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File 1855/1904 Pt 9 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikhs claim to Bubiyan, Warba & Umkasr' [‎308r] (217/228)

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. .

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3
into an impregnable harbour: and even if the day is still distant when the banks
of the Khor Abdulla are likely to be armed witli foreign forts or batteries the
undivided occupation by a German Railway Company of a potentially
invulnerable position is not calculated to conduce to the enhancement either
of British commercial prosperity or of British political prestige. Supposin'*
however, that we are able to make good Sheikh Mubarak’s claims, we at
once place ourselves in a position to establish, at the north end of Bubiyan
Island, a post which would command not only the anchorage but also the
approaches up the Khor Abdulla, and we acquire the power to assert, in
such a manner as our paramount interests demand, our right to participate
in all arrangements relative to the prospective terminus of the Anatolian
Railway. An additional argument, if any is needed, in favour of strengthening
our position at Bubiyan may, perhaps, be found in the fact that the Khor is
used as a place of refuge by pirates whom the Turkish Government is unable
to control and who, as shown in the Administration Report of the Persian
Gulf for 1902-03, commit piracies off Bubiyan.
6. His Majesty’s Government have never admitted the Turkish claim to
the island, and have, indeed, protested against the interference with the
status quo involved in the placing of a post at A1 Geit, where, prior to the
month of lebruary 1902, the Turks had never pretended to exercise an
authority even of the most shadowy description, and where the total garrison
now consists of some 6 men. On the same occasion we were informed by
* Telegram of 8th April 1902. £ ord George Hamilton* that the British
Government would resist a Turkish ad
vance on the Koweit side of Subbiyeh. This place is separated only by a
channel from the southern end of Bubiyan Island: and the claims of the
Sheikh to both positions seem to us to be of equal validity.
7. The proposal accordingly which we submit for your consideration
is that the Porte should now lie informed that we are unable to recognise
their right to maintain a station on Bubiyan, and should be requested
to withdraw their troops; while at the same time we__skould establish
a post on behalf of Sheikh Mubarak on tbe northern end "of the 'island
opposite to tbe southern anchorage. The Sheikh has always urged bis claims
to this island, and during the Viceroy’s visit to Koweit he repeatedly asked
why the Turks were not compelled to evacuate both Bubiyan and Um Kasr
which belonged to him. He has several boats, and could easily with small
support from us prevent Turkish troops from crossing the Khor Subbiyeh or
channel between Bubiyan and the mainland on the west. Should His Majesty’s
Government deem it advisable to spare the Sultan’s susceptibilities by the
adoption of a less pronounced course of action, we think it possible that our
object might be secured by intimating that we regard Bubiyan Island as belong
ing to the Sheikh, and that, unless the Turkish force is withdrawn, we
shall be constrained to support him in establishing a post on the northern
shore to balance the Turkish posts at Um Kasr and A1 Geit. In this case the
Turks would probably retire, and the island wuuld remain unoccupied. The
Sheikh would then resume possession, and it would only remain for us to
carry out hereafter such further measures as might be necessary for the
maintenance of our legitimate interests.
We have the honour to be,
Sir,

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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.

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113 folios
Written in
English in Latin script
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File 1855/1904 Pt 9 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikhs claim to Bubiyan, Warba & Umkasr' [‎308r] (217/228), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/51/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037401204.0x000019> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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