IOR/R/15/5/194

This file contains correspondence between British officials related to a number of different topics that all concern members of the al-Sabah ruling family of Kuwait.

The topics discussed are as follows:

• The financial conditions of Shaikh Hamud al-Jabir al-Sabah, 1938 (folios 2-8).
• Tensions between different factions within the al-Sabah family, 1940-41 (folios 9-27).
• Details regarding transferring Shaikh Ali al-Khalifah al-Sabah to Lebanon for medical treatment and his subsequent death in 1942 (folios 73-76,121-124,127).
• The sudden illness and then recuperation of the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah in 1942 (folios 44-138).
• An incident in which one of the ruler's sons, Muhammad, was shot by Iraqi forces during a hunting trip in the south of Iraq, 1945 (folios 142-162,166-176).
• An article that was published in the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram containing an interview with Shaikh Ahmad, 1945-46 (folios 163-165).
• The reaction to Lebanon awarding a number of al-Sabah family members civil honours, 1949 (folios 177-179)

The majority of the correspondence is between British officials but the file also contains some correspondence between Shaikh Ahmad and the Political Agency in Kuwait that is in Arabic (accompanied by English translations). A limited amount of correspondence with officials of the Government of Iraq is also present.

In addition to correspondence, the file also contains a list of al-Sabah family members which lists their name, profession, age, physical characteristics and other remarks (folios 27-29) and a note on the health of Shaikh Ahmad prepared by the Political Agency in Kuwait (folios 57-61).