'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎150v] (306/540)

f
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. that the Shaikh's claims cannot be sustained so far south as
lamiyah Bay. I do not know precisely on
Foreign office to 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. , dated 16th March , evidence or absence of evidence that
1911, received under Foreign Department endorse- ... . 1 r ^ t rpali^P that it maV
nient No. 11S9 -E.A. dated 21st June 1911 (encio- decision is based, but I realise tnat it may
■nre 10), no t be possible at this stage to consider the
inclusion of that feature.
C The next point after Anta'a mentioned by Captain Shakespear is AI
Safah. In a country where water is a precious commodity, to be found only at
certain spots, often many miles distant from each other, the inclusion of such
wells within the boundaries of a principality is of the greatest importance, and
as these wells appear, from Captain Shakespear s report, to be used exclusively
by the tribes under Shaikh Mubarak's control and to have at no time been touched
by Turkish influence, there seems every ground to include Safah within the prin-
cipality.
6. We next come to Hafar. The strategic importance to the Shaikh of
Kuwait of this point will be apparent from a glance at the map. It is a half-way
house to Buraidah, Riyadh and Hail, and has a constant supply of water. It is
a well known outpost, and its possession by Shaikh Mubarak aid the tribes under
his control never seems to have been seriously questioned. During the troubles
that took place in 1901, he used the place as a rallying pointforhisforce 3 , and
claimed it as in his territory, and was greatly incensed with Bin Rashid, who had
Indent to Foreign, No. .4, 4.M Jonuar, ^^^^gJaTkh . The
latter laid a formal complaint before the Resident of the action of Bin Rashid ii
Telegram, Resident to Foreign, dated 2nd Nov- a letter dated 22nd October i^l,^
ember 1901: - extract from which is quoted in the margin.
"Bin Rasbid is at Hafar, wbich is distant 3 The statement regarding Hafar was
repeated incidentally in a communication
grazing; we have consequently suffered great loss. from the Shaikh tO the KeSlCient CiateCt
We, as directed by you, are quite in our own , iVrwPmhpr inOT
country and are under the shadow of your protec- 1 7^0 iNOVemDer 19 0 I*
tion. It is therefore necessary that Bin Rashid
should be made to quit these places, which are in
our boundaries.
y. From Hafar the boundary line assigned to the Kuwait district alike by
Mr. Lorimer and Captain Shakespear is the Batin, a broad low depression in the
See Mr. Lorimei '9 Gazetteer, Volume u, page desert, in which water can generally be
281. found at no great depth, and which contains
excellent grazing. Beyond it stretches desert, almost uninhabited and quite
unfertile. The Batin is a well known and well marked boundary and a tract of
great value to Bedouins. There seems no reason to think that it has been
inhabited, except spasmodically, by tribes other than those under the influence
of the Shaikh of Kuwait.
8. It may be parenthetically remarked here that whereas Mr. Lorimer had
to rely upon the word'of the Shaikh for his description of the boundary to the
westward, it has now been personally examined by Major Knox and Captain
Shakespear, with the results mentioned above, which generally speaking tend to
confirm the Shaikh's claims,
9. The position of the northern boundary alone has been subjected in the
past to close examination. Captain Shakespear makes the well-marked Ar
Ratq Ridge the north-western corner of the principality ; the point seems a
suitable one for the purpose and will, I trust, be adopted. Thence it has been
held to run through Jabal Sanam, another prominent point, to the sea immediately
south of Umm Kasr,
10. The Shaikh's claims to Safwan are, I think a good deal stronger than
has generally been thought, and might have been supported with good reason,
but it seems probable that as regards this point we are committed vts d vis the
Porte to recognise it as beyond the limits of Kuwait; the Shaikh's influence,
however, is without doubt unquestioned up to the walls of the fort at Safwan and
this fact should receive recognition when the boundary is fixed. Mr. J. C. Gaskin
in his repoit of tth September 1897 gives Safwan as the northern boundary
of the principality and it has altvays been a camping ground of his tribes. His