File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [49r] (97/646)
The record is made up of 1 file (321 folios). It was created in 7 Jan 1925-31 Dec 1927. It was written in English 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.
DESCRIPTION OP THE ROUTE
froa
JAHRAH to SAFWlN*
The distance from Jahrah Fort to SafwSn Wells Is 55
sixles. There is no water between the two places. The track
is unmade, but clearly defined, and is practicable for motor
and other wheeled traffic, though a car might experience
some difficulty in ascending the steep and atony face of the
«ral al•i&h from the south, and also in crossing such dry
sandy -ateroourses as cannot be avoided. To assist it in
negotiating the latter, a car should carry strips of coir
matting or wire netting, to spread in front of the wheels; or,
if it were desired to open the road to motor traffic, this
could probably be done most easily by laying a foundation
of reed fascines to bear a roadway in each unavoidable water*
course, A motor car would also very probably experience tyre
trouble, owing to the very atony surface of a considerable
portion of the route.
The route leaves Jahrah in a north-westerly direction,
and at | miles reaches the Mutla 1 Pass, * gap in the belt of
low hills known as the Jal as-Zaur, between the TlutlS* hill
on the east and the Mutaili»ah hill on tne west. This pass
is not a serious obstacle to a car. The track follows the
▼alley called Jauf al-MutlS 1 till the plateau is reached at
5 miles. The route now turns north by east and runs in a
straight line through the tracts of Zaqlah, OirS* al-Marru
and y£h. 0 n this portion of the road the going is excellent.
At 18 miles the Jal al-Y&h is reached. This is a well-marked
ridge running from east to west, fifty feet high and half a
alle broad, covered srith round stones: to the south this
rluge presents a rather steep face, but on the north it
deollnes gradually to the level of the pUln. At a C alles a
celt of huaaooky ground is Grossed, after *hioh the ^oine
becomes good again.
At « ailes the route enters the 8 ttlh district, an
About this item
- Content
This file contains correspondence related to the British Government's relationship with Ibn Sa'ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
The correspondence primarily relates to raids that were made into Iraq and Kuwait by Ikhwan forces and associated acts of livestock plunder and killing. As such, the file contains two reports regarding these raids that were submitted to the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Kuwait by the Senior Staff Officer of the Akhwan Defence, a British force that had been established to counter the threat of Ikhwan raids into Iraq and monitor their movements (folios 40-47 and 84-130).
The file also contains correspondence that relates to discussions concerning the construction of a paved road (for the use of motor vehicles) between Southern Iraq and Kuwait. A copy of a concession for its construction that was granted to Sayyid Hamid bin Rajab al-Naqib by the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, is contained in Arabic (folios 67-69) and English (folios 72-75). In this context, the file contains descriptions written by 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, Major James Carmichael More, of a number of different routes between Southern Iraq and Kuwait at the time. These descriptions are as follows:
- Jafrah to Safwan (in English, folios 49-53 and Arabic, folios 59-62);
- Kuwait to Basrah via Basrah and then direct to Safwan (folios 54-57);
- Jahrah to Zubair (folios 137-146).
Towards the end of the file, the correspondence in the file discusses reports of the tensions between the Ikhwan and Ibn Sa'ud and the beginning of the Ikhwan revolt.
As well as correspondence between British officials, correspondence between 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. More and the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (in Arabic with English translations) appears throughout the file.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (321 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
An index of topics discussed is contained at the rear of the file (on folios 322-323); the folios used in this index relate to an earlier incomplete foliation system that is in uncircled pencil in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 323; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-323; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [49r] (97/646), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035873421.0x000062> [accessed 11 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/5/38
- Title
- File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:4v, 5v:11v, 12v:30v, 31v:32v, 35r:36v, 37v:62v, 63v:65v, 66v:131v, 132v:168v, 169v, 171r:196v, 197v:204v, 205v:207v, 208v:214v, 215v, 216v:224v, 225v:240v, 241v:248v, 249v:250v, 251v:284v, 285v:291v, 292v:302v, 303v:310v, 311v:323v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
![File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎49r] (97/646) File 10/12 Tribal and desert information: Ikhwan raids; Motor Transport Concession, Kuwait/Basra; Ikhwan rebellion, 1927 [‎49r] (97/646)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x0003c1/IOR_R_15_5_38_0097.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)