The Date Gardens in Iraq of the Sheikhs of Koweit [Kuwait] and Mohammerah. Scope of undertakings given by HM Government in 1914. Case for the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown and Opinion thereon T W H Inskip and F B Merriman, Law Officers' Department, 29 Mar 1933. inc The date gardens in Iraq of the Sheikhs of Koweit and Mohammerah. Historical summary [undated] [‎10v] (20/70)

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In this connection the Shaikh pointed out that the
amounts brought to Kuwait by himself did not merely include-
that share of the garden produce which he and the 1U0 junior
families of the al-Subah (numbering some 1,000 souls, I sup
pose), had a right to, in their capacity as joint shareholders
in the estates, but included the annual free food ration of
his body-guard and paid 44 fidawi " land forces numbering
some 500 men who with their families all received half their
pay in kind and half in cash. The former apart from rice
(obtained in India), was practically all obtained from the
produce of his Shatt-al-Arab estates.
(b) Again in the matter of the date produce which the
Shaikh " exported " overseas to India, the Ked Sea,.
Zanzibar, etc., the Shaikh pointed out that he came under
a different category to the ordinary garden owner of Basrah
or the well-known Arab and European merchants who
annually bought up and exported dates from Basrah seeing
that in a sense he was both owner and exporter. And while
the latter class, both Arab and Europeans, purchased direct
from individual garden owners and paid cash down for the
produce, he as Shaikh of Kuwait sold nothing to these ex
porting merchants but instead dealt with his own merchants
of Kuwait who nearly all owned regular fleets of dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. .
East Indian men which made annual voyages to either
India, the Red Sea, East Africa or Zanzibar, taking as out
ward cargoes Basrah dates, and bringing back ship-loads of
wood, beams, spices, rice, building material, etc. The system
under which this export business was conducted was as
follows :—
The Shaikh, who it must not be forgotten runs
his estate on our old feudal lines, annually and before
the dates are ripe sends for his leading Kuwait
merchants (largely also pearl dealers) and enquiries
if any of them will take up cargoes of dates from
his estates. The response is generally good, and that
part of the produce of the gardens previously ear
marked for overseas export, is now sold to these local
merchants. The method of sale is as follows :—The
dates are sold by the gosara (basket) at the rate pre
vailing at Basrah, hut no cash passes hands, instead
the buyers sign documents promising to pay the
Shaikh his money, after one, two or three voyages (i.e.,
years), as the case may be, and only after they have
disposed of their return cargoes. These signed docu
ments are deposited with the Shaikh, who recovers
his money gradually, and by a method which bears
easily on his merchants and keeps his overseas dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
trade alive. Under this method dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. captains on
behalf of their principals do the actual trading and
with the money which they realise from the sale of
the dates they carry, they buy their return cargoes.
In bad trading years as at present return cargoes
fetch little, and often merchants have to ask the
Shaikh for an extension of the period of repayment.
The latter naturally assists more often than not, for
his policy is literally to be the " father of his people."
5. Taking therefore the above two systems (paragraph 4 {a)
and {b) for dealing with the produce of his date gardens in Iraq,
it was clear, the Shaikh pointed out, that he himself would have
to find the " Ashur " tax both in the case of :—
{a) Dates and garden produce exported to Kuwait for
state purposes.
(ft) Dates exported to foreign countries by Kuwait dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
owners.