'File 4/1 General Information regarding Kuwait and Hinterland' [8r] (15/474)
The record is made up of 1 file (235 folios). It was created in 1933-1948. 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.
converse on many more subjects thai the average man of his
class* He is his cousin’s only really dangerous rival.
He is certainly an ambitious man and there is little
doubt that he had strong hopes of succeeding his father
on his death in 1921 notwithstanding the fact that he is
Shaikh Ahmad’s junior by Itara ten years. V/hen Shaikh
Ahmad was chosen as Ruler, Shaikh Abdullah as-Salim
started to "assist” him, and soon got a good deal of power
into his own ha^nds, which Ahmad with his easy going nature
allowed him to do. He soon started issuing orders not as
the Ruler’s deputy, but in his own name, and it looked
very much as if he were going to become the virtual ruler
of Kuwait, and Shaikh Ahmad to remain a mere figurehead -
if that. After about two months, however, he overstepped
the mark, by tyring to introduce a sort of "civil list"
with fixed salaries for all the members of the Subah family
including Shaikh Ahmad. According to the scale which he
drafted he himself was to get'^almost as much as Shaikh
Ahmad, and far more than any of the others. This produced
a very stormy scene between ’Abdullah and the rest of the
family, at which Shaikh Jabir as-Subah, Mubarak’s brother,
who has since died, did some very plain speaking, and
Shaikh Abdullah went into retirement, and did not appear
in public again for some time.
Shaikh ’Abdullah as-Salim next came into pro
minence in Kay 1923. Ibn Saud had sent one Saiyid Hamzah
al-Ghauth to Kuwait to represent him at a Conference at
which it was hoped to come to an understanding regarding the
vexed question of the Najd Customs with a view to the re
opening of trade between Najd and Kuwait. The negotiations
proved entirely abortive and Saiyid Hamzah left Kuwait for
Riyadh dm the 19th May. He was accompanied, however, by
Shaikh Abdullah as-Salim as representative of Shaikh Ahmad,
who had written to Ibn Saud that he saw no hope of coming
About this item
- Content
This file contains a number of reports concerning different aspects of life in Kuwait, including its geography, history, flora and fauna, weather, political administration and leading personalities. Unless otherwise stated, the reports' author is Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick 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. , Kuwait).
The reports appear as follows:
- Note on Kuwait in 1933 incorporating Geography, Administration, History and Trade (folios 2-62)
- Note on Villages of Kuwait State (folios 63-76)
- Note on the Various Districts in Kuwait, Kuwait Neutral Zone, Summan Area , Hussaim and Suda (folios 77-104)
- Notes on the "Batin" Valley, and "Dibdibba" Country (folios 105-120)
- Note on the "Shaqq" Depression (folios 121-123)
- Note on "Failakah" Island (folios 124-130)
- Note on Native Craft of Kuwait (folios 131-135)
- Note on the Prevailing Winds of Kuwait (folios 136-138)
- Note on the Different Kinds of Fish found at Kuwait (folios 139-144)
- Notes on the Drinking Water (Wells, etc) available in Kuwait Town, in Case of Military or Naval Operations (folios 145-147)
- Notes on Personalities in Kuwait (folios 148-154)
- Notes on Kuwait (folios 155-159)
- A report on Kuwait Dhows (with odd notes attached at rear) written by Alan Villiers in 1939 (folios 160-183)
- Leading Personalities of Kuwait written by Major Tom Hickinbotham in 1942 (folios 187-198)
- Who's Who in Muscat written by John Baron Howes in 1942 (folios 199-209)
- Conditions in Kuwait written by Major Maurice Patrick O'Connor Tandy in 1947 (folios 226-228)
Some of the reports contain handwritten notes in Arabic, notably when giving place names and geographical information.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (235 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 237; these numbers are written in pencil and are located 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.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'File 4/1 General Information regarding Kuwait and Hinterland' [8r] (15/474), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/179, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040050673.0x000010> [accessed 5 January 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/5/179
- Title
- 'File 4/1 General Information regarding Kuwait and Hinterland'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:237v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence