Articles From Our Experts

A small, unprepossessing file from the India Office Records contains some of the earliest surviving aerial photographs of Qatar, captured as the country was about to enter a new chapter in its history.

Kuwait has maintained a thriving traditional music culture; in particular bahri, or sea music, and ṣawt have remained at the heart of the music scene.

A rejected nationalist delegation became the spark that set Egypt ablaze in revolution.

An overview of the key moments from the history of interaction between the British and Qatar, as illustrated through the India Office Records.

The Anglo-Qatar Treaty of 1916 strengthened existing ties between the two parties. What were the terms of the treaty, and what were the circumstances that led to it?

An overview of the key moments from the history of interaction between the British and Kuwait, as illustrated through the India Office Records.

In the late 1940s an American Mission Hospital was in development in Doha. The response of British officials seems to have been motivated more by the demands of the nascent oil industry and concerns over loss of influence than intrinsic concern for the health of the people of Qatar.

Who were the founders of traditional ṣawt music and why did their musical journey start in Kuwait?

Sir Lewis Pelly is a key figure in the history of the Gulf who, in his role as Political Resident, was Britain’s senior official in the region from 1862 to 1873. He holds particular importance for Qatar due to his recognition of its independent sovereignty in 1868.

Despite inauspicious beginnings, Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ’s official visit to England in 1919 proved a success.

There is still so much we do not know about the history of independent Arab recording companies in the ‘shellac era’ (1897-1960s). A handful of record sleeves, that would have once been thrown away, tell us about how some of them were connected.

The movement for political reform in Kuwait in 1938 signified change in the region and highlights the country’s – and Britain’s – response to the ideas and forces that delivered it.

The marriage of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi and Fawziyyah Fu’ad in 1939 sparked excitement and interest well beyond their two countries. British records shed light on the commemoration and significance of this ultimately ill-fated union.