IOR/R/15/5/61

The volume comprises hand written letters, notes, typed correspondence and printed reports relating to the proposed adoption of a distinctive Kuwait flag and certificates of nationality for marine craft belonging to Shaikh Mobarak [Shaikh Mubārak bin Ṣabāḥ Āl Ṣabāḥ] or his subjects. Further discussion surrounds the inscription of 'Koweit' in Roman script as well as Arabic script and the concerns of Shaikh Mobarak over this in the context of strained relations between Persia and Turkey. Shaikh Mobarak requested that Britain guarantee him protection against the Ottomans. The result was the continued use of the Turkish flag with Kuwait inscribed in Arabic letters, to illustrate the Shaikh's 'quasi-independence'. Correspondence discusses the concern of the Ruler of Kuwait over the ability of the British to protect him from the Ottoman Government and the special agreement between the British Government and the Shaikh of Koweit [Kuwait] which imposed certain restrictions on the Shaikh whilst implying a British guarantee of protection of Kuwait's territorial integrity. The correspondence discusses the relative merits of adopting the British flag and the inscription of the Muslim declaration of faith on the flag flown by the Shaikh in front of his palace. Correspondence in 1924 discusses the procedure of flying the flag of Kuwait on HM Ships when receiving a visit from the Shaikh of Kuwait.

The principal correspondents in the volume include: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Percy Zachariah Cox; the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department, Sir Louis Dane; the Political Agent at Kuwait, Stuart George Knox, and later James Carmichael More; the Second Assistant to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Viceroy; the Secretary of State for India, John Morley; the HM Ambassador to Constantinople, Nicholas O'Conor; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Edward Grey; the Naval Commander in Chief, East Indies Station.