File 4006/1919 Pt 1 ‘Arabia:- Visit of the sons of the Sheikh of Koweit + Amir of Nejd to England.’ [‎330r] (663/863)

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NOTE ON KUWAIT.
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, The town and port of Kuwait was founded on the Arabian shore of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. about 250 years ago by the ancestor of the present ruling Shaikh,
who, like Ibn Sand, traces his lineage to the tribe of Anaza, the noblest of all
the Badawin tribes of Arabia. The throne of Kuwait 4as remained in the Ibn
Subah family, as the dynasty is styled, without a break from the date of its foundation
up to the present time.
The most famous of all the Shaikhs of Kuwait was Mubarak Ibn bubah, who
died in 1915 and was among the greatest men that Arabia has produced during the
last two centuries. The seaport of Kuwait achieved considerable notoriety in
connection with the projected Berlin-Baghdad railway, of wdiich it was designed to
be the terminus, and it required all the subtlety and astuteness of a ruler, who has
been excelled by few Orientals in the possession of those qualities, to maintain ids
independehce amid the intrigues which his position provoked ; but he pinned his
faith unswervingly on His Majesty’s Government and largely helped by the treaty
relations with us, into which lie entered when Lord Curzon was Viceroy of India, he
succeeded in steering clear of international complications until the outbreak of war
between Britain and Turkey enabled him boldly to espouse the cause which he had
always favoured.
The .death of Mubarak at an early stage of the war was a heavy loss to Great
Britain ; he was succeeded by his son Jabir, who did not however long survive his
accession to power, and w r as followed by his brother Salim, the present ruler.
.Shaikh Salim was called upon soon after his accession to the throne to co-operate
with the British authorities in the strict enforcement of a blockade of enemy tenitoiy ,
his port was the most considerable commercial centre on the Arabian coast of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and at the same time the one most accessible to the enemy ; and,
though from time to time contretemps occurred, it may be recorded to Salims credit
that some success was achieved in the desired direction as the result of his
acouiescence in the conduct of the blockade operations by British othceis v*oiking
in co-operation with the local staff. . , , ,. ,
From time to time Shaikh Salim and his predecessors have received substantial
assistance from His Majesty’s Government, notably in connection with the improvement
of the water supply of Kuwait—a very necessary measure in view ol tie gre^
commercial importance of the place, and of the fact that b is surrounded on all
sides either by the sea or by waterless desert. The population of the town may be
some 40,000, all of whom are directly concerned either with commerce the bulk o .
the Kuwait trade being with Mesopotamia and India—or with shipbuilding and other
On the invitation of His Majesty’s Government Shaikh Salim has sent a deleption
headed by his nephew, Ahmad ibn Jabir, the son of Jabir and grandson of Mubarak,
to offer his congratulation on the victory of His Majesty’s forces over the enemy.
The relations of the ruler of Kuwait with his nearest neighbour, Ibn baud 01
Central Arabia, are unfortunately not as happy as they might be m view of tie
intimacy of tk two families which marked the reign of Mubarak; l ut then
differences seem to be rather of a personal and perhaps religious ratlier than of a
political and permanent character, for Salim-tmlike his easy-going father Mubarak-
s as staunch a champion of the orthodox faith as Ibn Sand is of the W <»hh.tb.
heresv On the other hand the ruler of Kuwait is on ,he best of terms with he
King'of the Hejaz, whom Ahmad Ibn Jabir, the head of the present mission, visited
labt K’lnisinbsGnsl'fdiHiave recently been discovered in the neighbourhood of the
town but have ve°t to be developed. Its prosperity, however, depends mainly on the
thriving trade which it carries on between the interior of Arabia and Basra and India.
■\t present it is by far the most important avenue of such trade; whicn consists
chiefly of piece goods, sugar, coffee rice and tea. An American mission provides t i
inhabitants with education and medical requirements, but since the accession 01 ba im
there has also been a. large increase in the number of Muhammadan (Quranic)
schools.
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