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File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎9r] (17/646)

The record is made up of 1 file (321 folios). It was created in 7 Jan 1925-31 Dec 1927. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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No. 1J5-S dated 14 th Januar y I 925 .
H.E. Shaikh Ahmad al-Jabir ag-Subah,3.I e E., Ruler of Kuwait.
After complimeritg.
V7ith reference to your letter dated the 13 th Jamad II
1343, and to our subsequent conversation, on the subject of
the sheep found by Your Excellency's subjects, I have the
honour to inform Your Excellency that I have received a
telegram from His Excellency the High Commissioner for
'Iraq in which he says as follows:"You are no doubt aw?re
that the Ikhwan raided the 'Iraq tribes near Umm ar-Rahl
on the 28th Jamad I and abandoned the sheep which
they had plundered as the result of bombing from aeroplanes
on the 1st Jamad II. Prom reports received it now appears
that some of these sheep were found ne^r the Batin by men
with Shaikh 'Ali al-Khalifah, and that others are with the
'Uraibdar in Kuwait territory".
I presume that the sheep referred to by His Excellency
(by the men)
Sir Henry Dobbs as having been found/with Shaikh 'Ali al-
Khalifah are those which Your Excellency has told me about,
but it looks as if there might be others with some of the
'Arabs in your territories which have not been brought to
your notice, I am the more inclined to think that this may
be so, as Major Wilson, the Administrative Inspector,Basrah,
tells me that he has received three independent reports of
flocks of at least three hundred xksfijc of these salved
oeing with the Kuwait tribes, and one man who profess
ed to have himself seen them gix gave a still higher figure.
I am quite sure that Your Excellency would never agree
to such sheep being illegally retained by your subjects,and
trust that, if you have not already done so, you will order
enquiries to be made as to whether any of these abandoned
sheep have been found by your subjects in addition to those
reported to Your Excellency.
Usual ending.

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Content

This file contains correspondence related to the British Government's relationship with Ibn Sa'ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].

The correspondence primarily relates to raids that were made into Iraq and Kuwait by Ikhwan forces and associated acts of livestock plunder and killing. As such, the file contains two reports regarding these raids that were submitted to the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Kuwait by the Senior Staff Officer of the Akhwan Defence, a British force that had been established to counter the threat of Ikhwan raids into Iraq and monitor their movements (folios 40-47 and 84-130).

The file also contains correspondence that relates to discussions concerning the construction of a paved road (for the use of motor vehicles) between Southern Iraq and Kuwait. A copy of a concession for its construction that was granted to Sayyid Hamid bin Rajab al-Naqib by the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, is contained in Arabic (folios 67-69) and English (folios 72-75). In this context, the file contains descriptions written by the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in Kuwait, Major James Carmichael More, of a number of different routes between Southern Iraq and Kuwait at the time. These descriptions are as follows:

  • Jafrah to Safwan (in English, folios 49-53 and Arabic, folios 59-62);
  • Kuwait to Basrah via Basrah and then direct to Safwan (folios 54-57);
  • Jahrah to Zubair (folios 137-146).

Towards the end of the file, the correspondence in the file discusses reports of the tensions between the Ikhwan and Ibn Sa'ud and the beginning of the Ikhwan revolt.

As well as correspondence between British officials, correspondence between Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. More and the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (in Arabic with English translations) appears throughout the file.

Extent and format
1 file (321 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

An index of topics discussed is contained at the rear of the file (on folios 322-323); the folios used in this index relate to an earlier incomplete foliation system that is in uncircled pencil in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 323; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-323; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎9r] (17/646), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035873421.0x000012> [accessed 25 June 2026]

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