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'File II. IRAQ (3) Vol. 1 Shaikh of Kuwait's Date Gardens on the Shatt-al Arab. (Kuwait's relations with Turkish Govt. and Turkish demand that Kuwaitis should take out Turkish Nationality Certificates)' [‎117v] (246/636)

The record is made up of 1 volume (307 folios). It was created in 18 Sep 1904-10 Nov 1913. 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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2
the Shaikh flies, etc. Kuwait which formerly scarcely ever figured In Arabic
newspapers now finds mention under the heading of Basrah News in the Cairo
papers over the signature of the Basrah correspondent.
5. As bearing on this subject it may be of interest to note here that the items
in my diary were obtained from a local source but curiously enough were con
firmed almost exactly in conversation with M. Toukholka, Russian Consul at
Basrah, during his few hours’visit to Kuwait. He said to me that he was much
interested in Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. politics, and having but lately arrived in Basrah, where
he constantly heard the position of Kuwait discussed, he was naturally desirous
of seeing the place and its ruler, to use his own words “ he had no instructions
to pursue any active policy at Basrah for the place did not really affect Russia, and
consequently he had very little to do officially. Thus he was afforded the oppor
tunity of seeing our position in regard to Kuwait, the Baghdad Railway,
Muhammerah and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. generally from the point of view of an inter
ested on-looker.” He said he had heard in Basrah that Mubarak used to fly
a flag which was exactly similar to the Turkish with the exception that the
Kuwait flag carried three white stars but that within the last two years Mubarak
at the request of the Wali had reverted to one star! He informed me that his own
introduciion from the Wali to Mubarak bore the superscription of ” Kaimmakam
of Kuwait,” and that the Wali had frequently mentioned the position of Kuwait
in conversation; he had said that the policy of the new Turkey was to maintain
the ” status quo, ” which, so far as Kuwait was concerned, he was convinced the
^ Turks regarded as implying distinct subjection to them, and that to prevent the
possibility of Kuwait vanishing beyond their hold, as they considered had already
happened in the cases of Maskat and Bahrain owing to their own negligence they
would probablv make some serious effort to establish in Kuwait an indubitable
j visible sign of their predominance. He thought we should have a very difficult
question to solve more specially as the new Turkish Government was a vastly
different affair to the one to which the Powers had become accustomed under
the regime of Abdul Hamid. His own experience in Macedonia and Albania less
than six months ago before his appointment to Basrah had shown him the differ-
ence very plainly.
, ^ at t ^ ie ^ a t Basrah was undoubtedly working for his own coun«
try s good and that he was supported whole-heartedly by Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . The
latter though styled Wali of Baghdad had been sent out by the Turkish Govern
ment with a promise of generous support and had been given a free hand first
10 re-organ,ze thoroughly the Vlth Army Corps, and, when that object had been
achieved and an effective weapon been thereby supplied, to consolidate Turkish
power in the southern vilayets and amongst the Arabs.
_ M. Toukholka did not appear to me to be trying to obtain information
!d M,l y ’ -l* ffi°- U n h ^ a ® ke ^ som ® inconvenient questions as to how we regard-
nbffnat/ U offi £' a y ’, h , e ha ( dly ' vaited for 3 re ply and seem more intent on dis
playing his own knowledge of and interest in the situation than in deliberately
pumping me. He gave me the impression of an energetic man really
anxious to see things by travelling about himself and inclined to be garrulous as
to his own experiences. °
I have reported M. Toukholka’s conversation in
to show that in Basrah at least the status of Kuwait
among officials.
some detail above in order
is discussed fairly freely
varinni 5 ht lkh Mu a ara ^ himself talks , t0 - me °P en, y of the Wali and his
various schemes and makes no secret of his own opinion that the Wali is endea-
vourmg to bring about some way of introducing Turkish influence into Kuwait.
time rnmn S XS 1 ! 1 ’ Se a . S .n ein v?/^ erse - tD any such influenc e but at the same
time compelled to meet the Wall amicably and to do nothing likely to arouse
his animosity for fear of reprisals on his properties on the Shatt-el-Arab.
eient1 hat the Shalkh desir ? s absolute independence is certain, but he has suffi-
cient acumen to see that his property on the river furnishes Turkey with a valu-
b e hostage from himself, that we for our own reasons do not desire the growth

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Content

The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the:

  • Shaikh of Kuwait's date gardens on the Shatt al-`Arab
  • Turkish demand that Kuwaitis should take out Turkish Nationality Certificates
  • registration of Shaikh Mubarak's property at Faddaghiya
  • offer of a cash salary to Shaikh of Kuwait as Qaimaqam

The principal correspondents in the volume include 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, Stuart George Knox; the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubarak al Sabah; and 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 Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , John Gordon Lorimer.

Extent and format
1 volume (307 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 309; 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 2-308; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File II. IRAQ (3) Vol. 1 Shaikh of Kuwait's Date Gardens on the Shatt-al Arab. (Kuwait's relations with Turkish Govt. and Turkish demand that Kuwaitis should take out Turkish Nationality Certificates)' [‎117v] (246/636), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/5, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100050944617.0x00002f> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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