‘Koweit [Kuwait]. A report compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department’ [‎9] (23/66)

e/II 1 ? The new Amir of Ne i d ' Abdul Az ''z ibn Rashid, lost no time
m in commencing operations against Mubarak, ostensibly in the
/'f 1 7 interests of the dispossessed son of the late Sheikh of Koweit
ililies^ chiefly, no doubt, with a view to his own aggrandisement.
reigoii^, In January 189S, he advanced to within three marches of
tomlejj Koweit, but disturbances among Bedouin tribes in his rear
deatliiEiij. caused him to retire hastily to Nejd. From that time to this
Miblfe however, there appears to have existed a standing quarrel, and
a chronic state of war between Mubarak and Ibn Rashid ; it may
lately [duj useful, therefore, to follow the course of events, as closely as
: ty ies* k 0 - th ' )U g h the labour of doing so is considerable, and the
srnalitl, of ascertaining the truth is extreme. The accounts of
Shatt-eHiii . ghts known to have taken place are usually in direct contradic-
dofi^fg tlon '. P oth factions claiming an overwhelming victory, and
ice will Sig ascribing a correspondingly crushing defeat to their adversaries.
s coral 1 • ^obably the interval between Ibn Rashid's retirement to
icorattel hls 0 ^ n ? ountr y« his next advance against Koweit, was
israliii m consolidating his power in his own dominions. In
Mhr f n Utumn of l900 ' he once more advanced against Koweit,
inotver • St , turned hlS attack a gainst the Muntafik tribe (near
red Coheir and north of Basrah), old allies of Mubarak's. In a fight
which took place near Zobeir, in October, he w^as at first partially
ionoftkiJ successful, but in a counter-attack he was severely enough
latBasi handled to make him apply for Turkish support and reinforce-
I iokfpi, i men t as being a vassal of the Porte.
isiraWemis -ru -r 1 • 1 1 • • ,
idanfferd, , . e 1 urklsh authorities are believed to have ordered him to
lair St from miHt ary operations; but Mubarak, soon after, heard
oos of in that 116 Was advancing on Koweit with a force estimated at 20,000
esaow! ^ ^ n, of vv h om » however, some 1,000 men only had modern
That same month, October 1900, Abdul Aziz Lin Abdul
3faming Rahman bin Feysul, a descendant of the old reigning family of
radete Nejd, is said to have engaged Ibn Rashid, presumably after the
s aodW Matter had withdrawn into the interior from his operations against
: tkeinilfe the Muntafik tribe, which have iust been mentioned,
he Glials 1
Sttr Abdul Aziz bin Feysul called upon Mubarak for his support
penM^ and co-operation, a request which Mubarak, probably nothing
etiiisloth, complied with, by despatching a force of 10,000 men,
ptedtjefe believed to have been mostly armed with Martinis, under two of
JJiff his sons ' of which he took command himself a little later. In
'orkislcis' the early part of 1901, he seems to have had a series of
isiiGorsiiJ successes, driving the forces of Ibn Rashid west and south-west
un | : ^' by the middle of February, he occupied the capital, Hayil.
:> is said that the Arab forces of Ibn Rashid were badly armed
an all®* and could make no effective stand against the better armed men
fiwet" of Koweit, and their rifle fire.