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'File 2/4 II TAXATION of SHAIKH’S DATE GARDENS.' [117r] (238/448)
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.
ft^ ****^ M. icjU. uu4'W-flhr. rt/so, 4 3r/-3tJ
P.Z. 102/32. ~ ‘ ~ ^ 7 ^
88104 / 31 ! dateS 1 ^ 4 ^^!^!^" 6 lett6r ^
&
88104/31. noting Street,
24th uecemher 1951.
Dear Sir Francis,
w ,id3 , ,
ft)' ft'
We have received siccoe‘B despatch of the 6th
of December enclosing a note by Dickson regarding the
effect of the new "latihlalr* Tax upon the shaikh of Kuwaitis
properties in the Shatt-el-Arab.
Die&son's note makes rather depressing reading;
but it occurs to me that there may be the gem of a
settlement in Hie last paragraph of his note.
if the Shaikh of Kuwait were not an absentee land
-lord, and if he and his entourage lived in his estates in
Iraq, then the Iraqi Government co ild only oollect tax upon
that portion of the produce which was not consumed on the
estates. Gould it not be represented to the iraqA Govern
ment that it is scarcely fair that the Shaikh should suffer
and the Iraqi Government benefit from the fact that he and
his household live not on those estates but in Kuwait.
Even if this argument is not watertight, and admittedly
it is not, might it not provide the iraqi Government with
some sort of excuse to justify granting to the shaikh
a generous measure of exemption.
if the Iraqi Government could be induced to
exempt from tax such part of the produce o* tne t>haikh‘s
estates as is needed for family and iitate use in Kuwait
(i.e. , that portion not used for sale or export xrom
Kuwait) , and could be persuaded to fix the amount oi pio-
duce covered by the exemption at a generously high figure,
then possibly only a small balance would be left liable to
tax/
Lieutenant Colonel
Sir Francis Humphrys, G.C.V.O., K.C.M.G., K.J3.i5. , C.i.Ke,
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