File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [148r] (295/646)
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.
. D.O. So.122*3
C0MPXD3HTIAL
KUWAIT.
18 th May l£ 25 .
I am sending you a revised description of the J&hr&h-Zubalr
road, which show* you what I am satisfied is the boot way for
oars at present, and the alignment on which I think a proper
motor road could moat easily and cheaply be made. It is acre or
less the way we came home the other day, but not exactly - we
did not bear in to the west after getting round the watercourses
of the AbStih and Join the road again at the north of the Yah
as I now recommend, but kept on working south away to the east
of the road and thereby let ourselves in for some rather nasty
obstacles, covered 68’ miles fro- Sf.fwfn to Jahrah, instead
of say 62-1 make the actual camel track 55 . Still, I was very
pleased with what we saw on our return Journey, as there is no
question now that quite a good motor road co^ld be made with
remarkably little work or expense. Even as it is, if I had to go
to Basrah to-morrow, 1 would go by car again rather than by B.I.
As a matter of fact, the only trouble we had on our return
trip was before we actually started: Saiyid H’traid and party were
Just ahead of us as we left Basrah City, and when we got to
Zubair we found that they had burnt out a be ring in one of his
cars - they had been driving it far too f^st for a scrap-iron
Ford. This meant sending back to Basrah, and it was ne rly sun
set before we got away from Zubair, and we halted for the night
about opposite RSfldhlyah,
I m also sending you a copy of a memorandum from Sir Percy
Oox dated ii>th April *23 on the subject of the northern frontier
of Kuwait, which shows that it is immediately to the south of
SafwSn at this point.
X SO not vary hop.ful of Saiyia Ramld
cosing in to any
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 [148r] (295/646), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035873422.0x000060> [accessed 11 June 2026]
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- 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 [‎148r] (295/646) File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎148r] (295/646)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x0003c1/IOR_R_15_5_38_0295.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)