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File 1855/1904 Pt 10 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikh's properties at Fao and Fadaghia' [‎108v] (216/398)

The record is made up of 199 folios. It was created in 12 Jan 1908-18 Sep 1912. It was written in English and French. 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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2
the sheikh himself. It would appear that the vali s opposition is premeditated, and
goes to the root of the whole matter. His _ Excellency has, according to Sheikh
Mubarek, again raised the question of Koweitis who reside and trade at Bussorah
taking out certificates of Turkish nationality before their claims or complaints an
entertained by the vali or the courts. In July 1907 Sheikh Mubarek appears to ha \
reported to His Majesty’s 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. that the then Vali of Bussorah, Hassan Bey,
had notified certain Koweit merchants trading at Bussorah to register themselves as
Ottoman subjects under penalty of expulsion if they refused The merchant interested,
however, left Bussorah of his own accord, and the matter dropped. _ Sheikh Mubarek
also complained of the treatment accorded to Hammad-el-Khalid, a rich pearl merchant
of Koweit, who sought to recover £ T. 1,000 at Bussorah. The vali, according to the
sheikh, insisted on the man registering himself as an Ottoman subject before enter
taining the claim, and it seems that he acceded to this demand in order to recover his
debt. Major Knox is of opinion that Khalid was probably instructed by the sheikh to
take out the nufuss teskereh with a view to bringing about our interference, and so
obtain the issue of instructions to the vali which would assist the Tapoo operations in
connection with the transfer of the Fedaghia property, in which the sheikh himself
is deeply interested. The vali also wrote to Sheikh Mubarek, so the latter informed
us, inviting him to send a deputy to the Turkish Parliament, but the sheikh had not
yet answered the letter.
The vali is undoubtedly doing his best to disturb the status quo previously
arranged between His Majesty’s Government and the Sublime Porte in regard to the
Koweit question, and it is unlikely he will be induced to modify his attitude by 7 any
arguments of mine without special instructions from Constantinople. Moreover, in
view of your Excellency’s telegram of the 2nd January, in which you say it would be
inexpedient to raise the Koweit question at present, I hesitate to approach the vali
directly on the subject without your Excellency’s instructions, as in view of his general
attitude and his recent action in regard to Tapoo proceedings it would be difficult to
do so without going into the whole question.
It would perhaps tide over the difficulty if the vali could be instructed to'grant
facilities to the sheikh for the transfer of his property in the present instance, failing
which it seems not improbable that the sheikh may cause the land to be registered in
the names of his sons, and direct them to take out certificates of Turkish nationality
for the purpose. In the course of a conversation which Major Knox and I had with
the sheikh, I gathered that the latter entertained no great objection himself to such a
proceeding, but I presume it would be against our interests to permit him to do so in
view of the complications it might lead to after his death. It would certainly strengthen
the contention of the Turks that Koweit belongs to them.
I have, &c.
F. E. CROW.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Consul Crow to Sir G. Lowther.
(No. 42.)
Sir, Bussorah, July 12, 1909.
IN conversation yesterday with the vali I referred to the registration of the
Sheikh of Koweit’s land at Fedaghia purchased from Ahmed Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. -es-Zoheir, to which
the late vali, Moharrem Effendi, had raised objections on the ground that Sheikh
Mubarek must take out an Ottoman teskereh as a Turkish subject first, and I pointed
I out that the sheikh was already the holder of large estates in the vilayet, which had been
I registered previously in his name without this difficulty. I said the teskereh precaution
seemed to be superfluous and meaningless, as according to the convention of 186/
foreigners could acquire land in Turkey, and that the arrangement entailed their
assimilation to Ottoman subjects. His Excellency agreed, and said that Moharrem
Effendi had blundered, but that the real difficulty arose from the matter having been
misunderstood at the Sublime Porte, which imagined that the transfer referred to large
tracts of Government land at Ghermet Ali claimed by Ahmed Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. -es-Zoheir, and
regarding which litigation was proceeding between the latter and the Ottoman Govern
ment. The vali said he was in communication with Constantinople on the subject,
and hoped to settle the question shortly. He added, however, that Sheikh Mubarek
desired the land registered in the name of one of his sons, and had offered no objection

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The papers concern relations between Shaikh Mubarak [Mubārak bin Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ], Ruler of Koweit [Kuwait] and the Government of Turkey [the Ottoman Empire]; particularly in regard to the purchase by the Shaikh of date gardens at Fao [Al Fāw] on the Shatt-al-Arab, and property at Fadaghia, near Fao, both of which were in Turkish territory. In both cases, the Turkish authorities insisted that the Shaikh should first register himself as an Ottoman subject before they would allow the legal formalities of ownership to be completed.

The principal correspondents are the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox); 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. , Kuwait (Major Stuart George Knox; from 1909 Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear); the British Consul at Basrah (also referred to as Bussorah) [Basra] (Francis Edward Crow); the British Ambassador at Constantinople (Sir Gerald Augustus Lowther); Shaikh Mubarak; and senior officials of the 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. , the Government of India, and the Foreign Office.

The papers cover: papers concerning the Fao property, including the Shaikh's appeals for a committee of inquiry and arbitration over the matter, January 1908 - July 1909 (folios 115-199); papers concerning the Fadaghia property, February 1909 - December 1910 (folios 6-114); Foreign Office paper containing a memorandum communicated to the Turkish Ambassador concerning the Bagdad railway question and other matters, July 1911 (folios 4-5); and correspondence concerning a false report in a Turkish newspaper that an allowance had been granted by the Turkish Government to Shaikh Mubarak, May-July 1912 (folios 2-3).

The French language content of the papers is confined to three folios of newspaper extracts (folios 133-135).

The date range gives the covering dates of all the documents contained in the papers; the covering dates of the Secret Department minute papers that enclose them, as given on folio 1, are 1908-1912.

Extent and format
199 folios
Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 1855/1904 Pt 10 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikh's properties at Fao and Fadaghia' [‎108v] (216/398), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/51/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037401202.0x00001a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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