Coll 30/9(2) 'Admin. Reports of the Persian Gulf - 1945 -' [‎53r] (105/1148)

ADIffNIJTKATION iuUZOKT OF TH£ KUWAIT
POLITICAL Afl^CY FQK TliE YEyiK 1^.
I. THE POLITICAL aOSNCY .
Personnel
(a) Mr, G.N. Jackson M•B•E•, of the Indian Political 3ervice
held charge up to the 19th April, when he proceeded to England on
leave. His place was ta^en oy Major M.P. O’C Tandy of the Indian
Political Bervice who held charge until the end of the year.
(b) Assistant Burgeon C.E. Hynes I.M.J., held charge of the
Government dispensary and performed the duties of Quarantine Medical
Officer throughout the year.
II. THE RULING FAMILY .
(a) Eor a man of sixty with a weak heart His Highness Bhaikh
3ir Ahmed al Jabir As-3ubah K.C.3.I., K.C.I.IS., maintained remark
ably gooa health throughout the year. This was probably due to
his habits of moderation in diet, of avoidance of exertion, of
implicit obedience to the American Mission doctors who visit him
twice weekly, and of keeping a loaded revolver to hand even in the
privacy of his harem . He remained in Kuwait throughout the year
except for the periodical pogroms of bustard which were committed as
usual daring the winter months. He did however during the summer
proclaim his intention of visiting India in September for optical
and dental treatment, and tnis proposal may have been a ballon
d'essai to detect any tendency on the part of Government to accord
him e reception on tne lines of those given to other Arab rulers in
the United Kingdom and elsewhere. ./hen no trace of any such tend
ency was apparent the proposal was allowed to drop, but a similar
ballon may well be released in 1946.
His Highness celebrated the 25th anniversary (by Muslim reckon
ing) of his accession on the 23rd Eebruary and was suitably felicit
ated by all comruunities, although the Government of India took no
special steps to mark the occasion. By our calendar the 25th
anniversary of His Highness' accession will fall on the 24th of
March, 1946.
(b) Shaikh Abdullah Salim C.I.S., continued to administer the
Revenue and supply Departments with a degree of competence and
probity hitherto unsuspected, and to punctuate his spells of duty
with frequent (and apparently innocent) visits to his island haunt
of failecha. He led the exodus to the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. caused by the untimely
advent of Ramadhan in August and September and gave rise to not_a
little scandal by passing the sacred month congenially in the red-
light quarter of Damascus.
(c) Shaikh Abdullah Mubarak C.I.E., continued to supervise
the Department of Public Security with ruthlessness and energy in
no way diminished by his increasing weight - now in excess of 20
stone. He remains more pro-shaikh than the shaikh and more pro-
British than the British. The result of his efforts has been an
astounding degree of security throughout the town and state of
Kuwait. He visited the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. between 31st July and 6th September
and returned from his first journey abroad convinced that there is
no place like home.
(d) Shaikh Abdullah al Jabir remained Chief Justice and
Director of Education in which posts he discharged his duties loyai/|l
and efficiently. He visited Bombay in the Spring, partly for
optical treatment and partly in the hope of finding an easier cure
for his hereditary disorder than the repeated and painful salvarsan
injections prtfcribed by the Mission doctors in Kuwait. In this he
was unsuccessful.
(e) Shaikh Abdulla al Ahmad