-ghaus al-kabir the principal diving season, literally great diving, which began in June or sometimes in May after the end of the wind called the shimal, and lasted until September kaffara the freeing of a slave khatm a balance of wages due to a diver at the end of the pearling season khidam slaves employed in pearling majlis a council of the elders 9 The Majlis the Persian Parliament mamluk a slave mawalid slaves born in slavery maatuq an emancipated slave mudabbar a type of freed slave mujannah the winter diving season when the fishery was conducted by wading in the shallows along the coast mukatib a type of freed slave musaqqam a merchant who dominated the pearl diving industry nakhuda a captain of the boat qadi a judge quffal the end of the great diving raddah the diving season, literary return, which started a few days after the ghaus al-kabir was concluded and lasted about 3 weeks radhafah an extra hands rakbah the beginning of the great diving salaf an advance given to a diver about ten days before the commencement of the pearling season salifat al-ghaus a diving court shaikh a title of a member of a ruling family shahuf a small boat shimal a wind in the Persian Gulf siyub a hauler Swahili coast East Africa and Zanzibar tisqam an advance given to a diver in the off season towash a creditor Trucial Oman the Arab Coast of Trucial Oman (today United Arab Emirates) umm walad the mother of a type of freed slave walaid an apprentice 10 To the memory of Surur el Habashi, a native of Wallamo Province in Southern Abyssinia, and Fatimah bint Muhammad of Minab, Bandar Abbas, and other slaves who were always trying to find an opportunity to run away from slavery Preface and acknowledgments On 6th August, 1897, in the House of Commons, Mr. Thomas Bayley, M.P., asked the Secretary of State for India whether there existed treaties between Her Majestys Government and Arab Chiefs in the Persian Gulf, under which the British authorities undertook to surrender fugitive slaves. Lord George Hamilton replied that he was not aware of any treaties of the character described, but that certain difficulties had arisen in dealing with the slave traffic in certain harbours of the Sultan of Muscat and in the Persian Gulf. In the meantime, the British Political Residency in Bushire in the Persian Gulf reported to the India Office that slaves taking refuge in the British Muscat Agency, on board of HMs ships, or in the Agencies on the Trucial Coast as well as in the Residency were invariable given manumission certificates.1 The discussion which followed was provoked by the news that once in Muscat even slaves whose release was not provided for under the conditions of the engagements with the sultan were in practice always released whenever their cases were brought to the British representatives notice, while on the Arab Coast and Bahrain, slaves who had been born in slavery, or who had been imported prior to the execution of the agreements with the shaikhs, were returned to their masters. On 11th August The Times published an article under the heading The Surrender of Fugitive Slaves in which H. Allen, the Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, referred to the Parliamentary report of 6th August. The Secretary claimed that according to his well-informed correspondent in the Persian Gulf, the practice of the British officials in this region was to give up fugitive slaves and that was part of the British treaties with the Sultan of Muscat 1 Inclosure. Question in House of Commons, 6th August 1897, IOR: R/15/1/201 5/74. 11 and other shaikhs of the Arabian Coast. The author appealed to discontinue this practice.2 Slavery and traffic of slaves in the Persian Gulf went back to the ancient times. It also had a long record in the times of British presence in the area as a part of the British policy towards the region. In 1831, Lieutenant Colonel Hennel, Resident in the Persian Gulf, reported on the successive adhesion of the Sultan of Muscat and the chiefs of the Arabian Coast to the Great Britains policy for the suppression of the slave trade. At the same time, he regretted that the Persian Government continued its obstinacy in refusing to join the British Governments efforts in this matter. The problem was that even in the case of the seizure or detention of a Persian vessel carrying slaves Persia denied the Sultan of Muscats and the Imam of Zanzibars rights of confiscating such a vessel. The British Resident indicated that the Negro slaves were imported into Persia almost