IOR/R/15/1/494

This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding date gardens in southern Iraq owned by the ruler of 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 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.

The correspondence discusses in detail a number of cases in the Iraqi courts regarding the gardens (then owned by Shaikh Aḥmad) and the attempts made by British officials in Iraq and Kuwait to mediate between the two sides. In the correspondence, British officials discuss whether or not the British Government should compensate Shaikh Aḥmad for the amount of tax he had been forced to pay on his exports from Iraq since his dispute with the Government of Iraq had begun and how the disagreement can be settled permanently. The file includes correspondence between British officials and their Iraqi counterparts as well as with Shaikh Aḥmad.

The file includes extracts from the Iraq Government Gazette No. 23 of June 1932 that contains details of the Land Settlement Law No. 50 of 1932 (ff 51-61). The file also contains the minutes from a government inter-departmental meeting (with representatives from the Foreign Office, India Office and the Treasury) that was convened in May 1936 to discuss the issue (ff 85-96).