Page 716 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

POLITICAL RESIDENCY FOR 1011. 114

d overbearing. On his calling upon the Badur and Ziad tribes allied to
the Muntafick to support him these two tribes sided with the Thaffir. Sa’adun
then marched north with the Thaffir following him. He was short of water
nd the Tkaflir seized what pond9 and wells there were in the vicinity of El
fjaQjych and caught his water-camels and men. Finally Sa’adun having
i)cen without water for three or four days was compelled to halt and the
Thaffir with the advantage of freshly watered camels attacked him. Sa’aduu
was completely routed and left all his tents, camels, woraenkind and gear in
the Thaffir’s hands.
In May the principal Thaffir Shaikhs came to Kuwait and were well
received by Shaikh Mubarak. They included Hamud-us-Suwait, Nafa’a bin
Buwaihi of the As-Smid section and Thair Abu Thara’a of the As-Smid
section and when visiting the Political Agent had no words bad enough for
Sa’adun.
In July when Shaikh Sa’adun went to Basrah to pay his respects to
Saiyid Talib (son of the Nakhib of Basrah) on his return from Constantinople
lie was decoyed by the Wali of Basrah on board the “ Marmaris ” and then
arrested on account of his continued molestation and tyranny towards the
people and travellers in the desert. He was deported by the Turkish authori­
ties to Alleppo where, it was reported, he died in November 1911.
Shaikh Subah bin Muhammad, Shaikh Mubarak’s nephew, came from
Basrah on the 13th June to attend the
Shaikh Mubarak’s Affairs.
marriage of his own daughter and
niece to Shaikhs Salim bin Hamed as-Subah and Hamcd bin Mubarak. The
marriages took place on the 22nd and 23rd Jane. A Jewish band of about
12 musicians from Basrah was engaged for the occasion by Shaikh Mubarak,
and some mild festivities indulged in.
In February, the Shaikh purchased more land on the Shatt-el-Arab; his
object was to round off his Matawah property as the date-gardens now bought
from Abdur Razak Beg of the A1 Mansur family formed a strip between two
plots formerly purchased.
With Turkey.—Shaikh Mubarak’s relations with the Ottoman authori­
ties during the year under report have
Ghiikh Mubarak’s Foreign Relations.
been very fairly friendly and no serious
differences have arisen.
Early in June the protective works of the Shaikh’s Fao estate were inter­
fered with by the fort commandant, but a visit from the Sheikh’s secretary
brought the Wali of Basrah on the scene, who took energetic steps to prevent
further trouble in this direction.
In July the Shaikh received a begging letter from the Wali of Basrah
appealing to him as a good Mohammedan for a subscription towards the re­
construction of the Government offices in Constantinople destroyed by fire, and
tbe Shaikh, feeling it difficult to refuse a contribution in view of the terms
of the appeal, sent the Wali £T. 500.
In August Jasira bin Brahim ot the big Kuwait pearl-dealing firm in
Bombay purchased for £T. 180,000 all the “ Sanieh " date gardens on the
^ght bank of the Shatt-el-Arab from near the Dawasir Islands to Basrah.
Ine property originally belonged to the mother and other relatives of the
Q-Sultan Abdul Hamed and reverted to the Turkish Government on his down-
alh In connection with this purchase a long article appeared in the Basrah
“ Ar-Rishad ” vehemently denouncing the purchase and insinuating
jhat Jasim, who had so long resided in Bombay, was acting on behalf of the
^0vernment. The article, said to be from the pen of Saiyid Talib,
he Basrah Parliamentary Deputy, was violently anti-English in tone.
When the Turko-Italian War broke out in October, the Shaikh, at the
1Qstance of the Ulema in Turkey, opened a subscription list in aid of tbe war
at the end of November it-was reported that he"had taken a lakh of rupees
C° Basrah to be handed over to the Wali for remittance to Constantinople
information puts the amount at the more probable figure of £T. 3,000,
°f which local merchants contributed rather more than two-thirds.