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File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎94r] (187/646)

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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also, could such raiding against his bitterest enemy fail
to please King FAISA 1 ?• From the autumn of 1923 onwards,
the refugees, smiled on by the King, embarked on a steady
policy of raiding against the AKthTU:!, from the shelter of
IRAQ territory#
SVRrfS OF 'HR GIUZixJG SS-iAGH, 1923-24 .
At the commencement of the 1923-24 grazing season, the
IRAQ tribes moved out with a certain amount of confidence,
and mingled with aKHVIAR subjects in the vicinity of the
frontier. During the autumn and winter, however, the
frequest attacks delivered by the refugees began to cause
considerable resentment amongst the AKKWAR*
Finally, in March 1924, FAISAX AX DO WISH with a
large AKHWAN force suddenly crossed the frontier and heavily
raided a concentration of IRAQ tribes and bedouins near
UHSAB. The remaining IRAQ nomads fled in panic to the
banks of the Euphrates,
DEFENSIVE i-iRAiURIiia OF 1923^24.
preliminary warning of an impending ASWfM raid had been
received before FAlAAl IX D0\7lHH T s attack. a hasty system
of aerial, patrolling of the desert was improvised, but was
unsuccessful in repulsing the raiders.
ANII-BRIgloH PROPAGANDA,
For the past ten years, IB1I 3AUD has b eon universally reputed
to be an ally of the British. fhosm when raided by his
followers, the IRAQ nomads were universally convinced that
these ££ attacks were being connived at, or even encouraged,
by the British. Considerable bitterness was aroused by
4
this illusion, a feeling which was sedulously fostered by
certain anti-British propagandists. i^hese sentiments
reached their climax, after the KHVISH's raid of uarch 1924 .

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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 [‎94r] (187/646), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035873421.0x0000bc> [accessed 7 June 2026]

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