'A Collection of Treaties and Engagements relating to the Persian Gulf Shaikhdoms and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman in force up to the End of 1953' [‎10r] (19/92)

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desirable for Your Honour to inform the British Government that we were
agreeable to the arrival of His Excellency the Admiral. We are agreeable to
everything which you regard advantageous and if the Admiral honours our (side)
country we will associate with him one of our sons to be in his service, to show the
place of bitumen in Burgan and elsewhere and if in their view there seems hope
of obtaining oil therefrom we shall never give a concession in this matter to any
one except a person appointed from the British Government.
This is what was necessary and I pray for the continuance of your high regard
and may you be preserved.
Dated 26th Zu-al-Kada 1331.
No. 7
Assurances given by His Majesty's Government regarding Date Gardens,
Protection and Independence, dated November 3, 1914—
Extract from a letter from the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to His
Excellency Sir Mubarak-as-Subah, K.C.S.L, K.C.I.E., Shaikh of Kuwait.
In continuation of previous letter intimating the out-break of war between
the British Government and Turkey, I am ordered by the British Government to
convey to Your Excellency gratitude for your loyalty and your offer of assistance,
and to request you to attack Umm Qasr, Safwan and Bubiyan and to occupy
them. You should endeavour, afterwards, in co-operation with Shaikh Sir Khazal
Khan, Amir Abdul Aziz bin Saud and other reliable Shaikhs to liberate Basrah
from Turkish possession. Should this prove to be beyond your ability, you should
make arrangements, if possible, to prevent Turkish reinforcements from reaching
Basrah or even Qurnah, until the arrival of the British troops whom we shall send,
please God, as soon as possible. I also hope that two of our men-of-war will reach
Basrah before the arrival of your troops there. And though it should be your
highest aim, in this connection, to liberate Basrah and its people from Turkish
rule, still we request that you should use your utmost endeavour in preventing
troops and others from plundering the merchandise belonging to British merchants
in Basrah and its dependencies, to protect the European residents of Basrah and
to safeguard them from loss and oppression. In return for your valuable assistance
in this important matter, I am ordered by the British Government to promise to
Your Excellency that if we succeed therein—and we shall succeed therein, please
God,—we will not return Basrah to the Turkish Government and we will not
surrender it back to them at all. Furthermore I make to you, on behalf of
the British Government, certain promises concerning Your Excellency personally
viz.:—
(1) that your gardens which are now in your possession, viz., the date
gardens situate between Fao and Qurnah shall remain in your
possession and in possession of your descendants without being subject
to the payment of revenue or taxes.
(2) that if you attack Safwan, Umm Qasr and Bubiyan and occupy them
the British Government will protect you from any consequences
arising from that action.
No. 8
The Kuwait-Najd Boundary Convention, dated December 2, 1922—
In the Name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate.
The frontier between Najd and Kuwait begins in the West from junction of
the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. al Aujah (W. al Audja) with the Batin (El Batin), leaving Raq'i (Rikai)
to Najd, from this point it continues in a straight line until it joins latitude 29°
and the red semi-circle referred to in Article 5 of the Anglo-Turkish Agreement
of 29th July, 1913. The line then follows the side of the red semi-circle until it
reaches a point terminating {sic) on the coast south of Ras al-Qali'ah (Ras el Kali-
yah) and this is the indisputable southern frontier of Kuwait territory. The
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