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'File 2/5 V SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [‎277r] (558/626)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (309 folios). It was created in 30 Aug 1933-30 Apr 1935. 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. .

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Foreign Oifice,S.w.l.
15th February 1 1935.
Copy.
p.z. 1184/35.
(£ 981/82/93).
dear Bateman,
Many thanks for your letter No. 14/15/35 of the 31st January
about tne dat,e gardens question.
2. The point which you raise is largely one of tactics and as
regards these you are more competent to juoge than we are here.
What we want in the case of the four gardens, i.e. excluding
Faddaghiyah, is to bring it home to the Iraqis that any interference
with the Shaikh will involve them in claims from us whicn we shall
press upon them, and consequently that it is to their inuerest to
be as helpful as they can to the Shaikh in this matter, and not,
as they have recently been, deliberately obstructive and. i.ostile
to him. If, as a result of a judgment of an Iraqi court, the Shaikh
were disturbed in the enjoyment of a property to which he nas a
good legal technical title, the judgment would be a denial of justice j
and ve could make our claim independently oi the transfer to the
Iraqi Government of the 1914 pledge. If, however, some other
technical flaw in the Shaikh's legal title were found, (a develop
ment which appears from all our information to be unlikely), we
should not base our claim against the iraqi Government on a
of justice but would be compelled to rely on the 1914 pledge for
what it might be worth. Although none 01 us expects that ' q'
Government can be brought to admit the binding loxce 01 the , S
upon them, and although it is quite likely that li a ca.-e were .o
arise in the future, we should prefer, as we have done as regards
Faddaghiyah, even to pay some money ourselves if this
us to settle the matter in co-operation with the Iraqi Government,
thp permanent Court, nevertheless
rather th^n have recourse to the rennaaeue
. . .p _ i pver and we cannot. theneioi*e
the 1914 pledge is something 01 a lever
abandon it•
3. /
ateman^sq. ,M.C.

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Content

The volume contains correspondence related to the date gardens owned by the Shaikh of Kuwait, Ahmad Al-Jabir Al-Sabah, in southern Iraq. The correspondence concerns the Iraqi Ministry of Justice’s refusal to recognise the Power of Attorney presented to them by the Shaikh of Kuwait’s lawyer in Basra, Jacob Gabriel. It also concerns the following: the Shaikh of Kuwait's ownership of the gardens, the Tapu papers (land deeds) which prove his rights to the date gardens, smuggling, fellaheen Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. riots at Faw, and tax payments. In the papers, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised their concerns to the British Government that unless the Shaikh accepts the service of judicial documents emanating from the Iraqi Government all cases instituted against him would remain pending.

In the volume, British Officials circulate full lists of the Shaikh’s garden properties in Iraq. They also discuss the Iraqi Government’s request for the Shaikh to appear at the Court in Iraq, and how this could compromise his position as an independent ruler.

The volume also includes correspondence related to the ‘Ujairawiyeh Estate, which had been purchased by Shaikh Mubarak in 1912, and was registered in the name of his daughter Sharifa. The estate later became a shared property between the heirs. Such shared properties raised questions among British officials regarding the Arab custom of holding property in common.

The volume’s core correspondence covers October 1934- April 1935. The earlier start date given to the volume is a result of correspondence by 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. Trenchard Craven William Fowle (f 303), which is dated 30 August 1933. The correspondence is a drawing of a plan showing lands adjacent to Faw depot.

The main correspondence in the volume is between 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. , Bushire, 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, the British Ambassador, Baghdad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iraq, the Ruler of Kuwait and his Basra lawyer Jacob Gabriel.

Extent and format
1 volume (309 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 311; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located 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.

Two previous foliation sequences, one circled and one uncircled, have been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 2/5 V SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [‎277r] (558/626), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/144, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049274796.0x00009f> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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