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'File 2/4 I TAXATION OF SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [35r] (74/640)
The record is made up of 1 volume (316 folios). It was created in 3 Nov 1914-12 Dec 1930. 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.
to know of cor tain acts on th© port of the two ohaikhs which
proved exceedingly harsnful to the movements of tsio ! ri Lish
armies, so harmful that in 1916 the British Authorities were
compelled to declare a land blockade on Kuwait exports.
\fhat is the nature of the assistance rendered by the
two Shaikhs? ¥e do not think that Great Britain will be
able to disclose the nature of such assistance, since there
has been nothing of the sort. On theothar hand, so far as
T/6 are aware the two Shaikhs did not render tue least
assistance to the British Expeditionary Force. On the
contrary they offered resistance to that force. Shaikh Mubarak
As-Sabah would not allow the military transport ships which
carried the ’Iraq Expeditionary Force over from India on the
outbreak of the war to lay anchor in Ms country. Neither
would he allow the Kuwait to be used as a coaling station for
the British fleet in the early days of the war. On the other
and, is there any one in 1 Iraq who did not hear at the time
of the enormous smu^ling of floods by Kuwait for the Turkish
armies in •Iraq, Syria and the Hedj&s - that illicit trade of
# ich even the Kuwait Government authorities were suspected*
Granted that, can forget all this, can we ever forget the
deplorable attitude of the two Shaikhs towards the Arab
rising undertaken by His Majesty Hussin ion , Ali against the
TtUfeg for the liberation of the Aiaba irom their bondage,
towards which rising they did not show the least sympathy and
failed to recognise its lawfulness in addition to theii failure
to lend it any support whether moral or material, and that in
spite 5f the British efforts exerted in that direction? These
?t© some of the acts undertake ; by the Aowait dependency
during the Great War. No doubt they were harmful to the
Military Expedition in 'Iraq* We do not know of any assistance j
rendered by Shaikh Mubarak As-Sabah or his successors. As
remarda the Sha kh of Mohammerah, it is surprising to claim
that he had rendered any assistance to the %itish forces,
inasmuch
it
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence related to the date gardens owned by the Shaikh of Kuwait, Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, and the Shaikh of Mohammerah, Khaz'al al-Ka'bi, in southern Iraq. In particular, the correspondence concerns the Government of Iraq's intention to end the immunity from taxation (on the gardens) that had been granted to the former ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ, and the Shaikh of Mohammerah by the British Government in return for their military support against the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. The volume contains letters (ff 16-20), dated November 1914, from the British Resident and Consulate-General, Bushire, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , to both shaikhs in respect to this issue. The volume also contains correspondence between British officials discussing the British Government's obligations to Kuwait and how it should react to the Government of Iraq's plans.
The Iraq Government had considered and continues to consider that the exemption from taxation is illegal. This issue was discussed in an extract of an article that appeared in Al-Iraq newspaper and published in 1927, in which the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. gives the exact amount (12.000 Turkish gold liras per year, or 100.000 in the past 7 years) Iraq was losing annually as a result of the exemption from taxes granted to the two shaikhs.
The British officials had direct correspondence with the Council of Ministers, Iraq. They conveyed the British Government’s approval to the Government of Iraq to open up direct negotiations with the Shaikhs of Kuwait and Mohammerah regarding their revenue exemptions. Correspondence between the High Commissioner, Baghdad, and the Government of Iraq were made as early as 1924 in regard to the issue. The correspondence between the British officials includes articles of the Anglo-Iraq Treaties as well as reports prepared by the Law Officer of the Crown, Downing Street (ff 116-123).
The volume also contains correspondence between Sayid Hamid Bey Al-Naqib, Basra Deputy to the Ruler of Kuwait, and Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir conveying to him the procedures taking place in Iraq regarding his date gardens. Al-Naqib also paid visits to the Shaikh on behalf of the Government of Iraq. The volume also includes statements of the properties of both Shaikhs between the years 1914-1928.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (316 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 318; 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.
Additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 4-313; these numbers are also written in pencil but, where circled, are crossed through.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/5/135
- Title
- 'File 2/4 I TAXATION OF SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.'
- Pages
- 33r:36v
- Author
- al-Iraq xx Al-'Iraq
- Usage terms
- Public Domain