'File 4/20 II Kuwait Situation: Constitution and Council' [3r] (5/400)
The record is made up of 1 file (198 folios). It was created in 22 Dec 1938-18 Apr 1949. 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.
n
- 2 -
K.
p.^ Inepite of this, hardly haa it Decome generally
known that dissolution was his intention, and tne Council’s
determination to make a stand evident, then he appealed to
me for the help of His ; ajesty's Goveriujent.
This he repeated as the situation became more tense;
on the second occasion, at an interview punctuated by rifle
shois/and* 1 thenar cries of his followers,
x aid ay best, without saying it in so many '’ords,
to make him see that what he was asking for was moral support.
He wanted our help, for the look of the thins, which alone
would be enough to turn the day in his favour, and something
like this effect he could obtain by other means.
7> me Council on the other hand, fortunately for the
Sheikh, made an elementary military mistake. They determined
to be quite safe against all comers, and so withdrew their
posts, and shut themselves up in the Citadel, they, their
police, and the boys of the Y outh League; onus losing
control of the town and their mobility; although they were
impregnable, as far as the Sheikh was concerned.
{
/
8
Meanwhile as, about midday, tension grew and
the division between the opposing camps became more distinct
pY and dangerous, Hbeikh nbduila oalim and some others, encourag
ed by me, were busy with an arbitration plan. Envoys from
both sides discussed this scheme alternately at the two
headquarters, and thus kept negotiation alive.
9
‘A'i-ien came t&e turning point. It was due to a
simple thing - the sale of pitted tomatoes. The Council
in their seal for reforms had ten days previously threatened
with punishment the semi-nomad gardeners of the uasour -
the fortified villages along the Coast, south of Kuwait,
should they continue to conceal among their baskets of
tomatoes, pitted, unripe or bad ones. The people of the
About this item
- Content
This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding political developments in Kuwait. Specifically it relates to the suppression of an oppositionist reform movement (the majlis movement) that had successfully pressured the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, to establish an elected administrative council in the country The correspondence in the file covers the period immediately after this council was dissolved onwards and discusses the various repressive measures subsequently taken, including the imprisonment and exile of several of its members.
The correspondence is primarily between the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Kuwait and the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in Bushire, but the file also contains a limited amount of correspondence with Shaikh Ahmad (in Arabic accompanied by English translations).
In addition to correspondence, the file contains the following:
- a copy of the Organic Law of Trans-Jordan (folios 31-49).
- a draft constitution of Kuwait (folios 52-59).
- an article regarding the constitution of Kuwait published in al-Alam al-Arabi in 1939 (folio 61).
- a list of Kuwaiti youths that were alleged by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Kuwait to be 'anti-Shaikh and anti-British' (folios 122-123).
- a petition (in Arabic original and translated into English) that was sent to the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from the wives of a number of political prisoners in Kuwait (folios 147-148).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (198 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 for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 200; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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. Two additional foliation sequences are present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'File 4/20 II Kuwait Situation: Constitution and Council' [3r] (5/400), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/206, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040483852.0x000006> [accessed 28 August 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/5/206
- Title
- 'File 4/20 II Kuwait Situation: Constitution and Council'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:23v, 26r:30v, 50r:51v, 60r:60v, 62r:108v, 111r:119v, 122r:140v, 142r:146v, 149r:152v, 154r:157v, 159r:178v, 180r:188v, 190r:199v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence