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'File 2/4 II TAXATION of SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [‎47r] (98/448)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (220 folios). It was created in 1 Jan 1931-19 Dec 1932. 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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5.
Taxation on the Basrah date gardens is at present
levied in the form of a fixed cash rate per jarib or unit
of area# The rate varies according to the classification
of trees in the area ,i.e# there is one rate (Rs.14/10
per jarib} for an area containing a preponderance of full
bearing trees, a lower rate (Rs.9/6 per jarib) for
partial-bearing trees and there are two other classifi
cations of area on which no tax at all is levied. ihe
rates are fixed and have not been altered in Basrah for
sixty years. The classification ofthe units of area
comprising the gardens under the four categories would
certainly change whenever a new survey was made on account
of the development of the trees in them. Up to 1924,
the figure of demand upon the five properties of the
Shaikh of Kuwait, prepared upon an inspection made prior to
the the British Occupation, stood at the equivalent of
Rs*57,857. An inspection and a rough reclassification
of the gardens in 1924 raised the amount ot the revenue
demand to Rs.78,300 per annum. No reclassification has
since been carried out and the amount of assessment remains
at that figure. It is important to note that the
increase in the revenue demand is not the result of any
alteration in the rate, or the basis of taxation, but is
consequent upon the natural transition of date bearing
trees from one stage of growth to another.
6 # The ’Iraqi Government have reduced the rate of
demand on date gardens by 57-J> during the current year
because of the abnormal fall in the value of dates.
Taking this into account the taxable demand on the
properties under consideration during the present
financial

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Content

The volume contains correspondence related to the date gardens owned by the Shaikh of Kuwait, Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, and the Shaikh of Mohammerah, Khaz'al al-Ka'bi, in southern Iraq. In particular, the correspondence concerns the Government of Iraq's intention to end the immunity from taxation (on the gardens) that had been granted to the former ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ, and the Shaikh of Mohammerah by the British Government in return for their military support against the Ottoman Empire in the First World War.

The correspondence is mainly between British officials discussing the possible solutions to the gardens taxation issue. Among the suggested solutions was the selling of the property. British officials report that the Shaikh of Kuwait is entirely flexible in regards to the selling of certain estates but not the ones in Al-Faw. But they also suggested that it would be rather useless for the Iraq Government to attempt to purchase the gardens as they belong to more than a hundred relatives of the Shaikh who depend on the produce for their maintenance.

The volume includes statements of an estimated value of the Shaikh of Kuwait’s estates on Shatt al-Arab. It also contains economic reports on the proposed new basis of taxation on agricultural produce in Iraq, and copies of the Government of Iraq’s new laws for the collection of consumption ( Istihlak ) tax and for the collection of land rent and water rent (ff 79-101). The correspondence also includes records of meetings held in London in regard to the question of the taxations as well as the new system of land revenue collections in Iraq.

The main correspondence is between the British Resident, 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 High Commissioner, Baghdad, and the Colonial Office, Downing Street, London.

Extent and format
1 volume (220 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 for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 222; 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 additional foliation sequences are present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. One of these additional sequences has been crossed out.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 2/4 II TAXATION of SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [‎47r] (98/448), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/136, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100057155976.0x000063> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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