Table of Contents

Kuwait, the Ottoman Empire and Shaik Mubarak: murder by night - Shaik Mubarak seizes power; the al-Sabah and Kuwait, 1716-1896; Mubarak's inheritance - Kuwait in 1896; population and society; the Kuwait economy - trade and pearling; Mubarak's first phase - negotiations with the Ottoman Empire. Shaikh Mubarak and Britain's interests in the Gulf: how Britain managed its Gulf interest; London considers Mubarak's request; Mubarak's first meeting with a British official; the Russian threat - Lord Curzon intervenes; Meade receives his instructions; the negotiations of the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899; the Anglo-Kuwait Agreement of 1899; British reactions to the 1899 Agreement. Shaik Mubarak and Najd - the first phase: Mubarak in the ascendant - January 1899-March 1901; things go wrong - the disaster at Sarif; Yusuf Ibn Ibrahim overplays his hand - the Lapwing incident. Shaik Mubarak and Najd - the final phase: the financial strains of desert diplomacy; the breach with the Muntafiq. Kuwait and the Baghdad railway project: the Anatolian railway Company; the second phase of the railway project; the eastern limits of Kuwait; Knox exceeds instructions; the Ottoman Revolution of 1908 and the Gulf; Anglo-Ottoman talks begin; departmental strife in London; disappointment for Shaikh Mubarak. Mubarak's last years: the end of an age and an evaluation; Mubarak's last offer to Britain. Shaikh Mubarak in history.

About the Author

Salwa Alghanim is an historian who lives and works in Kuwait.