IOR/R/15/5/205

This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding political developments in Kuwait (referred to as Koweit several times throughout the file), specifically tensions that occurred between the country's ruler, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, and a group of reformist opposition forces that included prominent merchants and rival members of the al-Sabah family.

A key demand of this group, which coalesced into the movement known as the majlis movement, was the formation of an elected administrative council, and on folio 118, the file contains the names and details of the composition of the first such council that was formed in July 1938. The correspondence is primarily between the Political Agency in Kuwait and the Political Residency in Bushire, but the file also contains a limited number of correspondence with Shaikh Ahmad (in Arabic accompanied by English translations).

In addition to correspondence, the file also contains translations of circulars that were issued by the opposition movement, copies of agreements made between them and the ruler and a detailed report entitled 'Administration of Kuwait' that was prepared by the Political Agency (folios 99-120).

The file also contains a large amount of translated news articles from the Iraqi press concerning events in Kuwait. These articles are from the following newspapers: al-Kifah, al-Zaman, al-Istiqlal, al-Nahar, al-Nas, al-Karkh, al-Rai al-Amm, al-Mustaqbal, al-Thagr and al-Ugab.