Ma6aba

I Was readying the history of Kuwait on wikipedia and it’s actually pretty interesting so I thought I would share this few paragraphs on the blog.

“Kuwait was a part of the various Arabian empires for thousands of years. Modern Kuwait was gradually formed during the course of the sixteenth century (AD). It was un-officially established in the eighteenth century (AD), after being recognized by some European navigators. The country was formed when several clans from different Middle Eastern tribes settled near the area now known as the “Kuwait Bay”. Tribes came mainly from Central Arabia (specifically the Al-Najd province), Northern Arabia and Persia. Today, Central Arabia mainly constitutes of Saudi Arabia, as Northern Arabia mainly constitutes of Syria and Iraq. Persia is now known as the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, some clans also came from other parts of the world including India, Lebanon and Egypt (just to name a few).

The current rulers of the country (the Al-Sabah family) are descended from Sabah I, who was chosen by the community, which was composed mainly of traders. The duties of the rulers include administering the affairs of the State, including foreign affairs and taxation/duties. However, the ruler/Emir has little political role in modern governments due to the influence of State Prime ministers. The method of appointing a ruler in Kuwait was unlike most other Arab emirates of the Persian Gulf, where the rulers seized and maintained their authority by force.

The Al-Sabah family was chosen by the people of Kuwait. This process is known as “mubaya’a”, which means “to give one’s self” in Arabic. Before the Kuwaiti constitution was drafted, the Al-Sabah family ruled Kuwait in practise (de facto). Anyone else had the ability to be appointed as ruler of Kuwait, as long as the majority of citizens wanted him/her.

The area that is now Kuwait was occupied by tribes and used for spice trading from India. By the eighteenth century, most of the local people made a living selling pearls. But as pearl farming developed in Japan during the 1930s, the Kuwaiti market diminished.

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. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was financially crippled and the invading British forces invalidated the Anglo-Ottoman Convention, declaring Kuwait to be an “independent sheikhdom under British protectorate.”

Oil later transformed Kuwait into one of the richest countries in the Arab peninsula and in 1953 the country became the largest exporter of oil in the Persian Gulf. This massive growth attracted many immigrant laborers and foreign workers. Having amassed great wealth, Kuwait was the first of the Persian Gulf Arab states to declare independence, on June 19, 1961. This declaration was challenged by Iraq which claimed that Kuwait was an integral part of Iraqi territory. It threatened to invade Kuwait but was deterred by the British, who flew in troops.

An important period in Kuwait’s political, social and economic development was the Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash of 1982. This was a major crash that had widespread consequences and has endured in the public memory even decades later.

After being allied with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War until its end in 1988 (Kuwait paid Iraq to protect it from what it perceived as a threat posed by Iran), Kuwait was invaded and annexed by Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) on August 2, 1990. Hussein’s primary justifications included a charge that Kuwaiti territory was in fact an Iraqi province, and that annexation was retaliation for the “economic warfare” that Kuwait allegedly had waged through slant drilling into oil supplies on Iraqi territories. Hussein deposed the monarchy after the annexation and installed a new Kuwaiti governor.

Authorized by the UN Security Council, an American-led coalition of thirty-four nations fought the Persian Gulf War to remove Saddam’s control from Kuwait. After six weeks of fierce fighting in early 1991, the coalition forced Iraq to withdraw its troops from Kuwait on February 26, 1991. During their retreat, the Iraqi armed forces exacted a scorched earth policy by setting fire to Kuwaiti oil wells. The fires took more than nine months to extinguish fully and the cost of repairs to the oil infrastructure exceeded $5.12 billion. Certain buildings and infrastructural facilities (including Kuwait International Airport) were also severely damaged during the war. 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.”

I hope this information was useful. it’s just something any Kuwaiti should know and nice for people from different nationalities to know.

Best Regards,
Weld El-ma6aba