The Drought Years: The Forgotten Economic Transformations in Gulf History

المؤلفون

  • المؤلف

  • Amna Abdulla Sadiq

الكلمات المفتاحية:

Gulf، Indian Ocean، World War II، Austerity Measures، Pearling

الملخص

This article discusses a transformative phase in the history of trade in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, as a result of the expansion of World War II into the passages and ports of the Indian Ocean. The countries in the region suffered from British policies which introduced austerity measures to mitigate the widespread economic and social instability at that time. These British interventions challenged the economic system in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, marking a turning point from pearl to oil-based economies. This transformative period spans approximately a decade, from the mid-1940s until the early 1950s.

المراجع

  1. See, for instance: Jill Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman (London: Routledge, 2016).
  2. See, for example: James Onley, The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British in the 19th Century Gulf (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007); Khaldoun al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula: A Different Perspective (London: Routledge,
  3. Sanawāt al-jirīsh translates to “years of wheat”. It refers to the “age of wheat” because people replaced rice with wheat during World War II. Another name for the same phase in Gulf history is Sanawāt al-Biṭāqa , which translates to the “age of the card”; the card here is the ration card distributed in the region during World War II. The period is also called Sanawāt al-Qaḥṭ , which refers to the drought years. Some locals indicate sanawāt al-jirīsh only lasted seven years during World War II, while as this study indicates, this phase started a decade before with the collapse of the pearling economy.
  4. Due to the limited scope of the study, analyses concentrate exclusively on the economic and political conditions related to the British wartime measures in the Gulf, other political and economic transformations that happened around the same time such as oil discovery, political movements, and nationalization are not covered.
  5. The Gulf as a water channel that served the Indian Ocean before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope is well documented. For example, it was described by German mathematician and cartographer Carsten Niebuhr, on his travels through Arabia as “That trade, when once brought within this channel, continued to flow through it, under the Ptolemies, the Romans, the Greek Emperors, and the Caliphs of Egypt”. See: Carsten Niebuhr, Travels through Arabia and Other Countries in the East 1733–1815 , vol. 2 (Edinburgh: R. Morison and Son, 1792), p. 9. Similar remarks could be found on: Ludovico di Varthema, Travels of Ludovico Di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia, A.D. 1503–1508 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1863), p. 89; Pedro Teixeira & John Stevens, The Travels of Pedro Teixeira: With His ‘Kings of Harmuz’ and Extracts from His ‘Kings of Persia’ , Donald Ferguson (ed.), William Sinclair (trans.) (London: Hakluyt Society, 1802), p. 23.
  6. For further discussion on the emergence of the new Gulf-Indian Ocean networks in the middle of the 19th century, see: Matthew Hopper, “The Globalization of Dried Fruit: Transformation of the Eastern Arabian Economy, 1860s-1920s,” in: James L. Gelvin & Nile Green (eds.), Global Muslims in the Age of Steam and Print (California: University of California Press, 2014); Matthew Hopper, “Debt and Slavery among Arabian Gulf Pearl Divers,” in: Gwyn Campbell & Alessandro Stanziani (eds.), Bonded Labour and Debt in the Indian Ocean World (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2013).
  7. For details regarding the Gulf seasonal cycle, see: Dionisius Agius, Seafaring in the Arabian Gulf and Oman: The People of the Dhow (London: Routledge, 2005).
  8. Alan Villiers recorded his experience at one of the Kuwaiti dhows during their trading journeys across the Indian Ocean. He also provided good details of the routes and nature of these trading voyages. See: Alan Villiers, Sons of Sinbad (London: Arabian Publishing, 1940).
  9. Several maritime records detailed the nature and scope of this commercial network. See, for example, the letter exchanged between Fyez Khames to Mohammed bin Matrook, presented in: Mohammed al-Matrook, Min Tijārat al-Māḍī: Min Arshīf al-Ḥaj Muḥammad bin ʿAbdallah al-Matrūk (Kuwait: n.p., 2016), p. 65; and al-Mulla logs presented in: Abdulrahman al-Khulaifi, al-Ghawṣ ʿalā al-Luʾluʾ fī Qaṭar (Qatar: Katara Publishing, 2012), p. 685.
  10. For an extensive study of the Gulf pearling economy, see: Robert Carter, Sea of Pearls: Seven Thousand Years of the Industry That Shaped the Gulf (London: Arabian Publishing, 2012).
  11. For further discussion on the role of the British companies in the Gulf, see: Kiren Aziz Chaudhry, The Price of Wealth: Economies and Institutions in the Middle East (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997); Ali Khalifa al-Kuwari , Oil Revenues in the Gulf Emirates (Boulder: Westview, 1978).
  12. “Letter from the Residency Agent in Sharjah to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf,” 15 July 1924, Coll 25 / 9 Orders in Council: Bahrein: King’s Regulation No. 1 of 1930: Traffic in Cultured Pearls; King’s Regulation no. 3 of 1936: Possession and Traffic in Arms, IOR/L/PS/12/3312, QDL; For further discussion of the incident, see: Carter, p. 262.
  13. Saif al-Shamlan discusses in detail three stories about pearl merchants who travelled to Paris and Marseille between 1923 and 1932 in an attempt to find markets better than those of India and Bahrain. See: Saif al-Shamlan, Tārīkh al-Ghawṣ ʿalā al-Luʾluʾ fī al-Kuwayt wa-l-Khalīj al-ʿArabī (Kuwait: That al-Salasil, 1976), pp. 265-300.
  14. See: Carter, pp. 259-284.
  15. “Administration Report of the Persian Gulf,” IOR/R/15/1/713.
  16. Mohammed al-Fares, al-Awḍāʿ al-Iqtṣādīyya fī Imārāt al-Sāḥil (Dawlat al-Imārāt al-ʿArabiyya al-Muttaḥida Ḥāliyyan) 1862-1965 (Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, 2000), pp. 90-94.
  17. For further discussion on the pearling law, see: Moza al-Jaber, al-Taṭawwur al-Iqtiṣādī wa-l-Ijtimāʿī fī Qaṭar 1930-1973 (Beirut: Arab Institute for Research & Publishing, 2020), pp. 37-39.
  18. Carter, pp. 259-273.
  19. See: Catherine Behrens, Merchant Shipping and the Demands of War: History of the Second World War (London: Longmans, Green, 1956).
  20. al-Khulaifi, pp. 572-582.
  21. “Letter from the Political Agent in Bahrain to the Adviser to the Bahrain Government,” 17 September 1941, File 34 / 3 Imports and exports, IOR/R/15/4/13, QDL.
  22. “Letter from the Political Resident in Bushire to the Political Agents in Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat,” 8 April 1939, File 28/34-(i) War Emergency Legislation, IOR/R/15/2/726, QDL.
  23. “Letter from the Political Resident in Bushire to the Secretary of State for India,” 28 April 1939, Coll 30/160(S) C.I.D. Sub Committee for Questions Concerning Middle East: Measures to Influence Minor Powers and Arab States Whose Assistance Might be of Value in Time of War, IOR/L/PS/12/3896A, QDL.
  24. IOR/L/PS/12/3896A.
  25. See: “Memo by Admiramade with Covering Note by Sir R. Wemys: Petroleum Situation in the British Empire,” 30 July 1918, GT 5267 War Cabinet, CAB 24/59, CAB.
  26. “Minutes by Eric Beckett about War Emergency Legislation,” 10 November 1937, Coll 30/160(S) C.I.D. Sub Committee for Questions Concerning Middle East: Measures to Influence Minor Powers and Arab States Whose Assistance Might be of Value in Time of War, IOR/L/PS/12/3896A, QDL.
  27. IOR/L/PS/12/3896A.
  28. “Letter from India Office in London to the Political Agent in Bahrain,” 26 May 1940, File 28 / 7 I War: Propaganda: Local Opinion, IOR/R/15/2/687, QDL.
  29. For further discussion, see: File 28 / 7 I War: Propaganda: Local Opinion, IOR/R/15/2/687, QDL.
  30. IOR/R/15/2/726, QDL.
  31. “Letter from the Ministry of Economic Warfare to the British Consulate General in Bushire,” 27 January 1941, File 34 / 3 Imports and Exports of goods, IOR/R/15/4/14, QDL.
  32. “Memorandum from the Political Agent in Sharjah to the Political Agent in Bahrain,” 1 May 1942, File 34 / 3 Imports and exports, IOR/R/15/4/13, QDL.
  33. “Telegram from the Political Agent in Bahrain to the Political Resident in Bushire,” 3 January 1944, File 29 / 22 I Cereals for Sharjah and Dubai, IOR/R/15/2/781, QDL; “Memorandum from the Political Agent in Bahrain to the Advisor to the Bahrain Government,” 17 September 1941, File 34 / 3 Imports and exports, IOR/R/15/4/13, QDL.
  34. “Telegram from the Secretary of State for India to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf,” 12 January 1944, Ext 329 / 43 Shipment of Food to Persian Gulf States, IOR/L/PS/12/786, QDL. For further discussion, see: Paul Kingston, Britain and the Politics of Modernization in the Middle East, 1945-1958 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 12-27.
  35. “Intelligence Summary of the Political Agent in Bahrain,” October 1943, Coll 30 / 52 (2) Persian Gulf, Diaries: Bahrain News and Intelligence Reports, IOR/L/PS/12/3768, QDL.
  36. “Notes by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf in Bushire,” 12 February 1944, File 29 / 3 I Food Supplies – Food Control and Rationing and General, IOR/R/15/2/766, QDL.
  37. Eckart Woertz, Oil for Food: The Global Food Crisis and the Middle East (Oxford: Oxford Academic, 2013), pp. 35-62.
  38. “Memorandum from the Political Agent in Sharjah to the Political Agent in Bahrain.”
  39. al-Fares, p. 85.
  40. “Intelligence Summary of the Political Agent in Bahrain.”
Cover of العدد 18, Almuntaqa

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2025-09-01

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مجلد 8 عدد 018 (2025): العدد 18

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