Foundation Early settlement Prior to 1871, Kuwait was a small village known as Grane (Kureyn). After
Al-Hasa Expedition 1871, Kuwait become a nominal vassal of the Ottoman Empire in 1871 and was included in the
Basra Vilayet. in
Kuwait City The families of the
Bani Utbah arrived in Kuwait sometime in the mid-to-late 1700s and settled after receiving permission from the Emir of Bani Khalid Sa'dun bin Muhammad. The Utubs did not immediately settle in Kuwait, however, roaming for half a century before finally settling in Kuwait. According to local legend, they first left the region of central Arabia and settled in what is now
Qatar. After a quarrel between them and some inhabitants of the region, they departed and settled near
Umm Qasr in December 1701, living as brigands, raiding passing caravans and levying taxes over the shipping of the
Shatt al-Arab. Due to these practices, they were driven out of the area by the Ottoman Mutasallim of
Basra and later lived in Sabiyya, an area bordering the north of Kuwait Bay, until finally requesting permission from the Bani Khalid to settle in Kuwait. The head of each family in the village of Kuwait gathered and chose
Sabah I bin Jaber as the Sheikh of Kuwait, a governor of sorts under the Emir of Al Hasa. During this time, the power in governance was split between the Al Sabah, Al Khalifa, and Al Jalahma families in which the Al Sabah had control over the reins of power whereas the Al Khalifa were in charge of trade and the flow of money, and the Jalahma would be in charge over work in the sea. Sometime later, the sheikdom of Kuwait emerged after an agreement between the Sheikh of Kuwait and the Emir of Bani Khalid in which they recognized
Sabah I bin Jaber's independent rule over Kuwait; in exchange, Kuwait would not ally itself or support the enemies of Bani Khalid or interfere in the internal affairs of Bani Khalid in any way.
Economic growth After the arrival of the Bani Utbah, Kuwait gradually became a port for the transit of goods between
India,
Muscat,
Baghdad, Persia, and
Arabia. By the late-1700s, Kuwait had established itself as a trading route from the Persian Gulf to
Aleppo. As a result, Kuwait's maritime commerce boomed.
The English Factory was diverted to Kuwait in 1792, which consequently expanded Kuwait's resources beyond fishing and pearling. Kuwait became wealthy due to Basra's instability in the late 18th century. In the late 18th century, Kuwait partly functioned as a haven for Basra's merchants fleeing
Ottoman government persecution. Economic prosperity in the late 18th century attracted many immigrants from
Iran and
Iraq to Kuwait. The population consisted of
Arabs,
Persians,
Africans,
Jews and
Armenians. Kuwait was the center of
boat building in the
Persian Gulf region in the nineteenth century until the early twentieth century. Ship vessels made in Kuwait carried the bulk of international trade between the trade ports of India, East Africa, and
Red Sea. Boats made in Kuwait were capable of sailing up to
China. Kuwaitis also developed a reputation as the best
sailors in the Persian Gulf. Kuwait was divided into three areas:
Sharq,
Jibla and
Mirqab. Sharq and Jibla were the most populated areas. Kuwait was also significant in the
horse trade, horses were regularly shipped by the way of sailing boats from Kuwait. The Ottomans were bankrupt and when the European banks took control of the Ottoman budget in 1881, additional income was required from Kuwait. Midhat Pasha, the governor of Iraq, demanded that Kuwait submit financially to Ottoman rule. The al-Sabah found diplomatic allies in the British Foreign Office. However, under
Abdullah II Al-Sabah, Kuwait pursued a general pro-Ottoman foreign policy, formally taking the title of Ottoman provincial governor, this relationship with the Ottoman Empire did result in Ottoman interference with Kuwaiti laws and selection or rulers. In July, Mubarak invited the British to deploy
gunboats along the Kuwaiti coast. Britain saw Mubarak's desire for an alliance as an opportunity to counteract German influence in the region and so agreed. In a good year, Kuwait's annual revenue actually came up to 100,000 riyals,
Anglo-Ottoman convention in
al Jahra Despite the Kuwaiti government's desire to either be independent or under British protection, in the
Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, the British concurred with the Ottoman Empire in defining Kuwait as an autonomous
kaza of the Ottoman Empire and that the Sheikhs of Kuwait were independent leaders as well as
kaymakams (provincial sub-governors) of the Ottoman government. The independence of Kuwait was also highlighted by the statement made by Sheikh
Mubarak Al-Sabah to the German team who requested an audience with him over the extension of the
Berlin–Baghdad railway to Kuwait. Mubarak said he would not sell or rent any piece of his land to a foreigner and that he did not acknowledge the authority of the Ottomans over Kuwait. The convention ruled that Sheikh Mubarak had independent authority over an area extending out to a radius of from the capital. This region was marked by a red circle and included the islands of
Auhah,
Bubiyan,
Failaka,
Kubbar,
Miskan, and
Warbah. A green circle designated an area extending out an additional in radius, within which the kaymakam was authorised to collect
tribute and taxes from the natives.
History as a Protected State of Britain Collapse of economy s,
Al-Hashemi-II Marine Museum in Kuwait City In the first decades of the twentieth century, Kuwait had a well-established elite: wealthy trading families who were linked by marriage and shared economic interests. The elite were long-settled, urban, Sunni families, the majority of which claim descent from the original 30 Bani Utubi families. The British economic blockade heavily damaged Kuwait's economy. At its height, Kuwait's pearling industry led the world's luxury market, regularly sending out between 750 and 800 ship vessels to meet the European elite's need for luxuries pearls. The goal of the Saudi economic and military attacks on Kuwait was to annex as much of Kuwait's territory as possible. A force of 4,000 Saudi Ikhwan, led by
Faisal Al-Dawish, attacked the
Kuwait Red Fort at Al-Jahra, defended by 2,000 Kuwaiti men. The Kuwaitis were largely outnumbered by the Ikhwan of Najd.
The Uqair protocol In response to the various Bedouin raids, the British High Commissioner in Baghdad,
Sir Percy Cox, imposed the
Uqair Protocol of 1922 which defined the boundaries between Iraq, Kuwait and Nejd. On 1 April 1923, Shaikh
Ahmad al-Sabah wrote the British Political Agent in Kuwait, Major
John More, "I still do not know what the border between Iraq and Kuwait is, I shall be glad if you will kindly give me this information." Major More, upon learning on 4 April that al-Sabah claimed the outer green line of the Anglo-Ottoman Convention, relayed knowledge of the claim to Sir Percy. On 19 April, Sir Percy stated that the British government recognised the outer line of the convention as the border between Iraq and Kuwait. This decision limited Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf at 58 km of mostly marshy and swampy coastline. As this would make it difficult for Iraq to become a naval power (the territory did not include any deepwater harbours), the Iraqi King
Faisal I (whom the British installed as king of Iraq) did not agree to the plan. However, as his country was under British mandate, he had little say in the matter. Iraq and Kuwait would formally ratify the border in August. The border was re-recognised in 1932. In 1913, Kuwait was recognised as a separate province from Basra Vilayet and given autonomy under Ottoman
suzerainty in the draft Anglo-Ottoman Convention, however this was not signed before the outbreak of the first World War. The border was revisited by a memorandum sent by the British high commissioner for Iraq in 1923, which became the basis for Kuwait's northern border. In Iraq's 1932 application to the League of Nations it included information about its borders, including its border with Kuwait, where it accepted the boundary established in 1923.
1920s–1940s The 1920s and 1930s saw the collapse of the pearl fishery and with it Kuwait's economy. This is attributed to the invention of the artificial cultivation of pearls. The discovery of oil in Kuwait, in 1938, revolutionised the sheikdom's economy and made it a valuable asset to Britain. In 1941 on the same day as the
German invasion of the USSR (22 June) the British took total control over Iraq and Kuwait. (The British and Soviets would
invade the neighbouring Iran in September of that year). ==List of Rulers==