History

Overview

The port of Kuwait was founded in the 18the century, and the state has been ruled since 1756 by the Sabah Family. Britain became responsible for Kuwait's foreign affairs in 1899, and the country became a British protectorate in 1914, before becoming fully independent in 1961.

The invasion and annexation by Iraq in Aug 1990 led to the Gulf War, which caused severe damage to Kuwait City and the infrastructure of the country. The Kuwait government went into exile in Saudi Arabia until the country was liberated in 1991. Major post-war problems included large-scale refugee emigration, the burning of oil wells by Iraq and the pollution of Gulf waters by oil.

Ancient History

In 3rd century BC, the Ancient Greeks colonised the island Failaka under Alexander the Great and named it 'Ikaros'. Some believe the name came from an island off the Greek coast, where it is believed that the mythical Icarus was buried, which resembled Failaka. Others however believe it was named so due to its heat and the belief that it was close to the sun.

18th Century: The Bani Utub

Kuwait was founded in the early eighteenth century by various clans of the Anaiza, who gradually migrated sometime in the late seventeenth century from Nejd to the shores of the Persian Gulf. In the course of these migrations, different tribal groups with different skills came together to form a new tribe, what became collectively known as Bani Utub after the migration. According to one local tradition, the Sabahs migrated south to flee drought in Najd, but found conditions bleaker. Returning to Najd, they regrouped with other families and migrated to Zubara, on Qatar's west coast. Finding conditions no better there, they finally migrated north to Kuwait where they found water and consequently settled. On the last leg of the journey they had atabu ila al-shamal (moved to the north), one explanation of the origin of the name Bani Utub. When they arrived at Kuwait, the Bani Utub found a small Bani Khalid settlement. Possibly the Bani Khalid or Bani Utub had built a fortress from which the name Kuwait, a diminutive of kut or fortress, derives.

Early Economy

Peace in a region dominated by the Bani Khalid, as well as internal problems that kept other regional powers from interfering, allowed the Bani Utub to develop new maritime skills. Although the Bani Khalid controlled the harbours and kept the peace, they were primarily a desert-oriented people and did not trade much by sea. Kuwait had arguably one of the best natural harbours in the Persian Gulf; its location allowed it to benefit from the caravan trade to Aleppo and Baghdad, Shatt al-Arab trade, and from smuggling trade into Ottoman territory that high tariffs encouraged. Bani Utub's self-sufficiency to the desert was abandoned as they became linked to this trading network that included trade in horses, wood, spices, coffee, dates and especially pearls; Kuwait was located within close sail of the pearl banks that stretched down the Persian Gulf coast. In the summer, boats sailed for pearls; in the winter, they turned to entrepôt trade.

Early Political Environment

Trade became the basis of the economy and the Bani Utub developed new political and social arrangements to organise life in a settled economy. Tribal traditions were retained, but were placed within a complex occupational and social stratification; trade became tightly and hierarchically organised. Pearl divers were distinguished occupationally from ropepullers, captains or merchants. The proceeds from the pearling industry were divided on the basis of occupation; at the top, a stratum of merchants, the core of which composed of Bani Utub, became the elite. Above the merchants were the Al-Sabah family, who early on enjoyed some pre-eminence.

18th-21st Century: The Al-Sabahs

Soon after the colony was founded, a Sabah became leader, ruling until his death in 1762. In 1716, the heads of the al-Khalifa, al-Sabah, and al-Jalahima agreed to give the Sabahs pre-eminence in government and military affairs, subject to consultation, while the Khalifas controlled local commerce and the Jalahima maritime affairs. Another account has it that after reaching Kuwait the Bani Utub held a council and elected a representative to go to Basra to explain their peaceful intent to the Ottomans. The man chosen was a Sabah, Sabah I bin Jaber. Sabah diplomacy may have also been important with neighbouring tribes, especially as Bani Khalid power declined.

Many theories exist as to the source and origin of Sabah power. The Sabahs, because of their role in the caravan (as opposed to sea) trade, developed closer ties with the desert, and as a result became the tax collectors there, an important revenue source. Their rise has also been attributed to administrative functions; control of the harbour required administration and also increased the Shaikh's power by giving him access to resources independent of the desert, hence some independence from tribal alliances. The port also gave the Shaikh a territorial base just as Kuwait's entrepôt economy, oriented to fixed land and sea routes, caused the nomads to become sedentary and desert grazing for shipbuilding, pearling and long-distance trade. As the people became more linked to the land, the settled became ascendant over the bedu, and the stakes of politics changed. As the political unit was slowly tied to the land, the idea of a people to a place emerged and enhanced the Shaikh's power.

In 1762, Sabah I died and was succeeded by his youngest son, Abdullah. Shortly after Sabah's death, in 1766, the al-Khalifa and, soon after, the al-Jalahima, left Kuwait en masse for Zubara in Qatar. Domestically, the al-Khalifa and al-Jalahima had been among the top contenders for power. Their emigration left the Sabahs in undisputed control, and by the end of Abdullah I's long rule (1762-1812), Sabah rule was secure, and the political hierarchy in Kuwait was well established, the merchants deferring to direct orders from the Shaikh. By the 19th century, not only was the ruling Sabah much stronger than a desert Shaikh but also capable of naming his son successor.

The Merchants

Sabah family rule, though well established, remained limited until well into the 20th century. This is because the merchants, owing to their financial power, could still check Sabah designs. The financial influence of the merchants came from their control of trade and imports, duties on which sustained the Shaikh. Because wealth was imbedded in movable property, refuge was tolerated by neighbouring Shaikhs, and Britain intervened only when important interests were at stake, secession was an effective merchant tactic. A large secession could reduce the shaikhdom's economic and military power and create a refuge of future dissidents.

Foreign Relations

Kuwait's first contact with Britain occurred in 1775 when first plague, then the Persians, struck Basra and the East India Company made arrangements to have the Persian Gulf-Aleppo Mail Service diverted through Kuwait.

Also during this period, the British established a base in the region. The British became increasingly interested in Kuwait, and the Middle East in general, as the Germans made plans to extend their proposed Berlin-Baghdad railway into Kuwait, where they intended to locate a coaling station.

1897: The Assassination of Muhammad bin Sabah

Although Kuwait was nominally governed from Basra, the Kuwaitis had traditionally maintained a relative degree of autonomous status; their cultural integration with the emirates of the Gulf formed a network of tribal and trade relationships stronger than the tie to Ottoman Iraq. European banks took control of the Ottoman budget in 1881, and so additional income was required from Kuwait and the Arabian peninsula. Midhat Pasha, the governor of Iraq, demanded that Kuwait submit to Ottoman rule. The al-Sabah found diplomatic allies in the British Foreign Office. In May 1896, Shaikh Muhammad Al-Sabah was assassinated by his half-brother, Mubarak al-Sabah (the Great) who, in early 1897, was recognised, by the Ottoman sultan, as the qaimmaqam (provincial sub-governor) of Kuwait.

1897-1915: Mubarak the Great

In July 1897, Mubarak invited the British to deploy gunboats along the Kuwaiti coast. This led to what is known as the First Kuwaiti Crisis, in which the Ottomans demanded that the British stop interfering with their empire. In the end, the Ottoman Empire backed down, rather than go to war.

In January 1899, Mubarak signed an agreement with the British which pledged that Kuwait would never cede any territory nor receive agents or representatives of any foreign power without the British Government's consent. In essence, this policy gave Britain control of Kuwait's foreign policy. The treaty also gave Britain responsibility for Kuwait's national security. In return, Britain agreed to grant an annual subsidy of 15,000 Indian rupees (£1,500) to the ruling family.

In 1911, Mubarak raised the taxes, prompting a group of three wealthy businessmen (Ibrahim Al-Mudhaf, Helal Al-Mutairi, and Shamlan bin Ali) to lead a protest against Mubarak, making Bahrain their main trade point, and thus negatively affecting the Kuwaiti economy. However, Mubarak went to Bahrain and apologised for raising the taxes and the three businessmen returned to Kuwait.

In 1915, Mubarak the Great died and was succeeded by his son Jaber II Al-Sabah for just over one year until on his death in early 1917. His brother Sheikh Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah succeeded him.

1913: The Anglo-Ottoman Convention

Despite the Kuwaiti government's desire to either be independent or under British rule, in the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, the British concurred with the Ottoman Empire in defining Kuwait as an 'autonomous caza' of the Ottoman Empire and that the Shaikhs of Kuwait were not independent leaders, but rather qaimmaqams (provincial sub-governors) of the Ottoman government.

The convention ruled that Shaikh Mubarak had authority over an area extending out to a radius of 80 km, from the capital. This region was marked by a red circle and included the islands of Auhah, Bubiyan, Failaka, Kubbar, Mashian and Warba. A green circle designated an area extending out an additional 100km, in radius, within which the qaimmaqam was authorised to collect tribute and taxes from the natives.

1920: The Border War with Najd

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and the British invalidated the Anglo-Ottoman Convention, declaring Kuwait to be an independent sheikhdom under British protectorate. The power vacuum left by the fall of the Ottomans sharpened conflict between Kuwait and Najd. Shaikh Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah insisted that Kuwait was in full control of all territory out to a radius of 140km from the capital; however, the ruler of Najd, Abdul Aziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Saud, argued, in September 1920, that the borders of Kuwait did not extend past the walls of the capital.

In May 1920, ibn Saud's Wahhabi Bedouins of Nejd had attacked a Kuwaiti detachment in southern Kuwait, forcing its retreat. In October, they raided Jahra, 40km from the capital. In response, the British deployed gunboats, armoured cars and aircraft, and the Bedouins withdrew.

1922: The Uqair Protocol

The 1920s and 30s 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. Kuwait became one of the world's poorest countries and became even more dependent on Britain for protection.

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 and Nejd; and between Kuwait and Nejd.

On April 19, Sir Percy stated that the British government recognised the outer green line of the Anglo-Ottoman Convention as the border between Iraq and Kuwait. This decision limited Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf to 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 a puppet king in 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 1927. However, following Kuwait's independence in 1961, Iraq claimed Kuwait, under the pretence that Kuwait had been part of the Ottoman Empire subject to Iraqi suzerainty. In 1963, Iraq reaffirmed its acceptance of Kuwaiti sovereignty and the boundary it agreed to in 1913 and 1922, in the 'Agreed Minutes between the State of Kuwait and the Republic of Iraq Regarding the Restoration of Friendly Relations, Recognition, and Related Matters.'

The boundary with Saudi Arabia was also set in 1922 with the Treaty of Uqair following the Battle of Jahrah. This treaty established the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone, an area of about 5,180 sq. km. (2,000 sq. mi.) adjoining Kuwait's southern border. In December 1969, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement dividing the Neutral Zone (now called the Divided Zone) and demarcating a new international boundary. Both countries share equally the Divided Zone's petroleum, onshore and offshore.

Kuwait in the 1940s to 1960s

On the same day as the German invasion of Russia (22 June, 1941), the British took total control over Iraq and Kuwait. The British and Russians invaded neighbouring Iran in September of that year.

By early 1961, the British had withdrawn their special court system, which handled the cases of foreigners resident in Kuwait, and the Kuwaiti Government began to exercise legal jurisdiction under new laws drawn up by an Egyptian jurist. On June 19, 1961, Kuwait became fully independent following an exchange of notes with the United Kingdom.

1980s and 1990s: Conflict with Iraq

In the 1980s, Kuwait, fearful of Iran after the Iranian Revolution, supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. As a consequence of this, Iran attacked Kuwait's oil tankers, and Kuwait was forced to seek protection from the United States, which sent warships to the gulf.

Kuwait was then invaded and annexed by Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) in August 1990. Hussein's primary justifications included a charge that Kuwaiti territory was in fact an Iraqi province, and that annexation was retaliation for 'economic warfare' Kuwait had waged through slant drilling into Iraq's oil supplies. The monarchy was deposed after annexation, and an Iraqi governor installed.

Though initially ambiguous toward a potential annexation of Kuwait by Iraq, US President George H.W. Bush ultimately condemned Hussein's actions, and moved to drive out Iraqi forces. Authorised by the United Nations Security Council, an American-led coalition of 34 nations fought the Persian Gulf War to reinstate the Kuwaiti Emir. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led United Nations (UN) coalition began a ground assault on February 23, 1991 that completely removed Iraqi forces from Kuwait in four days. After liberation, the UN, under Security Council Resolution 687, demarcated the Iraq-Kuwait boundary on the basis of the 1932 and the 1963 agreements between the two states. In November 1994, Iraq formally accepted the UN-demarcated border with Kuwait, which had been further spelled out in Security Council Resolutions 773 and 883.

Kuwait has spent more than five billion dollars to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-1991.

Kuwait in the 21st Century

In 2003, Kuwait served as the major staging base for the coalition forces in the US-led invasion of Iraq; it was the only Arab nation to support the invasion publicly.

Kuwait remains under the governance of the Emir, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jabir Al-Sabah (since 29 January 2006) as an independent state and is of strategic importance to the United States.