page_title: Bahrain administrative reforms of the 1920s
section_title: Pearl diving reforms
hierarchical_section_title: Bahrain administrative reforms of the 1920s / Timeline of reforms / Implementation of reforms / Pearl diving reforms
caption_attribution_description: English: Pearling license issued by the Government of Bahrain in 1942. The license is issued to a Jassim bin Hassan bin Salil, a self-employed pearl diver from Sitra.
context_page_description: The administrative reforms of the 1920s were a series of British-led reforms that have laid the foundations of modern Bahrain. They took place between 1919 and 1927, but their background extends to the early 19th century. Britain signed a number of treaties with Bahrain in 1820, 1861, 1880 and 1892. The latter two had effectively turned Bahrain into a British Protectorate. Earlier in 1869, Britain had appointed the young Shaikh Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa as ruler. Shaikh Isa was an autocrat and a feudal overlord whose authority was shared with his family and Sunni tribal allies. The economy was dependent on pearl diving and palm farming. Both sectors suffered from great inequalities; the conditions of the mostly Baharnah peasants and the mostly non-Bahraini divers were often compared to slaves. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the British influence in Bahrain has been on the rise; in 1904-5 they extended their jurisdiction over all foreigners and in 1913 issued an Order in Council, which effectively turned Bahrain into a colony. The Order was not implemented until after the end of World War I.
context_section_description: In 1921 and 1922, during what Al-Hulaibi referred to as the Divers' Uprising, divers boycotted the tribal-biased salifa court and refused to pay debts to Nakhudas. The next year, salifa was suspended for investigation. It was found that some Nakhudas manipulated accounts to over-charge divers. The reforms began in 1924, when Nakhudas were required to keep a separate account book for each diver and a boat-licensing tax was introduced. The former change was aimed to protect divers' interests, while the latter provided large income to the state (~Rs. 50,000 in 1924). There were several other changes in favor of the divers such as preventing the Nakhudas from punishing divers on board the boat, preventing selling of pearls without the presence and consent of divers, and assigning a minimum wage for divers. Debts were no longer hereditary, but outstanding debts had to be paid.
  Initially, the Nakhudas opposed these reforms and instigated divers against them. In time however, they reluctantly agreed to them. Although the reforms were in their favor, divers were not happy with the reforms, because they limited the pre- and post-season loans, which they needed to supply their families. They protested annually during the beginning and end of the diving season. Merchants and pilots supported these protests. It was only after several years that the divers realized the reforms were in their benefit.
caption: Bahraini pearling license in 1942.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot S400", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2005:01:01 04:00:04", "Image ExifOffset": "194", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/4", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:01:01 04:00:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:01:01 04:00:04", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "2", "EXIF ApertureValue": "107/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "107/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "291/32", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1524", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "56800/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "56800/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "c0c2572b84864fa9265dca3ab9d0d60f"}