'File II. IRAQ (3) Vol. 1 Shaikh of Kuwait's Date Gardens on the Shatt-al Arab. (Kuwait's relations with Turkish Govt. and Turkish demand that Kuwaitis should take out Turkish Nationality Certificates)' [‎271r] (559/636)

The following is a very slightly abridged translation of an article by Ismail Hakki, Deputy
for Baghdad, which appeared in the Tanin of 28th December 1910.
The Political Importance of Basdah, Kuwait and Mohammerah.
At present there is no order in Basrah, in the sense in which a civilised
person understands the word “ order.” The state of affairs which had gone on
for years has been changed for a few months by the zeal of the strong hand of
discipline, but if the administration of Basrah goes on as at present, and if a
few wasps’ nests which surround the neighbourhood and are extending their
poisonous influence to Basrah itself, are not completely destroyed, the brigand
age in and around the town will continue until stopped by the firm and ruth
less hand of a foreigner.
The few months of discipline and order which we have spoken of with praise
and thankfulness are only a temporary and superficial expedient against a
chronic disease. If we seek the seat of the trouble which will destroy Basrah,
we shall find it limited chiefly to two spots—Kuwait and Mohammerah.
There is no 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. on international law who could define the political
position of Kuwait. Officially it is a Caza and the Shaikh, Mubarak es Sabah,
bears a purely Ottoman title—that of Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and at present he flies the Ottoman
flag as a sign of allegiance, but there is nevertheless a doubt as to his position
in practice. Until seven or eight years ago Kuwait had been Ottoman without
doubt or fraud : but pressure was brought to bear upon it by a covetous
Commandant and it took refuge with the English, and the correspondence
with the Subiime Porte—for what reason we know not—carried on with England
gave rise to an embarrassing situation. Now Kmvait from our point of view
is Ottoman territory without doubt, but in consequence of that correspondence
the Ottoman troops who were intended to inflict the necessary punishment
did not enter Kuwait, and the question of letting troops enter it remained in
abeyance. Finally, Mubarek es Sabah and his subjects being Sunnis, he is in
a position which w ould not allow him to fly the British flag even if he wanted
to do so. He lives in a constant state of fear, owing to the fact that be killed
his brother and usurped the position of Shaikh. The Shaikh has a good deal
of property, a large part of which is in the sandjak of Basrah and this gives the
Ottoman Government a powerful weapon to bring pressure to bear on him
whenever necessary in order to get its words harkened to and its objects
fulfilled. Having realised this the Shaikh recently evinced the loyal desire to
take out certificates of Ottoman nationality for himself and his sons ; hut owung
to his own fickleness and to the encouragement of the British Consul at
Kuwait he changed his mind and simply made the strange proposal to take out
certificates of Ottoman nationality for his daughters.
Now as to the influence of Mubarak es Sabah (who has now r become a
millionaire) upon the internal state of our country.
As I have said before the sole dep6t of prohibited arms in Irak is Kuwait.
Moreover Mubarak Pasha—as is usual in ignorant countries—follows a double
faced policy; in order to show loyalty to England also he is not content with
merely importing rifles and cartridges into the country, but with the object of
showing that he is capable by himself of chastising all the tribes he sets
currents flowing towards the interior and kills and robs men of the most
important tribes.
Last year this man, having collected from all sides a force of four thousand
horsemen and more than ten thousand Arabs, attacked Sadun Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and his
men ; but rumour says that Sadun Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , with about four thousand men of the
Montific and az-Zafir tribes whom he had managed to get together, killed some
four thousand of the enemy and put them to flight. It is wmrth noting that
at that very moment an English officer appeared, photographed the slain and
took pictures of the battle field. Humour adds that Mubarak subsequently
tried to make out to the English that this rout w T as a complete victory but,
owing to the evidence of the British officer, the English avoided being deceived
(“ responsibility relies on him who relates”).
On gaining this victory Sadun Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and his subjects w’ent as far as
Kuwait and wanted to plunder Mubarek’s goods and treasure; but according