Political Agency, Kuwait

IOR/R/15/5

Political Agency, Kuwait

1904-1949

The Kuwait Agency archives cover the period from the establishment of the post in 1904 to 1949, the last year for which files were returned to the India Office Records. The papers were originally numbered in three separate series. First Series files, 1904-1929 (R/15/5/1-108) contain considerable gaps partly due to heavy weeding, and partly, it would seem, to a chaotic filing system. The most unfortunate gap is the almost complete absence of papers for the period 1914-18. The records for1918-1929 are more complete than for 1914-1918, but somewhat confused because of the practice of filing only the most important papers on the relevant subject file, and indiscriminately consigning those considered of secondary importance to Miscellaneous Files bearing the letter 'C' (R/15/5/94-103). Among these miscellaneous files are papers on Shaikh Salim's rule, Philby's Najd Mission and early Ikhwan attacks on Kuwait and Iraq. Second Series files, 1929-1949 (R/15/5/109-319) were begun on 1 January 1929 although First Series files were continued into the Second Series period. The series has been better preserved than the first, despite sporadic gaps apparently due to weeding. Third Series files, 1946-1949 (R/15/5/320-327) were begun in 1949 presumably to bring the Political Agency into line with Foreign Office practice. Again many of the Second Series files were continued into 1949. New files were begun using the same subject indicators as the Second Series often making it impossible to judge to which series a file really belongs. In addition there are a number of Official publications and a few miscellaneous printed books (R/15/5/328-397) presumably collected by the Agency for reference purposes and later returned to the India Office Records by the British Embassy in Kuwait.

Public Record(s)

English

397 files and volumes

Unrestricted

Occasional official British interest in Kuwait can be traced back to 1775, but it was not until 1899 that a formal agreement was concluded with the Shaikh giving the British a privileged position. The move was prompted by a revival of Ottoman interest in the Gulf and the increasing influence there of other powers, notably Germany. However, a proposal to establish a permanent Agency was opposed by the Foreign Office since it might be seen as lending support to Kuwaiti claims to independence ? in the Ottoman view the Shaikh was merely a 'Qaimaqam' or Governor of a District. In 1904, fears concerning the rise of Ibn Sa'ud and the opportunity this might give the Turks to intervene in Najd, led the Government of India, despite Foreign Office reluctance, to send an Agent, Captain S G Knox, to represent the British Government at Kuwait and to watch the situation in Central Arabia. There were differing opinions between the Foreign Office and the Government of India as to whether the post should be permanent or temporary. Knox left Kuwait in May 1905 as a result of Turkish protests, the question was referred to the Committee of Imperial Defence, and in October 1905 he returned for an indefinite stay. By now the British were interested in Kuwait for its own sake, and in 1907 Shaikh Mubarak and the Government of India concluded a secret agreement, the 'Bandar Shuwaikh lease', which ensured that the British would have the right to control the most suitable outlet for the projected railway connecting Baghdad with the Persian Gulf.The Ottoman Government continued to complain to the British that the appointment of an Agent in the region was a breach of the status quo. The two countries engaged in protracted negotiations and reached the unratified Anglo-Turkish Agreement of 1913, which defined the status of Kuwait as an autonomous 'caza' of the Ottoman Empire, but which became a dead letter with the entry of Turkey into the First World War on the side of the Central Powers. The War then brought a change in Kuwait's status, since the British Government promised independence to Shaikh Mubarak as well as to Ibn Sa'ud in return for their support against the Turks. Hitherto, the Political Agent, Kuwait, had been responsible for most of his functions to the Political Resident at Bushire, though with greater freedom to report directly to the Foreign Office and Government of India Foreign Department on trade questions. With the outbreak of war, Kuwait was included in the area administered by Force D, the Indian Expeditionary Force, and after the appointment in 1914 of Sir Percy Cox as Chief Political Officer with the military expedition in Basra, the Political Agent, along with other Gulf posts, reported on political matters directly to him. Cox retained responsibility for the political work of the Agency after the occupation of Baghdad in his successive capacities as Civil Commissioner and High Commissioner, although the responsibility for the internal administration of the Agency remained with the Residency at Bushire. Among other duties, Cox was responsible for conducting British relations with Ibn Sa'ud, at a time when the latter had consolidated his authority in Central Arabia, and tribal attacks on Iraq and Kuwait began, as did the Saudi blockade of Kuwait. Despite attempts at re-division of responsibilities for Middle Eastern affairs, Cox retained control of the Agency's political work and of relations with Ibn Sa'ud, until his retirement in May 1923. After that date the Political Resident at Bushire became once more fully responsible for the supervision of the Kuwait Agency and remained so until the Foreign Office took over control of the Residency and its subordinate Agencies on 1 April 1948. Over the course of time the Kuwait Agency had established many contacts with Iraq authorities, both British and Arab, and in the 1920s and 1930s it continued to correspond directly with them, a practice resented by both the Political Resident and the Iraqi Government. There was also friction between the Political Residency at Bushire and the British Embassy at Baghdad on the question of the Iraqi claim to Kuwait. From the 1920s the Political Agent became more involved in internal Kuwaiti affairs, but even so his workload was relatively light. An Assistant Surgeon had joined the Agency in 1904 and either he or the Head Clerk sometimes deputised for Political Agent in the latter's absence if no 'acting' Agent had been appointed.