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File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎138r] (275/646)

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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“) / 3 S'
pr®a«nt» no obstacle to & car. At 24 alles the traok enters
a hums&oky belt which lasts for a little over a quarter of a
aile. The road now ascends gently to 24 } miles where two
mounds # known as Hissu adh-Dhabi, are passed on the right,
and then descends gently, from this point running due north.
At 25 j, 26 , and 26 $ milea three more dry sandy watercourses,
running from east to west, are crossed. They are narrow,
however, and not serious obstacles to a oar. At 2 ?J miles,
after a somewhat steep descent, a dry watercourse 6o ya de
wide running from west to east Is reached; its bed is of soft
sand, and the ground immediately to the north of it is also
rather difficult. At 20 miles a dry sandy watercourse, pq
*
yards wide, running fro® west to east, with soft approaches,
is crossed. At 2^ miles the road crosses a very soft urn
sandy watercourse, 33 yards wide, also running fro® west to
east, and then a broad double one 5 c yards wide at jq miles.
The road then crosses one 2 o yards wide at 3of miles, and
another, 7 yards wide but very soft, &t 3 * miles. These
also run from west to east. For the next six miles the road
is itony, except at 33 j miles, where it crosses a sandy belt
a quarter of a mile broad covered with huci<aocks. jfVxffl ft 111,
At 37 i miles , after a slight descent, the road enters
a plain half a mile across wi$h a hard aud surface. This
normally affords excellent going for a motor car, but would
be difficult after rain, though it could then easily be
avoided.
At present motor cars should proceed along the route
described above until they have crossed the Y 3 h tract. Then,
at mile 23, they should leave it and, bearing to the east,
work round the ten watercourses described above, and come
back to the road again at the plain described above, at 37%
miles. This detour only adds some three or four miles to the
distance, on coming back to the road at 3 ?| miles, oars
should cross it and immediately bear off to the west of it
* ma oai y adjoin it again at Safwln. By doing this only three
ai - Ua • r# add * d th * dlataao., and nine watereouriM aa

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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 [‎138r] (275/646), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035873422.0x00004c> [accessed 14 June 2026]

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