Kuwait-Najd War

Last updated
Kuwait-Najd War
Part of the unification of Saudi Arabia
Date1919–1920
Location Kuwait
Result Kuwaiti victory
Belligerents

Flag of the Second Saudi State.svg Sultanate of Nejd

Flag of Kuwait (1915-1956).svg Sheikhdom of Kuwait
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  British Empire

Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Second Saudi State.svg Faisal al-Dwaish Flag of Kuwait (1915-1956).svg Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah
Strength
5,000 cavalrymen 2,000 cavalrymen
Casualties and losses
Unknown 200 killed [2]

The Kuwait–Najd War erupted in the aftermath of World War I. The war occurred because Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia wanted to annex Kuwait. [3] [4] The sharpened conflict between Kuwait and Najd led to the death of hundreds of Kuwaitis. The war resulted in sporadic border clashes throughout 1919–1920.

Aftermath of World War I Period after the conclusion of World War I

The Aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, new ones were formed, boundaries were redrawn, international organizations were established, and many new and old ideologies took a firm hold in people's minds.

Ibn Saud Founder of Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al Saud, usually known within the Arab world as Abdulaziz and in the West as Ibn Saud, was the first monarch and founder of Saudi Arabia, the "third Saudi state".

Kuwait Country in Western Asia

Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.5 million people: 1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 3.2 million are expatriates. Expatriates account for 70% of the population.

Contents

Following the Kuwait–Najd War, Ibn Saud imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait for 14 years from 1923 until 1937. [3] [5] The goal of the Saudi economic and military attacks on Kuwait was to annex as much of Kuwait's territory as possible. [3] At the Uqair conference in 1922, the boundaries of Kuwait and Najd were set. [3] Kuwait had no representative at the Uqair conference. [3] Ibn Saud persuaded Sir Percy Cox to give him two-thirds of Kuwait's territory. [3] More than half of Kuwait was lost due to Uqair. [3] After the Uqair conference, Kuwait was still subjected to a Saudi economic blockade and intermittent Saudi raiding. [3]

Uqair Protocol of 1922 Wikimedia list article

The Uqair Protocol or Uqair Convention was an agreement at Uqair on 2 December 1922 which defined the boundaries between Iraq and the Sultanate of Nejd and between Kuwait and Nejd. It was imposed by Percy Cox, the British High Commissioner to Iraq, in response to Bedouin raiders from Nejd under ibn Saud. Cox met ibn Saud and Major John More, the British Political Agent to Kuwait. The boundaries included a Saudi–Iraqi neutral zone and a Saudi–Kuwaiti neutral zone.

Percy Cox British Indian Army general

Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creation of the current Middle East.

Raid (military) military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose

Raiding, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose and is not normally intended to capture and hold a location but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating to a previous defended position prior to enemy forces being able to respond in a coordinated manner or formulate a counter-attack. A raiding group may consist of combatants specially trained in this tactic, such as commandos, or as a special mission assigned to any general troops. Raids are often a standard tactic in irregular warfare, employed by warriors, guerrilla fighters or other irregular military forces. Some raids are large, for example the Sullivan Expedition.

Events

In 1913 the emir of Riyadh captured the Sanjak of Hasa from the Ottomans to become the new neighbor to the Emirate of Kuwait. According to the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, Kuwait's border extended south to Manifa (about 200 km from Kuwait city), but the Emirate of Najad didn't recognize the Convention since the Ottoman province annexed to Najd.

Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia Region in Saudi Arabia

The Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia by area. The province's capital is the city of Dammam, which hosts the majority of the region's population and its seat of government. The Eastern Province is the third most populous province in Saudi Arabia, after Makkah and Riyadh. Dammam is the province's most populous city, and the sixth most populous city in the country. The current governor of the Eastern Province is Prince Saud bin Nayef Al Saud.

The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 was an agreement between the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which defined the limits of Ottoman jurisdiction in the area of the Persian Gulf with respect to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the Shatt al-‘Arab. Signed, but never ratified, the long-lasting impact of the agreement was that of the status of Kuwait; the basis for both formal independence and the frontiers of modern Kuwait were established.

In 1919 Sheikh Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah intended to build a commercial city in the south of Kuwait. This caused a diplomatic crisis with Najd, but Britain intervened, discouraging Sheikh Salim.

Sheikh Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah was the ninth ruler of Kuwait.

In 1920, an attempt by the Ikhwan to build a stronghold in southern Kuwait led to the Battle of Hamdh. The Battle of Hamdh involved 2,000 Ikhwan fighters against 100 Kuwaiti cavalrymen and 200 Kuwaiti infantrymen. Outnumbered, the battle lasted for six days and resulted in heavy but unknown casualties on both sides resulting in the victory of the Ikhwan forces and leading to the battle of Jahra around the Kuwait Red Fort.

Ikhwan Wahhabi religious militia

The Ikhwan, also Akhwan, was the first Saudi army made up of traditionally nomadic tribesmen which formed a significant military force of the ruler Ibn Saud and played an important role in establishing him as ruler of most of the Arabian Peninsula in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Ikhwan later became the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

The Battle of Hamdh involved 2,000 Ikhwan fighters and 100 Kuwaiti cavalry accompanied by 200 Kuwaiti infantrymen. The battle lasted six days and resulted in heavy but unknown casualties on both sides.

The Battle of Jahra took into effect as the result of the Battle of Hamdh. A force of three to four thousand Ikhwan, led by Faisal Al-Dawish, attacked the Red Fort at Al-Jahra, defended by fifteen hundred men. The fort was besieged and the Kuwaiti position precarious; had the fort fallen, Kuwait would likely have been incorporated into Ibn Saud's empire. [6]

The Battle of Jahra was a battle during the Kuwait–Najd War fought between Kuwaiti forces and Saudi-supported militants. The battle took place in Al-Jahra, west of Kuwait City on 10 October 1920 around the Kuwait Red Fort.

The Kuwait Red Fort (Arabic phonetics :Qasr al Ahmar), or Red Palace, lies about 32 kilometres west of Kuwait City in Al-Jahra.

The Ikhwan attack repulsed for the while, negotiations began between Salim and Al-Dawish; the latter threatened another attack if the Kuwaiti forces did not surrender. The local merchant class convinced Salim to call in help from British troops, who showed up with airplanes and three warships, ending the attacks. [6]

After the Battle of Jahra, Ibn Saud's warriors, the Ikhwan, demanded that Kuwait follows five rules: evict all the Shias, adopt the Ikhwan doctrine, label the Turks "heretics", abolish smoking, munkar and prostitution, and destroy the American missionary hospital. [7]

Kuwait is known for its religious tolerance. [8] Palgrave noted that: [8]

"The Sunni people of Kuwait are tolerant to others and not over-rigid to themselves; Wahhabism is carefully proscribed, all the efforts of Najd have never succeeded in making one single proselyte at Kuwait." [8]

Aftermath

The 1922 Treaty of Uqair set Kuwait's border with Saudis and also established the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, an area of about 5,180 km² adjoining Kuwait's southern border.

See also

Related Research Articles

Kuwait is a country in the Arabian Peninsula, surrounding the Gulf of Kuwait at the head of the Persian Gulf. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Kuwait was a prosperous trade port.

Najd Region in Saudi Arabia

Najd or Nejd is a geographical central region of Saudi Arabia that alone accounts for almost a third of the population of the country. Najd consists of modern administrative regions of Riyadh, Al-Qassim, and Ha'il.

House of Saud the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia

The House of Saud is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1744–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling faction of the family is primarily led by the descendants of Ibn Saud, the modern founder of Saudi Arabia. The most influential position of the royal family is the King of Saudi Arabia. King Salman, who reigns currently, chose first his nephew and then his son as the crown prince without consulting the Allegiance Council. The family is estimated to comprise 15,000 members, but the majority of the power and wealth is possessed by a group of about 2,000 of them.

The tribe of Shammar is a tribal Arab Qahtanite confederation, descended from the ancient tribe of Tayy. It is one of the largest and most influential Arab tribes. The historical and traditional seat of the tribe's leadership is in the city of Ha'il in what was the Emirate of Jabal Shammar in Saudi Arabia. In its "golden age", around 1850, the tribe ruled much of central and northern Arabia from Riyadh to the frontiers of Syria and the vast area known as Al Jazira in Northern Iraq.

Emirate of Nejd 1818– 1891 country in Arabian Peninsula

The Emirate of Nejd was the second Saudi state, existing between 1824 and 1891 in Nejd, the regions of Riyadh and Ha'il of what is now Saudi Arabia. Saudi rule was restored to central and eastern Arabia after the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State, having previously been brought down by the Ottoman Empire's Egypt Eyalet in the Ottoman–Wahhabi War (1811–1818).

Almutairi is one of the largest Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula, especially Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Al-Ahsa Oasis human settlement

Al-Aḥsāʾ, al-Ḥasāʾ, or 'Hadjar' is a traditional oasis historical region in eastern Saudi Arabia whose name is used by the Al-Ahsa Governorate, which makes up much of that country's Eastern Province. The oasis is located about 60 km (37 mi) inland from the coast of the Persian Gulf.

Al-Ajman or al-'Ijman العجمي is an Arabian tribal confederation in Mid-Eastern Arabian Peninsula, with members spread across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, U.A.E. and the Kuwait.

Faisal al-Duwaish Prince of the Mutair tribe

Faisal bin Sultan al-Duwaish was a Prince of the Mutair tribe and one of the Ikhwan leaders, who assisted Ibn Saud in the unification of Saudi Arabia.

Unification of Saudi Arabia conflict (1902–1932)

The unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign, by which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or Al Saud, between 1902 and 1932, when the modern-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed under the leadership of Ibn Saud, creating what is sometimes referred to as the Third Saudi State, to differentiate it from the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, also House of Saud states.

Al-Mutairi or Almutairi or Mutairi s a powerful Arabic tribe in the Arabian Peninsula and prominent in the Middle East.

Ikhwan raids on Transjordan

Ikhwan raids on Transjordan were a series of plunders by the Ikhwan, irregular Arab tribesmen of Najd, on Transjordan between 1922 and 1924. The repeated Wahhabi incursions from Najd into southern parts of his territory were the most serious threat to emir Abdullah's position in Transjordan. The emir was powerless to repel those raids by himself, thus the British maintained a military base, with a small air force, at Marka, close to Amman. The British military force was the primary obstacle against the Ikhwan, helping emir Abdullah to secure his rule over Transjordan.

Ikhwan revolt

The Ikhwan Revolt began in 1927, when the tribesmen of the Otaibah and Mutayr and Ajman rebelled against the authority of Ibn Saud and engaged in cross-border raids into parts of Trans-Jordan, Mandatory Iraq and the Emirate of Kuwait. The relationship between the House of Saud and the Ikhwan deteriorated into an open bloody feud in December 1928. The main instigators of the rebellion were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla, on 29 March 1929. Ikhwan tribesmen and troops loyal to Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud clashed again in the Jabal Shammar region in August 1929, and Ikhwan tribesmen attacked the Awazim tribe on 5 October 1929. Faisal al-Dawish, the main leader of the rebellion and the Mutair tribe, fled to Kuwait in October 1929 before being detained by the British and handed over to Ibn Saud. Faisal Al-Dawish would die in Riyadh on 3 October 1931 from what appears to have been a heart condition. Government troops had finally suppressed the rebellion on 10 January 1930, when other Ikhwan rebel leaders surrendered to the British. In the aftermath, the Ikhwan leadership was slain, and the remains were eventually incorporated into regular Saudi units. Sultan bin Bajad, one of the three main Ikhwan leaders, was killed in 1931, while al-Dawish died in prison in Riyadh on 3 October 1931.

The Battle of Jabal Shammar, or Battle of Umm Radh'ma took place on August 1929, between a raiding rebellious Ikhwan party and the ally tribes of Ibn Saud. It was the second large scale engagement of the Ikhwan Revolt in Arabia. The rebel Ikhwan tribesmen were defeated by the loyal pro-Saudi forces.

The First Saudi–Hashemite War, also known as the First Nejd–Hejaz War or the al-Khurma dispute, took place in 1918–19 between Abdulaziz Ibn Saud of the Emirate of Nejd and the Hashemites of the Kingdom of Hejaz.

Sheikhdom of Kuwait

The Sheikhdom of Kuwait was a sheikhdom which gained independence from the Khalidi Emirate of Al Hasa under Sabah I bin Jaber in the year 1752. The Sheikhdom became a British protectorate between 1899 and 1961 after the Anglo-Kuwaiti agreement of 1899 was signed between Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah and the British government in India due to severe threats to Kuwait's independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Arabia

The Ottoman era in the history of Arabia lasted from 1517 to 1918. Ottoman degree of control over these lands varied over the four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.

References

  1. ↑ Reeva S. Simon; Philip Mattar; Richard W. Bulliet (1996). Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East – Volume 1. p. 119. Fighting between Kuwait's forces and Wahhabi supporters of Ibn Sa'ud broke out in May 1920, and the former were soundly defeated. Within a few weeks, the citizens of Kuwait constructed a new wall to protect Kuwait City.
  2. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mary Ann Tétreault (1995). The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and the Economics of the New World Order. pp. 2–3.
  4. ↑ Michael S. Casey. The History of Kuwait. pp. 54–55.
  5. ↑ Mohammad Khalid A. Al-Jassar (2009). Constancy and Change in Contemporary Kuwait City: The Socio-cultural Dimensions of the Kuwait Courtyard and Diwaniyya. p. 80.
  6. 1 2 Toth, Anthony B. (2005). "Losses in the Saudi and Iraqi Struggles over Kuwait's Frontiers, 1921–1943". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 32 (2): 145–67. doi:10.1080/13530190500281424. JSTOR   30037690.
  7. ↑ "Global Art Forum – 26:12–28:12". Sulayman Al-Bassam .
  8. 1 2 3 Frank Broeze, ed. (1997). "Kuwait before Oil: The Dynamics and Morphology of an Arab Port City (Gateways Of Asia: Port Cities of Asia in the 13th–20th Centuries)".
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