IOR/R/15/5/142

The volume contains correspondence related to the date gardens owned by the Shaikh of Kuwait, Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, in southern Iraq. In particular, the correspondence concerns the court suit raised in Basra Court by members of al-Zuhair family complaining against the Ruler of Kuwait. The suit in question concerns a portion of the Shaikh’s Faddaghiya estate on Shatt al-Arab, and the Bashiya land to which members of al-Zuhair family lays claim to. According to the reports, the Faddaghiya estate was owned by Aisha, wife of Ahmad Pasha Al-Zuhair, and she has given her husband a Power of Attorney to sell the land.

In the volume, British officials discuss issues related to the land registration granted to the Shaikh by Sir Henry Dobbs, Revenue Commissioner, Basra, in 1915, and the importance of obtaining an original copy of the claimed Power of Attorney authorising the sale of the land by Ahmed Pasha al-Zuhair. British officials correspond with the Shaikh and his lawyer, Jacob Gabriel, asking them to prepare certain documents, including a list of the names of the legal living heirs of Ahmed Pasha al-Zuhair, an original Turkish copy of the Power of Attorney, and translated copies of the document both in Arabic and English.

The volume includes notes of meetings held in Baghdad between British officials discussing the cases. It also includes copies of the four Tapu title deeds (ff 55-64) connected with the Shaikh of Kuwait’s Faddaghiya estate dispute, dated 1915. The volume also includes reports on agrarian troubles caused by the fellaheen on the Shaikh’s Faw estates.

The main correspondence in the volume is between the Political Resident, Bushire, the Political Agent, Kuwait, British Ambassador, Baghdad, the India Office, London, the Foreign Office, London, the Ruler of Kuwait and Jacob Gabriel, the Shaikh’s Agent in Basra.

The volume’s core correspondence covers June- October 1933. The earlier start date given to the volume is a result of correspondence by Jacob Gabriel (f 153), which is dated 20 November 1909. The correspondence includes a certificate from a school where he was a pupil. Jacob Gabriel provides testimonies and letters from previous places and people he worked with to prove his ability to take the Shaikh’s case on.