"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٠‎١‎٨] (١٧٨٢/١١٧٣)

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1018
Attitude of
the Turkish
authorities
towaids
Shaikh
Mubarak.
Kuwait; but it retired, as the place was found in a state of defence,
without firing a shot. Possibly at the instigation of Yusuf, the inhab
itants of the Turkish frontier town of Zubair petitioned the Porte
for th« removal of Mubarak from Kuwait; and one of the sons of the
late Shaikh Muhammad made overtures to the British political
authorities, offering to accept British protection if his birthright was
restored to him through their influence. In August 1897 Yusuf was in
Bahrain, having perhaps been obliged by the Turks to leave 'Iraq in con
sequence of his escapade at Kuwait, and solicited the good offices of the
British Government; but he was told that no support could be given
him against the Shaikh of Kuwait. Meanwhile Shaikh Mubarak had
proposed that the question between his nephews and himself should be
referred to the arbitration of the Shaikh of Bahrain ; but, partly through
the unwillintmess of the Shaikh of Bahrain to act as arbitrator, this sutf-
o ^ &
gestion, to which the Government of India w-ere ready to agree, came to
nothing. During 1897 and 1898 it was frequently reported that an
attack on Kuwait by the Shaikh's nephews was impending; but
Mubarak, with great steadiness, professed his ability to repulse any
attempt that might be made.
The attitude of the Turks towards Shaikh Mubarak was for a con
siderable time one of neutrality. His usurpation of the Shaikhship had
been represented to the Porte by ilamdi Pasha, then Wali of Basrah for
the lirst time, as a favourable opportunity for establishing close Turkish
control over Kuwait; and, though Mubarak on his accession had pro
fessed loyalty to the Sultan and even hoisted the Turkish flag, as was
observed by the officer commanding II.M.S. "Sphinx" at a
visit to Kuwait in July 1896, his fate, as regarded Turkish recognition,
remained for long in suspense. On one side were ranged the influence
of the Shaikh's nephews and of their relations and the political considera
tions urged by the Wali of Basrah; on the other were the bribes
lavished by Shaikh Mubarak on Rajab Pasha, Mushir of the Baghdad
Army Corps, on the Shaikh-ul-Islam and Shaikh 'Abul Huda at Con
stantinople, and on others ; and these last in the end prevailed. Mean
while, however, the Wali's policy of administrative absorption was not
altogether rejected; and in February 1897, in anticipation of a resolution
passed in that year by the Board of Health at Constantinople, a Turkish
quarantine official arrived at Kuwait and took up his residence there.
a litre provisoire, without any protest, so far as is known, on the part
of the Shaikh. At length, in December 1897, Muhsin Pasha, who had
replaced Hamdi Pasha as H ali of Basrah, was informed bv telegram of