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Sub-sub-series

File 53: Kuwait

Catalogue reference: IOR/R/15/1/471-549

What’s it about?

This record is about the File 53: Kuwait dating from 1896-1939.

Is it available online?

Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at British Library: Asian and African Studies.

Can I see it in person?

Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at British Library: Asian and African Studies.

Full description and record details

Reference

IOR/R/15/1/471-549

Title

File 53: Kuwait

Date

1896-1939

Description

The Kuwait subject files cover a comprehensive range of topics related to Kuwait and the surrounding area. The files contain correspondence regarding the nature and development of the British Government's involvement in Kuwait, Kuwait's foreign relations (notably with the Ottoman Empire, Najd/Saudi Arabia and Iraq), the Najdi trading blockade imposed on Kuwait between 1923 and 1937, smuggling between Kuwait and Iraq (and the delineation of the Kuwait-Iraq border) and the long-running legal dispute regarding the status of date gardens in Southern Iraq owned by the Shaikhs of Kuwait and Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]. The files also contain correspondence regarding Education in Kuwait, Banking in Kuwait, Kuwait's oil and water supplies and a trip made to Great Britain by Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ in 1935 as well as discussions concerning political reforms enacted in the late 1930s during the Majlis Movement era. The files also contain a limited number of maps and photographs.

Arrangement

The Kuwait files are arranged by file and part number, in which, for example, the reference 53/11 II is composed of the subject reference 53 (Kuwait), the file number 11 and the part number II. Numbers in brackets after the reference show that the file also formed part of the 'Confidential' series held at the Residency in Bushire, in which D stands for Kuwait: Ibn Sa'ud.

Held by
British Library: Asian and African Studies
Legal status

Public Record(s)

Language

Arabic; English; French; Turkish

Physical description

79 files and volumes (16,694 folios)

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/72a4275d-68f2-479d-bbe4-e125a160dc7f/

Series information

IOR/R/15/1

Political Residency, Bushire

See the series level description for more information about this record.

View series description

Catalogue hierarchy

963,091 records
52,857 records

Within the fonds: IOR/R

India Office Records transferred later through official channels

22,113 records

Within the sub-fonds: IOR/R/15

Records of the British Residency and Agencies in the Persian Gulf

7,116 records

Within the series: IOR/R/15/1

Political Residency, Bushire

691 records

Within the sub-series: IOR/R/15/1/199-703

Political Residency, Bushire: subject files

You are currently looking at the sub-sub-series: IOR/R/15/1/471-549

File 53: Kuwait