IOR/R/15/1/488

This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding date gardens in southern Iraq owned by the rulers of Mohammerah and Kuwait. The correspondence discusses changes in legislation proposed by the Government of Iraq regarding the collection of land rent and land produce duties, and the impact of these proposed changes to the ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ. In particular, the correspondence concerns the Government of Iraq's decision to end the immunity from taxation (on the gardens) that had been granted to the former ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ and the Shaikh of Mohammerah, Khaz‘al bin Jābir al-Ka‘bī by the British Government in return for their military support against the Ottoman Empire in World War 1.

Much of the correspondence in the file discusses whether or not this assurance can be upheld and how the British should react to the Iraqi government's desire to tax the produce that is grown on Shaikh Ahmad's land and then exported to Kuwait. The file contains direct correspondence between British officials and Nūrī al-Sa‘īd, the Prime Minister of Iraq. The negative impact that the situation had upon Britain's prestige within Kuwait - and the broader implications of this development - are discussed throughout the file.

The file contains the minutes of a number of meetings held at the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office with representatives from the Treasury, the Treasury Solicitor's Department, the India Office, the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office present between 1932 and 1933. A briefing note marked 'secret' that outlines the various points of dispute between the Shaikh of Kuwait and the Government of Iraq is contained on the file on ff. 78-84.

The file also contains details regarding a legal case brought against Shaikh Aḥmad by members of the Al Zuhair family regarding the ownership of some of his land holdings in Iraq.