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File 1855/1904 Pt 9 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikhs claim to Bubiyan, Warba & Umkasr' [283v] (168/228)
The record is made up of 113 folios. It was created in 8 Dec 1903-11 Apr 1910. It was written in English. 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
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From Viceroy, Zlth April 1904 j
P.— Bubian Island. Your telegram of the 22nd April. 1 have instructed
Resident in
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
to ascertain whether any Turkish troops are still
on the island. Please see paragraph 5 of our Despatch of the Uh February
last for statement of Government of India's case. Acquiescence in Turkish
occupation of TJmkasr has weakened claim of Sheikh of Koweit to the place.
Turks, apparently in infringement of status quo, have constructed a con
siderable fort there. I did not suppose that Sheik's claim to TJmkasr would
be supported, since His Majesty's Government in 1902 were only prepared to
resist Turkish advance on Subieh; moreover. Sheik's claim to the place is
based mainly on his ancestral connection with it, which ceased in the VUh
century. As regards Bubian Island, Mubarak’s claim is far stronger, while
the claims of the Turks, as well as their de facto position, are much weaker.
Further, there is substantial geographical distinction between the island,
where the Turks are not known ever to have been at all, and the mainland,
where they have long been in the neighbourhood. The matter should not, in
my opinion, be allowed to rest, and I would urge either that the Turks should
be required to destroy their post and withdraw their troops from Bubian
Island, and to recognise it as an integral portion of the Sheik's possessions, or
that, as proposed by vs, Sheikh should be allowed to erect a post on the island.
To secure this result, his claim to TJmkasr might be made use of. Our
influence in Koweit and neighbourhood will certainly be weakened if we do
not secure to Sheikh his rights, about which he spoke to me; and if the
present position continues much longer, after the matter has been brought to
notice prominently during my tour in the Gulf, it will be almost impossible
hereafter to assert claim of Sheikh to Bubian Island, on which claim we
could most easily base our right to be consulted in regard to any railway
scheme affecting the Khor Abdullah. . ,,
fg *>- 7 -'‘W 1
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The papers concern the claims of Shaikh Mubarak [Mubārak bin Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ], Ruler of Koweit [Kuwait] to the islands of Bubiyan, Warba, and Umkasr [Umm Qaşr] against the competing claims of the Government of Turkey [the Ottoman Empire].
The principal correspondents are the British Ambassador at Constantinople (Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor); the Viceroy of India (Baron Curzon of Kedlestone; from 1905 the Earl of Minto); 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. (Major 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); 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: the nature of the claims of the Shaikh of Kuwait to Bubiyan and Umm Qaşr, December 1903 - April 1904 (folios 285-312); the views of the Viceroy on the issue, April 1904 (folios 279-283); proposed representations to the Ottoman Government by the British Ambassador at Constantinople concerning the establishment of Turkish military posts on the islands, May 1904 - May 1905 (folios 246-278); the Shaikh of Kuwait's views on a proposal that he establish a post on Bubiyan Island, and the proposed establishment of a permanent British Agent at Kuwait, June 1905 (folios 231-245); and papers concerning the Shaikh of Kuwait's rights over Warba and Bubiyan islands, including the view of the British Government in 1910 that it was inadvisable to assert the Shaikh's rights at that time, November 1907 - April 1910 (folios 201-230).
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 200, are 1904-1910.
- Extent and format
- 113 folios
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/51/1
- Title
- File 1855/1904 Pt 9 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikhs claim to Bubiyan, Warba & Umkasr'
- Pages
- 200r:313v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence