File 4535/1928 Pt 8 ‘ – PERSIAN GULF – QUESTION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTECTORATES OVER KOWEIT, BAHREIN, MUSCAT, TRUCIAL COAST.’ [‎81r] (155/194)

f ''r ' ^ nc J_P le ^ el1 ^ y se loi the wireless buildings erected on those lands, nesp. from h.c., Iraq, to
to the use of the buildings in question by the Sheikh of Koweit as a e 2 1922 -
quarantine station for the town. The High Commissioner for Iraq reported
in August 19. that tins decision had been communicated to and accepted
W I She!bh- There have been no further echoes of this question since
that date. It should be noted, however, that while the lease has been
terminated, the Agreement does not appear to have been abrogated, and
that the reciprocal pledges exchanged on its conclusion in 1907 presumably
therefore, remain binding in so far as they are not affected by other
subsequent instruments.
Oil in Koweit.
29. In concluding the review of the more important post-war internal
developments in Koweit, reference may conveniently be made to the
question of oil. J he Sheikh had agreed in 1913 (see para. 10 above) not
to grant an oil concession without the approval of His Majesty’s Government.
eie, as m Bahrein, the question of obtaining a concession was revived by
the Anglo-1 ersian Oil Company in 1921, and His Majesty’s Government
who were anxious to facilitate the establishment by the Company of control
over the oil resources of the north Arabian coast, agreed to the institution of
negotiations which were conducted through 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 the
rersian Gull. Lengthy negotiations have, however, so far proved unfruitful.
( the general question of oil in the Gulf is dealt with in the Board of Trade
.Memorandum on page jj^.)
External Questions, 1919-28.
(1) Relations with Ibn Saud.
(a) Koweit-Nejd-Iraq Boundary Question.
omi^i i^VoS. t0 i noll " r p il, hication of the Anglo-Turkish Convention of
. th 'Inly 191o, the boundaries of Koweit had, as explained above been left
in suspense on the outbreak of the War. Clause 6 of the Treaty Concluded
with Ibn baud on the 20th December 1915, provided that the limits of
Koweit territory should thereafter be determined. The question remained
in a Hind state until the end of the War.
Major More’s Memo.
P. 2417/28.
iv ^ J—* ^Kh on Sheikh Salim proposing to build a fort at
Dan hat Balbul, just north of Jabal Manila, Ibn Saud took exception, claimino-
that the site in question lay within his territory. No overt act followed but
relations on this subject became increasingly strained, customs difficulties—
the Sheikh, having placed an embargo on exports to Ibn Saud’s ports*- * Letter from ibn Saud to
tui ther aggravating the situation. Matters culminated in the surnrise and SheikhSal "n, Juno 21 . 1920 ,
defeat by Akhwan under Faisal-aJ-Dawish of the Koweit tribesmen, under P - 6924/2a
Sheikh Dhaij who had been sent by Sheikh Salim to contest Akhwan
occupancy of Jariyah, at Hamdeh, near Janyah, on the 18th April 1920, from p. 6317/20
which point the friction between the Sheikh of Koweit and Ibn Saud became
acute. 1 he situation was briefly,f that the Sheikh claimed on his southern + c P . tel. from c.c.,
frontier the boundaries represented by the green line in the map attached to 1920 for
• lalt Anglo-l urkish Convention, which represented the area administered by p - 6281 / 2 a
/(Via 11 ’ Sheikh Mubarak, over the whole of which, however, by August
LLO he had no longer effective control. Ibn Saud, on the other hand,
claimed the southern portion of the area in question by virtue of the fact
that the tribes ordinarily resident therein had since 1914 or thereabouts
been under his direct control, and not under that of Sheikh Salim or his
predecessor, Sheikh Jabir.
32. During the summer of 1920, His Majesty’s Government, with a view
to determining the dispute, on which they had been approached by both
paities + , authorised Sir Percy Cox, then High Commissioner in Iraq, to
discuss the matter with Ibn Saud and the Sheikh of Koweit. Ibn Saud
formally claimedg the whole country up to the walls of Koweit, “as in the
nne of Colonel felly, and maintained that he had no cognisance of the
boundaries of Koweit agreed between us and the Turks in 1913, and that
such an agreement could not in any case be operative against him, especially
as lie had himself recovered the El Hasa province from Turkey before the
X Tel. from R.A., Koweit,
to H.C., Iraq, 76C.. Aug. 15
1920 (K.), P. 6924/20; tel.
from C.C., Baghdad, Aug. 19
1920. to S. of S. for I., &c.,
P. 6281/20.
§ Tel. from P.A., Bahrein,
to Pol. Res., Bushire, 305 K,
Sept. 17 1920, P. 7849/20;
tel. from H.C., Iraq, to
S. of S. for I., Oct. I 1 1920.
B/101, P. 6281/20.
P. 7555/20.