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'File 2/4 II TAXATION of SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [‎70r] (144/448)

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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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CONFIDENTIAL.
<&
Note on a conversation which the Hon’ble the Political
Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. had with the Shaikh of Kuwait
on 25th October 1931 regarding the new f Iraq
K
"Istihtah" tax, with special reference to the effect
Krwwt-^.
such tax wilJL have on the Kuwait properties on the Shatt
al-Arab, if it were enforced.
In the course of a general conversation
on this subject and in reply to several questions put by
the Bon'ble 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. , the Shaikh made the
following points.
Under the old system, a garden owner had
to pay his tax according to the number of w jaribs w he
owned, and not according to the number or size of his
date trees. This shortly was the system in force in
Turkish times in Basrah .
In the Muntafik aid some other Liwas, the
system was different, and a tax was levied on each date
tree, a garden owner possessed and to encourage, the owner
to cultivate the ground under the trees, which improved
the country side and incidentally the palm-tree tteelf, a
reduction was made in the rate of tax taken per tl*e tree
in accordance as the garden was "ainar n (cultivated) or
"kharab" (uncultivated).
In Basrah therefore if a man had a large
garden and a small area under dates he stood to lose as
compared to the man who had a small or even similar sized
garden which was all under dates.
It was the discontent caused by the above
system which probably brought the new proposed tax into
Ihe sphere of practical politics.
Actually there was method in the Turks
madness jot behind the idea was the desire to encourage
landlords who were careless garden owners like the

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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.' [‎70r] (144/448), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/136, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100057155976.0x000091> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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