File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [143r] (285/646)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
fay {0:/
#c yards wide, niilhing from weat
to east; its bed Is of soft sand
and the ground immediately to the
north of it Is also rather dif
ficult.At miles the track
crosses a dry watercourse,50
yards wide with oad approaches,
also running from west to east.
The next four watercourses, all
running from west to east, ares-
a very soft one,35 yards wide,at
29! miles, one 30 yards wide at
30 miles, one yards wide at
miles, and a very soft one
7 yards wide at miles.For the
next six miles the road is very a
stony except for two narrow sandy
belts. At 37« miles it enters a
plain half a mile across, with a
hard mud surface,which would be
difficult for motor traffic after
rain, but could then be avoided.
At present, and until such time
as a proper motor road be made,
oars should proceed along the raw
route described above until they
have crossed the YSh tract. Then,
at 23 miles, they should leave it
and, bearing to the east, work
round the ten watercourses draunel
described above. They should come
back to the road on this plain,
at 37g- miles, and immediately
cross the road and bear off to
the west of it, and only rejoin
it again at Safwdn - by doing thii
the nine watercourses enumerated
below are avoided. These two
detours only add about four and
three miles respectively to the
total distanoe.Jontinuing along
the roadjUself, the top of the
main Hamar range is crossed at
miles. At miles a dry water*
course 6 yards wide running from
east to west, and at 42 $ miles
one 14 yards wide running in a
south-westerly direction are srat
crossed. At 44 ^ miles the road,
crosses a sandy watercourse run
ning from west to east - as do tl
next six - 1 o yards wide. It thei
crosses & narrow one at at 44 ^
miles, and one J yards wide at 4 *
miles. At 46 i miles it crosses 02
14 yards wide with bad approaches
at 47 miles, one 4 c yards wide
with hummocky approaches. From 4 '
miles there is a steady drop to
Safwan, the ground being stony
except where stated below. At 48 -
miles a watercourse lo yards wid<
is crossed. In the next three at:
miles the track crosses four ber
of soft hummocky ground, each i
mile broad.At 51 * a double dry
sandy watercourse is crossed;it ;
35 yards broad,and has soft
h ummocky aygiegagfraa ground for
mile to the north of it. At 55
miles Safwan Is reached.
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [143r] (285/646), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035873422.0x000056> [accessed 18 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/5/38
- Title
- File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:4v, 5v:11v, 12v:30v, 31v:32v, 35r:36v, 37v:62v, 63v:65v, 66v:131v, 132v:168v, 169v, 171r:196v, 197v:204v, 205v:207v, 208v:214v, 215v, 216v:224v, 225v:240v, 241v:248v, 249v:250v, 251v:284v, 285v:291v, 292v:302v, 303v:310v, 311v:323v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
![File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎143r] (285/646) File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎143r] (285/646)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x0003c1/IOR_R_15_5_38_0285.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)