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'File 2/4 II TAXATION of SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [73r] (150/448)
The record is made up of 1 volume (220 folios). It was created in 1 Jan 1931-19 Dec 1932. 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.
ii)
-4-
received half their pay in kind and half in cash.
The former apart from rice (obtained in India)
was practically all obtained from the produce of
his Shatt al-Arab estates.
(b). Again,in the matter of the date produce
which the Shaikh " exported ” overseas to India,
the Red Sea, Zanzibar etc., the Shaikh pointed
out that he came under a different category to tin
ae4^h^e*¥4&g ordinary garden owner of Basrah or
the well known Arab and European merchants who
annually bought up and exported dates from Basrah
seeing that in a sense he was both owner and
exporter. And while the latter both Arab and
Europeans purchased direct from individual garden
owners and paid cash down for the produce, he as
Shaikh of Kuwait sold nothing to these exporting
merchants but instead dealt with his own merchant!
of Kuwait who nearly all owned regular fleets of
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
,"East Indian men" which made annual voyages
to eilher India, the Red Sea, East Africa or
Zanzibar, taking as outward cargoes Basrah dates,
and bringing bade ship-loads of wood^beams,
spices, rice, building material etc.
The system under which this export business was
conducted was as follows;-
The Shaikh, #10 it must not be forgotten
runs his state on our old feudal lines,annually
and before the dates are ripe sends for his
leading Kuwait merchants (largely also pearl
dealers) and enquiries if any of them will take
up cargoes of dates from his estates. The res
ponse is generally good, aad that part of the
produce of the gardens previously earmarked for
overseas expor t, is now sold to these local
merchants. The method of sale is as follows:-
The dates are sold by ihe gosara (basket) at the
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 correspondence is mainly between British officials discussing the possible solutions to the gardens taxation issue. Among the suggested solutions was the selling of the property. British officials report that the Shaikh of Kuwait is entirely flexible in regards to the selling of certain estates but not the ones in Al-Faw. But they also suggested that it would be rather useless for the Iraq Government to attempt to purchase the gardens as they belong to more than a hundred relatives of the Shaikh who depend on the produce for their maintenance.
The volume includes statements of an estimated value of the Shaikh of Kuwait’s estates on Shatt al-Arab. It also contains economic reports on the proposed new basis of taxation on agricultural produce in Iraq, and copies of the Government of Iraq’s new laws for the collection of consumption ( Istihlak ) tax and for the collection of land rent and water rent (ff 79-101). The correspondence also includes records of meetings held in London in regard to the question of the taxations as well as the new system of land revenue collections in Iraq.
The main correspondence is between the British Resident, Bushire, 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 High Commissioner, Baghdad, and the Colonial Office, Downing Street, London.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (220 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 222; 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. One of these additional sequences has been crossed out.
- 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/15/5/136
- Title
- 'File 2/4 II TAXATION of SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:65v, 69r:123v, 125r:145v, 147r:188v, 190r:214v, 217r:221v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence