"ملف 53/32 III (D 53) مسائل متنوعة خاصة بالكويت" [ظ‎‎٢‎١‎٧] (٤٨٦/٤٤٣)

AdminiUration. —Kuwait was founded about
the beginning of the eighteenth century by some
settlers of the ' Utub, a sect of the ^Anizah, over
whom the Subah family enjoyed predominance.
It is unnecessary to consider its early history.
Suffice it to say that in May 1896 Shaikh Muba
rak became Ruler of Kuwait on the assassination
of his brother. It was he who raised Kuwait fi'om
a place of little importance to a flourishing princi
pality. Under his strong rule it became a most
attractive place to live in to the Arab mind, and the
population of the town nearly doubled itself, it
would be difficult to speak too highly in praise of
his devotion to the British Government. Shaikh
Mubarak died* in November 1915, and was| suc
ceeded by his eldest son, Shaikh Jabir, a debonair
and pleasant man, whose mildness and affability
made him a popular Ruler. Shaikh Salim,
another son of Shaikh Mubarak^, succeeded on
his brother s deatht in February^ 17. He was
a very different type of man from his easy-going
brother, being a stern Muhammadau and a very
obstinate man. He had spent nearly all his life
in the desert before he came to the throne, and
hated all modern inventions. He was almost
entirely to blame for his quarrel with Ibn Sa ud
and all the sorrow that it brought to Kuwait,
and in short he did nearly as much harm to the
State, as his father had done good. He died|
suddenly on the 2Srd February 1921 to the
undisguised joy of nearly all his subjects.
It hal always been the custom for Shaikhs of
Kuwait to rule personally and autocratically, and
to avoid all delegation of authority. In the town
it was their usage to give audience for an hour or
two each morning in the market-place, and decide
cases by direct judgement. On the death of
Shaikh Salim, however, the townspeople, tired of
the unnce^sarv war with Ibn Sa'ud which he had
led them into against their will, det-rmined that
in future they would Ivtve pome say in tne affairs
of the State, and informed the members of the
Subah family that they would only §accept as
their Ruler one who would accept a council of
advisers.
Shaikh Ahmid,^ eldest son of the late Shaikh
Jabir, was chosen as Ruler, and on his return from
Najd an Agreement was drawn up between him
and the people of Kuwait to the effect that all
criminal cases would be decided in accordance
with the Shar' or Religious Law; that in case of
appeal the written statements of both parties and
the Qadhi's judgement would be submitted to
the ' Ulama, whose dec sion would be final; that
if both parties in a dispute agreed beforehand for
a third party to arbi'rate between them, hi- deci
sion should hold; that the Ruler would seek
advice in all matters—external as well as internal
which affected the town ; and that if any one
had anv suggestion to make for the benefit of the
town or people, he would lay it before the Ruler,
who would consult his people, and adopt it if
thev so advised. A council of twelve members
was duly elected—six from the eastern half of the
* S. E., July 1916, Nos. 1 38, Serial Nos. 1 and 6.
t S. E., August 1917, Nos. 44-62, Pro. Nos. 46-'17.
X S. E., October 1921, Nos, 311-327, Pro. No. 311,
§ Ibid, Pro. 314.
|| Ibid, Pro. Nc. oil.
town, and six from the western—under the presi
dency of one of the leading merchants, H .mad
bin 'Abdullah as-Saqar. Since the early days of
its election, however, tiiis Council has never met,
and in practice Shaikh Ahmad rules in much the
same manner as his predecessors.
He is a mild and pleasant man of much the same
type as his father. His bluff, jovial manneis make
him an eminently f-uitable person ior his position
in so far as the ceremonial pa t of his duties are
concerned. Unfortunately, however, he has no
strength of character, and is a lamentably weak
Ruler. He is a right-minded man, and wou'd
normally like to do the light thing, but is easily
swayed by his advisers - who are not always of
the most desirable type. Like many weak men,
he can at times be very obstinate. Although
greatly desiring popularity, he is not very
popular amongst his subjects, amongst whom he
has the reputation of being mean. He is a strict
Muslim, and is zealous in the enforcement of the
prohibition against strong liquor, and also in the
suppression of prostitution. He himself is a non-
smoker. He is unquestionably well disposed
towards the British, and is very fond of entertain
ing in British style. He has a suite of rooms
furnished like a Eur 'pean honse, and is fond of
cinematog aphs, cameras, cars, and other modern
inventions. He frequently drives his own car.
Shaikh Hamad al-Mubarak, the Shaikh^s uncle,
officiates for him whenever he leavrs Kuwait.
He is nine yeirs younger than his nephew, being
thirty three years of age. His mother belonged
to the Ajman trib . He is a uuiet, shy man, with
no great intelligence, and no strength of
character.
Shaikh Abdullah as-Salim was born in 1895^
He is by far the strongest in character snd most
intelligent member of the Subah family. He is
a well read man and can converse on many more
subjects than the average man of his class. He
is his cousin^s only really dangerous rival. He is
certainly an ambitious man, and there is little
doult that he had strong h >pes of succeeding his
father on bis death in 1921, notwithstanding the
fact that he is Shaikh Ahmad^ junior bv ten
years. AVhen Shaikh Ahmad was choeen as
Ruler, Shaikh Abdull.h as-Salim started to
" assist" him, and soon got a good deal of power
into his own hands, which Ahmad with his easv
going nature allowed him to do. He soon started
issuing orders not as the Ruler's deputy, but in
his own rame, and it looked very much as if he
were going to become the virtual ruler of Kuwait,
and Shaikh Ahmad to remain a mere figurehead—
if that. After about two months, however, he
overstepped the mark, by trying to introduce a
sort of " civil listwith fixed salaries for all
the members of the Subah family, including
Shaikh Ahmad. According to the scale which he
drafted he himself was to get almost as much a<?
Shaikh Ahmad, and far more than any of the
others. This produced a very stormy scene
between Abdullah and the rest of the family, at
which Shaikh Jabir as-Subah, Mubarak's brother,
who has since died, did some very plain speaking,,
and Shaikh Abdullah wtnt into retirement, and
did not appear in public again for some time^