Untold lives blog

How did a black African slave come to be chosen as the leader of an Arab Gulf sheikhdom in 1937?

When Sheikh Said, Ruler of Kalba died on 30 April 1937, the leading citizens (or ‘notables’) of this small Trucial State elected his 12-year-old son Sheikh Hamad as his successor. This meant that a regent was needed to rule over Kalba until Hamad came of age. The choice of the notables was Barut bin Yakut, an African, and a man whose official status was that of slave.

Slavery had been largely abolished in the British Empire in 1833, but the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, most of which later became an informal part of the British Empire, retained the custom. Indeed, slavery in some Gulf states was not formally abolished until the 1960s.

Oilfields map of the Middle East [detail], showing Kalba: IOR/R/15/1/700, f 248.

There was a long history of the enslavement of East African people by Gulf slave traders, and Barut would have been part of this trade. However, Gulf slavery at this period is not to be compared with the worst historical excesses of slave ownership, and the system also presented talented people with opportunities for personal advancement.

It seems that Barut had lived in Kalba since the end of the nineteenth century. The sheikhdom, on the Gulf of Oman, became independent from Sharjah in 1903. By then Barut had risen to be the head slave of Sheikh Said, and acted as governor of the state during the Sheikh’s absence.

In the uncertainty that followed Sheik Said’s death in 1937, Barut initially fled Kalba, fearful of who might take over power. But following the election of the young Sheikh Hamad, the inability of the notables of Kalba to agree on a suitable choice for regent from amongst their own number led them – unanimously – to choose Barut, on the grounds that he was ‘capable, experienced and well acquainted with the affairs of the state’.

Letter dated 1 July 1937 from the notables of Kalba to the Political Agent, Bahrain informing him of their choice of Barut as regent for the boy Sheikh Hamad bin Said: IOR/15/2/2016, f 148.

The notables’ choice left the British authorities in the Gulf with a dilemma. Although there were precedents for slaves acting as heads of tribes in the region, any decision to formally recognise Barut as regent would be embarrassing given his legal status. The British also feared that the rulers of the other Trucial States (the modern United Arab Emirates) would be reluctant to accept a slave as de facto ruler.

Letter dated 13 August 1937 from the Secretary of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to the Political Agent, Bahrain, reporting the Political Resident’s view that official British recognition of a slave would appear ‘somewhat queer’ in the eyes of the Trucial Sheikhs IOR/R/15/2/2016, f 179.

In the event, the British authorities put pressure on the notables of Kalba to choose someone else, and the decision led to the appointment as regent of Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed, the former ruler of Sharjah and a close relative of the young Sheikh.

Despite being appointed Regent of Kalba, Sheikh Khalid preferred to spend his time sorting out tribal differences elsewhere, and control over Kalba’s day-to-day affairs was again left to Barut.

Kalba’s independent existence came to an end in 1952, when the state came back under the direct administration of Sharjah.

Martin Woodward
Archival Specialist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

Further reading:
British Library: 'File B/17 Kalba - Affairs regarding.'. IOR/R/15/2/2016
Frauke Heard-Bey, From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates (London and New York: Longman, 1982)
Jim Krane, Dubai: The Story of the World’s Fastest City (London: Atlantic Books, 2009)
Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates (London: Macmillan, 1978).

These recent days have seen the 85th anniversary of the arrival in  February 1931 of the party including the legendary Omani, Shaikh Saleh bin Kalut al Rashidi al Kathiri, who guided Bertram Thomas across the Empty Quarter, to complete the first recorded crossing of the Rub’ al-Khali desert or the Empty Quarter: in 1930 ‘the broadest expanse of unexplored territory outside the Antarctic’.

They had started off from Salalah, Dhofar on December 10, enduring extreme hardship and constant threat of ambush by warring tribes to arrive in Doha, Qatar, 59 days later. Here they were warmly greeted by a welcoming party headed by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani.   Never would the sight of the ruler’s fort have been so welcome as it appeared to that band of weary travellers through the haze of desert air.  In celebration of the epic traversal of 1930/31, an Anglo-Omani expedition of three Omanis and one Briton have just retraced their steps, in audacious homage to the explorers of the earlier Anglo-Omani odyssey.

By completing this feat of desert exploration, Thomas and his party beat Harry St John Philby to the prize and glory of first crossing. St John Philby had based himself in Riyadh as he prepared to make his own journey.  It is reported that the news of Thomas’ successful crossing left Philby so deflated he refused to come out of his room for a week.  To rub salt in the wound Thomas also visited Riyadh some years later, an opportunity being afforded him by the post of Publicity Officer, Bahrain.  With reference to his preference for exploration over paperwork the Government of India informed the India Office, London, that: 

‘We endorse recommendations that post of Publicity Officer be offered to Bertram Thomas in terms proposed by Prior and subject to Thomas being fit and willing to subordinate private to public interest.’  

The Government of India’s endorsement of Thomas  IOR/R/15/2/933

From Bahrain Thomas made another pioneering trip, this time by car along gravel tracks to Riyadh: ‘there was rain almost every day and we were bogged on occasions for hours at a time’.

He later reported to the Political Resident: “I had three very cordial conversations with Ibn Sa’ud who talked to me very freely and frankly about a great many subjects.  He gave me the whole story of the part he had played at the time of Rashid Ali’s rebellion, of the flying visit to him of Naji as Suwaidi which was most interesting. He also expressed his views on the Palestine question.  I got the impression that he thinks in qua-Moslem rather than qua-Arab conceptions of politics. He said that the greatest page in our history was written in the year during this war when we stood alone.  He is a convinced believer in our star and in our destiny to shape the post-war world.”

Thomas’ assessment of the court of Ibn Sa’ud IOR/R/15/1/573 f 149

Thomas came away from his trip to Riyadh, ‘as does everybody, British and Americans alike’, with a great number of presents including a sword, a gold dagger and gold bangles; such things he continued to gather through other postings in Arabia which included representing the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell in the shaikhdoms of  Trucial Oman. 

‘Oil fields and Concession Areas in the Middle East’ IOR/R/15/1/700 f 248

Thomas was not to see the change in Britain's post-war world, heralded most dramatically at Suez. He died in Cairo in 1950, and in a form of poetry in motion, at the end of all his gruelling and groundbreaking sojourns in Arabia, he was returned to the quintessential English village of Easton-in-Gordano, Somerset, to be buried near the house where he was born.

Dr Francis Owtram, Gulf History Specialist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership bl.uk/Qatar

Primary sources:
British Library, London, IOR/R/15/1/573  ff 152-154
British Library, London, IOR/R/15/2/933 f 6
Bertram Thomas, Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia (Jonathan Cape, 1938)
Mark Evans, Crossing the Empty Quarter: In the Footsteps of Bertram Thomas (Gilgamesh, 2016)
http://www.gilgamesh-publishing.co.uk/crossing-the-empty-quarter.html
Crossing the Empty Quarter – Tahaddi Arabia
Francis Owtram, A Modern History of Oman: Formation of the State since 1920 (IB Tauris, 2004)

Having explored the passenger facilities at Sharjah aerodrome in an earlier post, we will now move to the next aerodrome on the Imperial Airways route - Bahrain.  Compared to Sharjah, the aerodromes in Bahrain offered relatively little in terms of conveniences for passengers. There were two terminals, one for flying boats and the other for conventional aircraft. The more developed terminal for landplanes was on Muharraq Island and the smaller flying boat terminal was at Manama.  The landing strip on Muharraq was delineated by a circular marking composed of ‘Portland Cement Concrete in the proportions of 1 part of cement to six parts of broken stone’ and this was topped with bitumen paint.

Bahrain’s position relative to Sharjah meant that it was either the penultimate stop or the lunchtime stop on the eastbound or westbound routes respectively. The aerodrome was described by through passengers as being a small part of a ‘sandy waste’. The only terminal building was a ‘barusti’ or thatched palm shack, with walls composed of 88065 cubic feet coral stone masonry built in mud.  There was a signpost outside, ‘one arm pointing to London and the other to Karachi’. Whilst wrapped up in their aviation adventure, through passengers would have consumed lunch for the 45 minutes it took to refuel the plane, the gentle desert wind wafting through gaps in the roof above their heads.

  
Barusti hangar at Bahrain, watercolour by H.W Hailstone around the Second World War © Imperial War Museum (Art.IWM ART LD 5272) 
 

Five years after the first commercial flights from the landing strip at Muharraq, Imperial Airways’ Short brothers Canopus class flying boats started landing at Manama, just off the north-eastern edge of the city. The flying boat aerodrome at Manama offered a similarly rudimentary passenger experience to Muharraq: the map below shows the ‘suggested site for passenger shelter’ which sat on a small pontoon jutting out into the bay.
 

Map from file IOR/R/15/2/517. f.124r dated 9 November 1937.

The lack of facilities for passengers at Muharraq is highlighted by correspondence concerning preparations for the fly through in 1934 of Lord Willingdon, Viceroy of India.  A letter from the Political Agency of Bahrain stated:  ‘I hope that His Excellency the Viceroy will permit those present at Bahrain aerodrome to wear hot weather lounge suits in view of weather’. So perhaps facilities for shade could have been improved!  In a letter from the Viceroy of India’s staff it is noted that Lord and Lady Willingdon ‘will be very pleased to accept the invitation of the Shaikh of Bahrain to take coffee with him in the tent which he proposes to pitch’ which does not sound exactly prepossessing for a Viceroy or other VIPs who would have been accustomed to 1930s elegance.

 

Rolling forward into 2015, and unlike Sharjah, all traces of the former aerodrome have been obliterated as shown in the two maps above, the first dating from 1934. 

Ellis Meade
Imaging and Quality Assurance Technician, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership 

Further reading:
File IOR/R/15/2/517, f.124r
File IOR/R/15/2/590, f.35r, f.17r
Alexander Frater, Beyond the Blue Horizon (Penguin, 1986)

Related articles

Flying over the liners: Passenger aviation across the Gulf during the 1930s

John Michael Houghton was an important member of the East India Company’s expedition that surveyed the Persian Gulf during the 1820s. A talented draughtsman by trade (his fourth son was the painter Arthur Boyd Houghton), he drew many of the charts and maps produced by the survey, now held in the British Library’s India Office Records map collection. Houghton’s drawings of towns such as Dubai, Sharjah and Al Bida (Doha) are amongst the earliest-known visual descriptions of these places.

Lieutenant Houghton, ‘Debay in 6 ½ fathoms’ IOR/X/10310, f 15

Houghton also wrote a ‘memoir’ which describes all that he saw on the survey between Musandam and Dubai. This memoir has been digitised and is now published on the Qatar Digital Library.

Houghton was born in London in 1797, the son of a naval surgeon employed by the East India Company.  He received a classical education before sailing for China on board the Elphinstone on 25 March 1812. In Canton he transferred to the Bombay Marine’s survey ship Discovery, which spent five years surveying the China Seas. By 1821, Houghton had risen to the rank of Second Lieutenant, and was working as marine draughtsman on the East India Company’s survey of the shores of the Persian Gulf.

 

Houghton’s signature, in the introduction to his ‘Memoir’ of the Arab coast of the Gulf. IOR/X/10309, f 4

Lieutenant John Guy, commanding officer of the Discovery, engaged Houghton to produce an account of the voyage along the Arab coast of the Gulf.  In vivid detail he described the coastal landscapes he saw, and the human settlements and local rulers he encountered, writing from the perspective of an outsider encountering a foreign land. Houghton described the houses of Sharjah as ‘mean’ and the town of Dubai as ‘a miserable assemblage of mud hovels, surrounded by a cow mud wall’.

 

Lieutenant Houghton, Extract of the coast from Jezeerat Gunnum to Ras Sheik Munsoud. ‘Continuation’. IOR/X/10310, f 7

Of greatest interest to Houghton were the geological formations he saw from the deck of the Discovery.  Studying the cliffs and shallow inlets encountered along the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf, Houghton compared and contrasted what he saw with what he had read in the latest geological studies from Europe, including the works of  John Playfair, Erhard Georg Friedrich Wrede, Leopold von Buch, and John MacCulloch.

Plate from John MacCulloch, A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, including the Isle of Man (1819) via archive.org

Comparing the southern climes of the Persian Gulf with the seas around northern Europe, Houghton began to formulate conclusions of his own. His observations led him to refute Wrede’s ideas that ‘the sea is retreating to the southern hemisphere’, and the Italian natural philosopher Paolo Frisi’s assertion that the sea appeared to be ‘sinking near the poles, and rising towards the Equator’.

Houghton continued his rise through the ranks of the Bombay Marine after the completion of the Persian Gulf survey. By 1833, he had risen to the rank of Commander, and was Auditor of the Indian Navy. Ill health forced him to retire in 1838, though it was not until 1874 that he died at his home in Hampstead, London.

Mark Hobbs
Subject Specialist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership 

Further reading:
Maps and other records produced by Houghton on the Qatar Digital Library
‘Coast Views taken while employed on the Survey of the Arabian Side of the Gulf of Persia By Lieutenant M. Houghton, Draughtsman H.C. Marine’. IOR/X/10310. British Library, London
‘Persian Gulf single charts.–Memoir.–Lieut. Houghton’. IOR/X/10309. British Library, London
Paul Hogarth, Arthur Boyd Houghton (London: Gordon Fraser, 1981)
Maurice Packer, Officers of the Bombay Marine (London: c.2012)

On 5 February 1936 Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Advisor to the Bahrain Government, asked the Political Agent Percy Gordon Loch for help in locating an ancient mosque in Manama, Bahrain. The only piece of information Belgrave had was that the mosque dated to AD 876-9, and had been described by Ernest Diez in 1925.

Diez had indeed visited the place in 1914 and described the mosque’s physical features including its pillars, arches, roofs, plan, and measurements, in addition to the possible timeline of its establishment.

The mosque is believed to be one of the oldest Islamic buildings in Bahrain, whose ruins Deiz thought dated back to the year 740 AH (AD 1339/40). This date is shown with Cufic inscription on an epigraphic tablet that was described by Deiz. The mosque has a unique architectural style with an open plan layout rather than most familiar courtyard mosques spotted in various Muslim countries.

 
From Ernest Diez,  ‘Eine Schiitische Moschee Ruine auf der Insel Bahrain’

Basic local materials were used to build the mosque including clay and teak. Diez states that teak ‘was shipped from India to the Persian Gulf and Egypt and was much utilised in the early Islamic mosques of the towns of Iraq, in Baghdad, and also in the Persian highland country’.

The identical twin minarets on this ancient Islamic monument make it easily recognizable. The foundation dates back to the 11th century and has been rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. During this reconstruction the twin minarets were added. At the east and west exterior walls of the mosque stand these two distinguishable circular minarets.  Below is one of the oldest photographs taken of the two minarets in 1939.

IOR/R/15/2/1663, ff 252-255

There are two Kiblah stones with Cufic writing around them at the western wall of the mosque. They are called kiblah as they indicate the direction of prayer. They are believed to have been rebuilt in the 15th century.

From Ernest Diez,  ‘Eine Schiitische Moschee Ruine auf der Insel Bahrain’

At some point of its history the mosque was a Shia mosque. The  inscription found on its wooden pillar is a Shia formula: ‘la Ilaha illa Allah, Muhammed Rasul Allah, ‘Ali Wali Allah’.

From Ernest Diez,  ‘Eine Schiitische Moschee Ruine auf der Insel Bahrain’

The design which can be seen on the above wooden pillar can be assigned to at least the 10th century. Such designs can be traced to the mosques of Samarra in present-day Iraq.

If Mr Belgrave had made the same enquiry today, he would have been delighted to learn that the ancient mosque of Manama is now called al-Khamis Mosque. It is found to the south-west of Manama. The mosque derives its name from a local market (Souq) which was held in the area on Thursdays (al-Khamis), hence Souq al-Khamis. It is however rather difficult to trace the date by which the mosque acquired this name, or even to trace any previous names. Most recently the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities  has been working on a project called Souq al-Khamis Mosque Visitors’ Centre which is intended to open by the end of 2015. The project is sponsored by Assistant Undersecretary for Culture and National Heritage Shaikha Mai bint Mohammad bin Al-Khalifa.

Ula Zeir
Content Specialist/ Arabic Language British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

Further Reading:
Diez, Ernest ‘Eine Schiitische Moschee Ruine auf der Insel Bahrain’ von Ernest Diez, pp 101-105, (‘The Ruins of Shia Mosque on Bahrain Island’), Jahrbuch der asiatischen Kunst II (The Annual Book of Asian Arts), Part II, edited by Georg Biermann (1925).
IOR/R/15/2/1771 File 34/1 Ancient Monuments and Tombs. Ancient Mosque in Manamah.
IOR/R/15/2/1663, ff 252-255 File 20/1- Vol: III Ceremonial and Celebrations: New Year's and King's Birthday's Celebrations.
Article by Muhammad Al Khatam, Al-Yaum Newspaper. 
al-Khamis Mosque

Today is the 85th anniversary of the start of the historic crossing by Bertram Thomas of the Rub’ al-Khali, the vast desert known in English as the Empty Quarter which occupies the south-east corner of Arabia.  On 10 December 1930 Thomas set off from Dhofar, Oman, arriving 59 days later in Doha, Qatar - the first European to traverse this extreme, inhospitable environment.  This landmark achievement in desert exploration is being marked by an expedition of three Omanis and a Briton to retrace the steps of the Omanis and Thomas.

Following the defence of Muscat during World War One from the besieging tribesmen from the Interior under the Imam of Oman, the Government of India sought to restructure Muscat State to reduce its dependence on loans and borrowing from Indian merchants.  Part of this reform was the appointment of a British financial adviser to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman.

Bertram Thomas went out to Muscat as Financial Adviser or Wazir to Sultan Taimur bin Faisal Al Bu Sa’id.  After service in Mesopotamia, Thomas jumped at the opportunity of a posting to Muscat.   In December 1924 Thomas wrote from London to Colonel Francis Prideaux, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, that he was ‘tremendously looking forward to the possibilities of Mascat. Some kind friend has compiled a bibliographical list of every work and paper previously published on Mascat or Oman and I’ve made some slight progress towards collecting a library of some of these publications’.

 
IOR/R/15/1/419 

Thomas combined his official duties of bringing a semblance of order to the budget of the Muscat State with his passion for exploring the archaeology, geography and natural history of Muscat and Oman. He honed his skills with some trips to the area round the Musandam Peninsula where he sought to identify the allegiance of different tribes to assist in dispute resolution and tax collection. In 1926 Thomas went up to the northernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula to investigate the affiliations of the tribes in order to resolve a conflict between the Shaikh of Kalba and the Shaikh of Fujairah.  The Political Agent in Muscat informed the Political Resident in Bushire: ‘Thomas is making enquiries carefully and extensively to procure information, but this will take time. Areas referred to are not clear to us'.

 
IOR/R/15/1/278, f 110

His hand drawn map is shaded with different colours to demarcate the tribal areas of the Al Sharqiyin, Al Qawasim and Al Shihuh.  The Al Shihuh territory of the Musandam Peninsula was deemed to be a feudatory of the Sultan of Muscat.

Thomas stayed at his post in Muscat in the burning hot summer months so he could take leave in the cooler winter months and undertake preparatory expeditions to Dhofar.  He learned that it was essential to have camels used to the sands and he built up the trust of and confidence of the tribes who would help him make the crossing.  In early December 1930 Thomas hitched a ride from Muscat to Dhofar with an oil tanker of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.   He almost had to abandon the expedition because of a tribal feud but his guides turned up at the last moment.  Thomas’s preparation had paid off and his attempt to cross the Empty Quarter could begin…

Dr Francis Owtram
Gulf History Specialist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership 

Further reading:
IOR/R/15/1/278 Punishment of the Sheikh of Fujairah. Sheikh Hawad bin Abdullah Sharqiyin
Crossing the Empty Quarter – Tahaddi Arabia
Francis Owtram, A Modern History of Oman: Formation of the State since 1920. IB Tauris, 2004.
Bertram Thomas, Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia. Jonathan Cape, 1938. 

Stamps are important symbols of national identity. Kuwait had first issued its own postage stamps in 1923, and by the beginning of 1933, the Ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah, had decided that he wished to do likewise.

The Sheikh accordingly communicated his request to the British authorities in the Gulf. The issue would be in the form of standard British Government of India stamps, which were already in use in Bahrain, overprinted (or ‘surcharged’) with the word ‘Bahrain’. A similar format had been used for the Kuwait stamps.

However, there was a problem. Iran (still commonly referred to as Persia) had a long-standing territorial claim to the Bahrain Islands, and the issuing of something as symbolic as a set of postage stamps bearing the name of Bahrain would be likely to provoke protests from the Persian Government.  The British agonised between their desire to meet the wishes of a loyal ally on the one hand, and on the other, their desire not to offend Bahrain’s great neighbour on the opposite side of the Gulf.  Eventually, Britain gave the go-ahead for the issue, the surcharged stamps were produced in India by the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department, and they went on sale in Bahrain on 10 August 1933.

Government of India two annas stamp, overprinted ‘Bahrain’, circa 1935. Source: Wikipedia.

When Sheikh Hamad saw the stamps, he was not impressed. For one thing, he was disappointed that the overprinted word ‘Bahrain’ was in English, not Arabic. He had also expected that his own head would appear on the stamps, not that of the British monarch, King George V. However, a few days later, the Sheikh had cheered up, and given his Adviser, the British-born Charles Belgrave, instructions that a commemorative set of the stamps should be sent to the best known philatelist in the world - King George V himself.

Copy of letter sent to the India Office on behalf of King George V, 17 October 1933, expressing the King’s gratitude for the gift of stamps from the Sheikh of Bahrain. IOR/R/15/2/139, f 167 

The issue of the stamps produced a predictable response from the Persian Government, which ordered its postal service to treat items bearing the surcharged Bahrain stamps as though no postage had been paid on them whatsoever. The Persian Government had earlier that year made a complaint to the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union at Berne in Switzerland, asserting the Persian claim to Bahrain. The British now followed this up by having a letter published in four philatelic journals, explaining that Bahrain was ‘like Kuwait, an independent Arab State on the Arabian littoral of the Persian Gulf’. Both sides had also made representations to the League of Nations.

Letter from the India Office to the editors of four British philatelic journals, 20 September 1933. IOR/R/15/2/139, f 149. 

The issue, after being passed from pillar to post, eventually faded away, leaving the Sheikh’s stamps securely affixed for the future.

Martin Woodward
Archival Specialist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership 

Further reading:
IOR/R/15/2/139 File 1/A/1 I Stamps and Postage; Relations with Persia.

In 1905 a proposal was put forward to appoint a consular assistant to the Consul-General at Bagdad, with the Government of India recommending John Calcott Gaskin for the position. Gaskin had most recently served in the newly created position of Assistant Political Agent at Bahrain and had impressed both the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Foreign Department of the Government of India with his diligence in the role. However Gaskin could not be appointed Consular Assistant as he was not a member of the Diplomatic Service.  After much toing and froing he was named Assistant to the Resident, later amended to Commercial Assistant.

When war broke out in 1914, Gaskin was instructed by the Consul-General (on leave in Europe) to sink all of the Residency’s ammunition in the nearest river to prevent it falling into enemy hands. This action prompted his arrest by Turkish officials  and on 22 November 1914 he was sentenced to three months in jail. On 12 December 1914, however, he was released from prison and instructed to retrieve his belongs and depart Bagdad for Constantinople with other consular officials to be repatriated.

On arriving in Aleppo in March 1915, en route to Constantinople, Mr Gaskin was detained by police for having failed to serve the full three months of his sentence and was again imprisoned. The other consular officials on leaving Aleppo placed his case in the hands of the US Consulate, which promised to try to assist him.

'Prospect of Aleppo' from Henry Maundrell, A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter. A.D. 1697 (London, 1810) BL flickr

On finally being released from prison Gaskin found himself trapped in Aleppo without the means to obtain food, clothing, or residence, as foreigners were no longer permitted to leave the city.  He  approached the US Consulate for assistance. The US Consulate asked the Foreign Office and India Office if Mr Gaskin could be paid his salary through them in order to survive in Aleppo.

This presented an unprecedented situation for both the Foreign Office and India Office. The Foreign Office’s rules stated that consular officials removed from their positions owing to war would receive full pay for six months, provided suitable work was found for them by His Majesty’s Government.  As Mr Gaskin had been interned, and therefore was not in a position to be provided with suitable employment, it seemed unfair to deprive him of a means of livelihood.  Military officers who had been interned received full pay for 61 days and leave pay thereafter.

The case was ultimately brought before the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward Grey, who concluded that as Mr Gaskin was unable to leave Aleppo, and as this situation was likely to continue for the foreseeable future, he should continue to receive full pay until he was released from internment and then suitable employment should be found for him.

John Calcott Gaskin was eventually released from internment following the end of the war in 1918, and reached England in November 1918 where he was placed on furlough to allow him time to recover from his ordeal, before being sent to his new posting in Mesopotamia.

Karen Stapley
Curator, India Office Records

Further reading:
IOR/L/PS/10/117 - File 636/1907 'Turkish Arabia: Bagdad Consulate. Mr Gaskin (Commercial Asst). Detention by Turkish authorities (1914-1918). Settlement of accounts'.
Foreign Office Records at The National Archives: FO 383/102 Turkey: Prisoners; FO 383/341 Turkey: Prisoners.