ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION ThepurposehereistoevaluatethehistoricalarchieveoftheArabian MissionoftheDutchReformedChurchofNorthAmericaasasource ofinformationforthemodernhistoryofBahrain,inparticular,and theArabianGulfStatesingeneral.Inanydiscussionofdocumentsof thisnatureonehasfirsttosurveythematerialsandexplainhowthey werecollectedandlaterclassifiedforpurposesofhistoricalresearch. Thecollectionwasinitiallycomposedoflettersandcorrespondence exchangedbetweentheFieldSecretaryappointedbytheBoardof ForeignMissionsandtheresidentCorrespondingSecretaryinNew York.TheestablishmentofstationsinBusrah,Bahrain,Muscatand laterinKuwait,between1892and1911,sawacontinualflowof correspondencebetweenthesestationsandtheBoardofForeign Missions. 1
Interestingly,Bahrainwaschosentobethemainsitethrough whichthesestationsdirectedtheircorrespondence.Infact,theField Secretarywhohandledthereportingofaffairswasusuallypositioned inBahrain,whereannualmeetingswereoftenheld.Fieldreportsof activitiesundertakenbyworkersinthevariousstationsweredetailed anddescribed.Anynoteworthyeventsofapoliticalnature,together withdetailsofthestateofaffairsoftheparticularareathatfellunder observation,wererecordedintheseannualreportsandsubsequently forwardedtoheadquartersandBoard.2Mostprobablythechoiceof Bahrainasacenterwasdictatedbythefactthatitwaslocatedinthe middleoftheArabianGulf,almosthalfwaybetweenShatt-Al-Arabin thenorthandMuscatinthesouth.Thereforemostoftheinformation abouttheArabianGulfstateswasdispatchedfromBahrain.
