'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎42v] (89/386)

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«*< a permanent Agent at Ko.eHwo^
w-is^the^best cliriimrl of co,nmuniction with Koweit ; and that, if closer touch
™;n, Cowrit should subsequently he found necessary, it could best he established
bv tempo •avv vtsits of a selected oilicer to Koweit, repeated at intervals until h.s
by tenij ta \ . nermauent This being the position of affairs,
residence became praoacany pe m . ^ Indian medical subordinate
ShpiMi had expressed a desire, and to render medical servioes, of nlnch toe
town stood in urgent need. The proposal was
ment and an undertaking was obtained from the Sheikli not to permit tne
establishment at Koueitof a post office of any otlier foreign conntr^but wbe
the scheme was on the point of being carried out, it bad to bo postpon cl
avoid preju(Ucing negoLions which were then pj^ding for tg, evacuahon
of Bubivan by the Turks. Meanwtule, in May 1904 Sn N. <J honor naa
renewed* his suggestion that a political officer should be appointed to Koweu,
Ihe -round of Ids recommendation this time being that the Turks persisted n
activriv supporting Ibn Basbid; and the Government of India nninediately
announced their readiness to give effect to the scheme. In June l** 0 * His
Maiesty’s Government accorded their sanction, and at the beginning of August
Captain Knos, the first 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. , arrived at Koweit, the Hospital Assist-
anthein-still detained at Bush ire as the time was not considered suitable for
the opening of a British post office; in October however he was permitted to
ioin 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. , but only in his medical capacity. In November 1904
the Porte objected to Captain Knox’s presence in Koweit as an innovation
affecting the stains quo ; they were told that,, though his sojourn was tempo-
ary His Majesty’s Government reserved the light to send an j'ffi'mr to Koweit
whenever they chose. In view of other questions pending noth Turkey, how.
ever llis Maiesty’s Government considered it expedient to direct Gaptun
Knox’s withdrawal. Lord Ampthill, who at this time was acting as Viceroy
of India, deprecated the immediate withdrawal of Captain Knox ; and, the
circumstances which had made haste desirable having also ceased to oiierate,
His Maiestv’s Government agreed to a delay. Eventually mMay l.)0o Captain
Knox fell ill and was withdrawn until the following October, when he returned
1 and the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. was established on a permanent footing.
In September 1904 several cases occurred of unwarrantable interference
with Koweit boats by the Persian Imperial Customs, and a protest was made
by the Government of India which brought the status of Koweitis in Persia
into discussion. This question is still unsettled ; but it seems that the -Persian
Government, while in principle not averse to the protection of Koweitis m Persia
bv the British authorities, are reluctant to concede the point in practice le-t by
doino’so thev should give umbrage to Turkey. In July 1995 the Sheikh of
Koweit agreed, on the advice of the British Government, to adopt a distinctive
colour for Koweit shipping, resembling the Turkish flag but differentiated from
it by the addition of the word “ Koweit ” in Arabic characters, and to require
a special form of certiflcate of nationality to be carried by Koweit vessels.
r Jhe viceroyalty of Lord Curzou synchronised almost exactly vith a great
internal struggle in Nejd or Central
Central Arabia. Arabia, by which the political situation
there was in the end completely transformed. Nejd is a large tract of country,
completely surrounded by deserts, and falling naturally into the three divisions
of Jabal Shammar or Northern Nejd, Kasim or Middle Nejd, and Southern
Nejd which has no more distinctive name. The political predominance in Nejd
has rested for more than a century with one of two rival families ; during most
of that period it has been held by the Wahabi family of Ibn Saud, who are the
hereditary rulers of the southern division, but in recent years it has belonged
to the Shammar family of Ibn Rashid whose seat is in the north at Hail: the
local chiefs in the intermediate district of Kasim have ordinarily occupied a
position of semi-independence between the two. In 1899, however, the power
of Ibn Rashid had been for several years supreme throughout Central Arabia,
and the middle and southern tracts had sunk into mere dependencies of Jabal