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'File 53/7 VI (D 9) Koweit [Kuwait] affairs - Arab Tribes, 1907-1911' [7v] (18/676)
The record is made up of 1 file (335 folios). It was created in 3 Jan 1907-16 Mar 1911. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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.
31
Major Ramsay to Sir N, 0' Conor.
Bagdad ,
Nos. 486-45. 2Sth May 1906.
Sir,
In oontinuation of my despatch Nos. 461—42, dated 21st May 1906, report
ing an attempt by Arabs to board the British steamer Mejidieh on 12th
May, some miles above the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates, I have the
honour to report the following facts for Your Excellency's information.
2. On 26th May I received information from the manager of the Euphrates
and Tigris Steam Navigation Company that the Turkish steamers Burhania
and Mosul which had left Bagdad on the 20th and 23rd May respectively had
been fired at, and that in the case of the Mosul o passengers had been killed.
I went to see Mejid
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
who is at present in charge of both the Bagdad and
the Basra Vilayets I told him what I had heard and also mentioned that I
had heard that on llth May some bales of goods had been stolen from the
Turkish steamer Burhania. Before I went to see the Wiili I had been told
that he had received a complaint from the he-id of the Saniya Department at
Bagdad about the attacks on the steamers and that the officials of the Saniya
Department at Amara considered that the property of the Department at Amara
was in danger of being injured by the Arabs. However Mejid
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
assured me
that I was his first informant and promised that he would make inquiries from
Basra. I suggested that he might get reply that the officials at Basra were
without information and asked him to apply for information to the local
officials and also to the officials of the Saniya Department. He promised to do
so, and I said that until I heard from him that the river was safe, I should
delay the departure of the British steamer from Basra. I was then preparing
to take my leave when the Vali asked me to wait a minute as he had sent over
to the Saniya Department's Office for information. Shortly after an official
came in with a report to say that the steamers of the Saniya had, in fact, been
attacked. On the morning o! the 27th I heard that some local arrangements
had been made at Basra for the safety of the British Mail Steamer, and that
she had started on the 26th. T have written to the Yali to-day recapitulating
the conversation, and I have informed him that I shall presume that there is no
reason to delay the departure of the British steamer from Bagdad unless I hear
from him to the contrary.
3. The condition of affairs in this Vilayet is far from satisfactory. There
is no security of life or property in the town of Bagdad, where murders and
robberies are of daily occurrence. Mr, Crow's reports will have informed Your
Excellency of the conditions prevailing at Suk-ul-Shiyukh and I have just
received information from the Vice-Consul at Karballa that there has been
fighting between the Arab tribes at Najaf for four days, in the course of
which the big Bazaar there has been plundered and a number of persons
killed.
4. Majid
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
appears to me to thoroughly deserve the character which
Your Excellency gave him in your very Contidential letter of 9th November
1905. He appears to know nothing, or if he does know, he makes a point of
hiding his knowledge For example, when he recently received instructions
from Constantinople to release the safety matches belonging to Messrs. Blockey
Cree and Co., he denied having received the telegram; a few minutes later my
dragoman saw it in his office. On the present occasion I have no doubt that he
had received reports of the attacks on the steamers before he saw me.
6 J have not heard what has brought about a fresh crisis with the Arabs
inhabiting the banks of the Tigris, but I will try to find out for Your Excel
lency's information. In the meantime I am informing Mr. Consul Crow that
About this item
- Content
This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding political affairs in Kuwait and its vicinity. The correspondence discusses developments in the conflict between Abdul Aziz ibn Abdulrahman ibn Faisal Al Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd (Ibn Saud)] and the ruler of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar, Mut-ab Ibn Abdul Aziz [Mit‘ab bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz]. The murder of Mut-ab by his uncle Sultan is reported in the file on folio 54 and a detailed account of the killing is contained on folio 103. The subsequent murder of Sultan is also reported in the file on folios 230-232.
Throughout the file, the correspondence discusses the rise in power of Ibn Saud (and the relative decline of the Rashidi tribal dynasty) and Ibn Saud's desire - often expressed through Shaikh Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ, the ruler of Kuwait - to form a closer relationship with the British Government.
On folios 145-191, the file contains a detailed report written by 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, Stuart George Knox concerning a trip he made to the village of Anta'a in February 1908.
The file contains an English translation of a pamphlet produced by Suleiman Bassam, a prominent merchant in Mecca said to be a strong supporter of the Rashidis and an opponent of Ibn Saud. The pamphlet contains a history of the Rashidi tribal dynasty and information about the Emirate of Jabal Shammar.
The file also contains copies of correspondence sent between the Ottoman Governor (Vali) of Basrah and Shaikh Mubārak as well as a report written by William Henry Irvine Shakespear, Knox's successor as 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, after he had met Ibn Saud in Kuwait in February 1910.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (335 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order, from earliest at beginning of the file to most recent at end.
An index of the topics discussed in the file is contained on folio 2. The numbers listed in this index relate to the foliation sequence that uses a mechanical stamp (and starts on folio 3).
- Physical characteristics
Condition: Previously a bound correspondence volume, the file's sheets have been unbound and are now loose.
Foliation: The volume has been foliated from the first page of text in the volume until to the inside back cover using circled pencil numbers in the top right-corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . There is an earlier, possibly original, foliation sequence that runs through the volume, which uses a mechanical stamp. There is also an original pagination system which runs through the volume, using blue or red pencil numbers in the top-right corner of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages, and the top-left corner of verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. pages.
- Written in
- English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'File 53/7 VI (D 9) Koweit [Kuwait] affairs - Arab Tribes, 1907-1911' [7v] (18/676), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/479, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023576876.0x000013> [accessed 5 April 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/479
- Title
- 'File 53/7 VI (D 9) Koweit [Kuwait] affairs - Arab Tribes, 1907-1911'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 1r:2v, 2ar:2av, 3r:7v, 9r:63v, 63ar:63av, 64r:76v, 76ar:76av, 77r:301v, 304r:304v, 310r:315v, 317r:333v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence