"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٠‎٣‎٥] (١٧٨٢/١١٩٠)

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1035
on the border near Safwan took place ; they were generally organised by
Yt'suf of Dorah at Zubair^ and the Turkish garrison at Safwan made
no effort to prevent them ; but in some instances they were answered by
repiisals from the Kuwait side. An attack was made also on Sabiyah,
upon KliOi-as-Sabiyah, by Yusuf of Dorah's men, and some camels were
carried off. On the 28th of May 1902 the Shaikh^s agent at Basrah
WoS arrested, and his house searched, on the charge of his being a
su)scriber to an Arabic newspaper called " Khilafat," at that time
published in London and treated throughout the Ottoman dominions as
a editions print; and having been found guilty of the charge, he was
senenced to ten years' incarceration in a fortress. The result of this
cas was a severe blow to the prestige of the Shaikh of Kuwait'; nor was
the^vent without political significance, for among the papers seized at the
ageit's house were some that cast light upon the Shaikh's relations with
the British Government. The title-deeds of the Shaikh's properties in
Timsh 'Iraq, which fell into the hands of the Ottoman officials by the
sane chance, were subsequently recovered through the good offices of
Brtish diplomacy,—a matter of no little importance to the Shaikh
inasmuch as the land dispute between him and hig nephews was still
uniettled.
Raids on Kuwait territory by Bedouin supporters of Ibn-Rashid still
continued to occur ; and in August 1902 a fight between some of them and
the subjects of the Shaikh of Kuwait took place at a spot, apparently
tte wells of Subaihiyah, only 30 miles from Kuwait itself. At this time
events in jNajd had turned, temporarily, in favour of Ibn-Rashid; and,
ks there was a fear that Shaikh Mubarak might proceed to the assistance
of his ally Ibn-Sa'ud, he was expressly warned by the British Resident,
Colonel Kemball, under orders from His Majesty's Government, not to
encourage any action by which he was likely to become involved in
difficulties with Najd or with the Turkish Government. Meanwhile the
Shaikh, in view of the aggressiveness of enemy, had formally applied to
the Resident for two or three guns, to be mounted on his fort at Jahrah
for defence against Ibn-Rashid in case he should approach from that side;
but the request was refused as it was feared that ie might use the guns,
if supplied, for offensive operations ; and instead he was informed, after the
middle of October 1902, that, if he remained at Kuwait and observed his
engagements to Britain, the British Government would charge themselves
with the defence of such of his districts as adjoined the bay of Kuwait.
The Shaikh expressed himself much disappointed, but he promised to
abide by the advice given him.
Relations of
Kuwait with
Najd and res
tricted guar
antee of
support by
the British
Government,
August to
October 1902.