Coll 30/23 'Persian Gulf. Koweit: Status. Position vis a vis Iraq and Ibn Saud. Boundaries of Koweit' [‎301v] (603/695)

2
Administration. —Kuwait was founded about
the beginning of the eighteenth century by some
settlers of the ' Utub, a sect of the 'Anizah, over
whom the Sul ah family enjoyed predominance.
It is unnecessary to consider its early history.
Suffice it to say that in May 1896 Shaikh Muba
rak became Ruler of Kuwait on the assassination
of his brother. It was he who raised Kuwait from
a place of little importance to a flourishing princi
pality. Under his strong rule it became a most
attractive place to live in to the Arab mind, and the
population of the town nearly doubled itself. It
wmuld be difficult to speak too highly in praise of
his devotion to the British Government. Shaikh
Mubarak died* * * § in November 1915, and was} suc
ceeded by his eldest son, Shaikh Jabir, a debonair
and pleasant man, whose mildness and affability
made him a popular Ruler. Shaikh Salim,
another son of Shaikh Mubarak's, succeeded on
his brother s deatht in February 1917. He was
a very different type of man from his easy-going
brother, being a stern Muhammadan and a very
obstinate man. He had spent nearly all his life
in the desert before he came to the throne, and
hated all modern inventions. He was almost
entirely to blame for bis quarrel with Ibn Sa ud
and all the sorrow that it brought to Kuwait,
and in short he did nearly as much harm to the
State, as his father had done good. He diedj
suddenly on the 23rd February 1921 to the
undisguised joy of nearly all his subjects.
It hal always been the custom for Shaikhs of
Kuwait to rule personally and autocratically, and
to avoid all delegation of authority. In the town
it was their usage to give audience for an hour or
two each morning in the market-place, and decide
cases by direct judgement. On the death of
Shaikh Salim, however, the townspeople, tired of
the unncessary war with Ibn Sa'ud which he had
led them into against their will, determined that
in future they would have some say in the affairs
of the State, and informed the members of the
Subah family that they would only §accept as
their Ruler one who would accept a council of
advisers.
Shaikh Ahmad,^ eldest son of the late Shaikh
Jabir, was chosen as Ruler, and on his return from
Najd an Agreement was drawn up between him
and the people of Kuw r ait to the effect that all
criminal cases would be decided in accordance
with the Shar 1 or Religious Law; that in case of
appeal, the written sta'ements of both parties and
the Qadhi’s judgement would be submitted to
the ’Ulama, whose decision would be final; that
if both parties in a dispute agreed beforehand for
a third party to arbitrate between them, his deci
sion should hold; that the Ruler would seek
advice in all masters—external as well as internal
—which affected the town ; and that if any one
had any suggestion to make for the benefit of the
town or people, he would lay it before the Ruler,
who would consult his people, and adopt it if
they so advised. A council of twelve members
was duly elected—six from the eastern half of the
* S. E., July 1916, Nog. 1 38, Serial Nog. 1 and 6.
t S. E., August 1917, Nos. 44-62, Pro. Nog. 46-47.
+ S. E., October 1921, Nos. 311-327, Pro. No. 311.
§ Ibid, Pro. No. 314.
|| Ibid, Pro. Nc. M7.
town, and six from the western—under the presi
dency of one of the leading merchants, H^mad
bin "’Abdullah as-Saqar. Since the early days of
its election, however, this Council has never met,
and in practice Shaikh Ahmad rules in much the
same manner as his predecessors.
He is a mild and pleasant man of much the same
type as his father. His bluff, jovial manners make
him an eminently suitable person ter his position
in so far as the ceremonial part of his duties are
c ncerned. Unfortunately, however, he has no
strength of character, and is a lamentably weak
Ruler. He is a right-minded man, and would
normally like to do the light thing, but is easily
swayed by his advisers — who are not always of
the most desirable type. Like many weak men,
he can at times be very obstinate. Although
greatly desiring popularity, he is not very
popular amongst his subjects, amongst whom he
has the reputation of being mean. He is a strict
Muslim, and is zealous in the enforcement of the
prohibition against strong liquor, and also in the
suppression of prostitution. He himself is a non-
smoker. He is unquestionably well disposed
towards the British, and is very fond of entertain
ing in British style. He has a suite of rooms
furnished like a European house, and is fond of
cinematog aphs, cameras, cars, and other modern
inventions. He frequently drives his own car.
Shaikh Hamad al-Mularak, the Shaikh's uncle,
officiates for him whenever he leaves Kuwait..
He is nine yeirs younger than his nephew, being
thirty three years of age. His mother belonged
to the Ajman trib ■. He is a quiet, shy man, with
no great intelligence, and no strength of
character.
Shaikh Abdullah as-Salim was born in 1895.
He is by far the strongest in character and most
intelligent member of the Subah family. He is
a well read man and can converse on many more
subjects than the average man of his class. He
is his cousin's only really dangerous rival. He is
certainly an ambitious man, and there is little
doubt that he had strong h >pes of succeeding his
father on his death in 1921, notwithstanding the
fact that he is Shaikh Ahmad's junior by ten
years. When Shaikh Ahmad was chosen as
Ruler, Shaikh AbdulLh as-Salim started te
w assist" him, and soon got a good deal of power
into his own hands, which Ahmad with his easv
going nature allowed him to do. He soon started
issuing orders not as the Ruler's deputy, but in
his own name, and it looked very much as if he
were going to become the virtual ruler of Kuwait,
and Shaikh Ahmad to remain a mere figurehead
if that. After about two months, however, he
overstepped the mark, by trying to introduce a
sort of “ civil list", with fixed salaries for all
the members of the Subah family, including
Shaikh Ahmad. According to the scale which he
drafted he himself was to get almost as much as
Shaikh Ahmad, and far more than any of the
others. This produced a very stormy scene
between Abdullah and the rest of the family, at
which Shaikh Jabir as-Subah, Mubarak's brother,
who has since died, did some very plain speaking,
and Shaikh Abdullah went into retirement, and
did not appear in public again for some time.