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'File 53/83 I (D 99) Kuwait-Iraq Smuggling' [208r] (432/716)
The record is made up of 1 volume (355 folios). It was created in 11 Jan 1933-29 May 1934. It was written in English. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
to send, small parties of men down to Kuwait to take delivery
of tlie goods (always in small (Quantities) and convey ttiem
to selected dumping places in the ^raq southern desert,
such as Bedouin camps etc» where the contraband was general
ly made up into bigger parcels or bags for removal up to
'Iraq,
He, the Shaikh, wanted it to be clearly under—
stood that he disapproved of such methods, and had as far
as he was concerned, forbidden caravans carrying whole
bags or cases to leave his Town* He could not stop small
quantities being bought of articles of food and clothing•
He had also made it a practice to charge full duty on
"option" cargoes owned by 'Iraqis, even if such were not
landed and went on to Basra. This was his contribution
towards stopping ♦Iraq merchants using Kuwait as a port
for their back-door trade• Why, however, did not the ^raq
Government do something to help themselves by forbidding
her nationals to import sugar under this "option" cargo
system? Why should the onus of being "hasty" be thrown
on him, the Shaikh*
The commonest form of smuggling, if smuggling
it could be called, was by means of the Bedouin and river
tribes ofIraq. This was quite unconnected with merchants
in 'Iraq. These gentry were n\t quick to learn of the
profits to be me.de, due to the 'Iraq Government's high
tariffs. They came down to Kuwait to sell ghi, skins, wool
etc., and under the guise of innocent shopping, took away
goods, much of which no doubt eventually got to 'Iraq. It
was the same method employed by the tribes of Nejd during
the last10 years. The 'Iraq tribes had themselves learnt
the game.
9. To him, the Shaikh, and to the shopkeepers of
Kuwait it was all good trade, and the latter merely sold
their goods to the Bedouin and did not naturally care
About this item
- Content
This file contains correspondence regarding alleged smuggling activities from Kuwait into Iraq. Primarily, the file contains internal correspondence between British officials but it also includes correspondence between British officials (primarily Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, the British 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. in Kuwait) and Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, the ruler of Kuwait as well as correspondence between British officials and the Government of Iraq.
The majority of the correspondence discusses two incidents, in April and October 1933 respectively, in which Iraqi Customs Authorities attacked Kuwaiti sailing vessels, both of the incidents resulted in the death and injury of Kuwaiti subjects.
The file contains the following maps:
- Rough sketch of Kuwait-Iraq maritime frontier to illustrate the October 1933 incident (f 121)
- Two rough sketch maps showing Iraq's territorial water boundary (f 148 + f 149)
- Two rough sketch maps showing the official frontier lines of Kuwait (f 312 + f 320A)
- Copy of a tracing of Warba Island and its vicinity made by HMS Sphynx in 1903 (f 321).
The file contains a detailed note entitled 'On the contraband problem of Iraq with her neighbours, and in particular how it affects Kuwait' (ff 45-55) and a report on the supply of drinking water in Kuwait (ff 140-148) both of which were written by Dickson, 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. in Kuwait.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (355 folios)
- Arrangement
File is arranged in chronological order, from earliest at beginning of the file to most recent at end.
Serial numbers in red crayon refer to entries in the notes at the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Condition: A bound correspondence volume.
Foliation: The file's foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. The foliation sequence, which should be used for referencing, begins with the first item of correspondence, on number 1, and ends on the last folio with text, on number 349.
The file contains the following foliation errors: f 147 is followed by f 147A; f 320 is followed by f 320A and the following omissions: ff 252-256. Note: f 148 and f 149 are stored in an envelope which is attached to f 147A; f 320A and f 321 are stored in an envelope which is attached to f 320.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/531
- Title
- 'File 53/83 I (D 99) Kuwait-Iraq Smuggling'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:iv-v, 1r:120v, 122r:147v, 147ar:147av, 150r:248r, 250v, 248v:250r, 251r:251v, 257r:270v, 273r, 271r:272v, 273v:311v, 313r:320v, 322r:349v, v-r:viii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence