'Administration Reports 1925-1930' [‎92r] (188/418)

Urmum, near Zaqlah, some seven miles north of Jahrat, on the morning of 4t&
December. As soon as news of the raid reached Kuwait which was not until
the afternoon, a force of over a hundred men was collected and rushed out in
cars, but arrived too late to intercept the raiders, who got away with a consi
derable number of camels.
The unsettled state of affairs in the desert, and the alarmist rumours
which were current, caused much anxiety in Kuwait. The town wall was
restored where necessary, and was manned nightly until the close of the year.
Mercenaries were also enlisted to supplement the garrison of Jahrah, which
was brought up to a strength of over three hundred men, not counting the
Bedouin camped in the vicinity.
On the morning of the 8th December Shaikh Hafidh Wahbah called on 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. , and informed him that he had received a message from Ibn
Saud, telegraphed from Bahrein, instructing him to tell him, for the inform
ation of His Excellency the High Commissioner for Iraq, that very serious
trouble had broken out in Nejd, and that he had heard to his regret that a
force of Ikhwan was marching north contrary to his orders. He conveyed a
similar warning to the Shaikh of Kuwait.
On the morning of the 9th December three aeroplanes patrolling over the
Neutral Zone between Iraq and Nejd were subjected to heavy rifle by a party
of camel riders, 300 strong, in the vicinity of Umm-al-Abid, one Wireless
Operator being wounded. The remaining machines of the formation imme
diately attacked the hostile force with machine gun fire. Machines sent from
Busaiyah on the same day located a force of about 600 men and camels at
Jadaidah, also near Rukhaimiyah, moving rapidly south, and attacked them
with good effect. Some hours previously this party had raided encampments
of the Ghalidh section of the Muntafik and the Dhafir to the north of the Sha'ib
al-Ummah. The raiders in this, as in previous cases, were Mutair.
On the 22nd December Faisal ad-Dawish crossed the Iraq frontier in
some force and raided the Iraq shepherd tribe of Zaiyad and some Abdah
Shammar at Jaukhah thirty-one miles from Bir Ansab, inflicting heavy
slaughter, particularly on the Zaiyad, He then moved north-west to attack
the Dahamishah, a sept of the Amarat section of the Anizah, who fled before
him and escaped. After this Dawish apparently moved south again, and his
subsequent movements until the close of the year were shrouded in mystery.
The fact that Faisal ad-Dawish and his Mutair have been raiding on such a
wholesale scale not only without Ibn Saud's permission, but in defiance of his
orders, has naturally given rise to the most exaggerated rumours as to what the
real state of affairs in Nejd is, and some would appear to think thatother tribes
as well, particularly the Utaibah, are defying his authority. According to the
most reliable information available at the close of the year, however, it is only
the Mutair who are actually out of control, and other tribes are quiet; and the
general opinion amongst Arabs best able to judge is that Ibn Saud will soon
re-establish his authority in the desert, but that he will do so by peaceful
means, and would be unwise to attempt to punish the Mutair.
Meanwhile, a force sent by Ibn Sa'uds orders from Hasa to keep the
tribes in order was known to have reached Maraghah, 165 miles south of
Kuwait, where the main body of the Awazim were, and another column was
said to have been sent from Hail.
Nejd subjects in Kuwait,
On the 20th October Abdullah bin Hamad an-Nafisi, Ibn Saud's agent in
Kuwait called on 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. , and told him that Ibn Saud had sent
him a supply of Nationality Certificates, forms of Application for Passports,
and Passports, and instructed him to issue them to Nejd subjects if 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. would agree to countersign and visa them. The Political
Agent replied that he could not agree to do this without orders from Govern
ment, as the late Shaikh Mubarak by an agreement with His Majesty's Govern
ment had bound himself, his heirs and successors, not to receive the agent or
representative of any Power or Government at Kuwait, without the previous