Page 92 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

preserved - in 1957 when modern town-planning necessitated its
removal.

Studio Badran

The original Jahara Gate at the west end of the Town.

In 1775 the Persians besieged and occupied Basra, an event that
was to have far-reaching influences on Kuwait — the most important
of which was the establishment of direct relations with the East India
Company and the consequent earliest reference to a postal service.
Throughout the Persian occupation of Basra, until 1779, the
mail from the Gulf to Aleppo was despatched from Kuwait instead of
from Zubair, and Kuwait also provided messengers to carry the mail to
and from the Company’s Factory in Basra. Camel riders from Kuwait
maintained the Desert Express service and covered the journey to
Aleppo in 14-20 days; the first recorded postal despatch from Kuwait
being a letter dated July 15th, 1775, from Moore, Latouche and
Abraham, the E.I.C. Agents in Bushire, to the Court of Directors in
London.

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