History of Kuwait

Following the post-glacial flooding of the Persian Gulf basin, debris from the Tigris–Euphrates river formed a substantial delta, creating most of the land in present-day Kuwait and establishing the present coastlines.

[27] Studies indicate traces of human settlement can be found on Failaka dating back to as early as the end of the 3rd millennium BC, and extending until the 20th century AD.

[33][34][35][36] Juris Zarins argued that the Garden of Eden was situated at the head of the Persian Gulf (present-day Kuwait), where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run into the sea, from his research on this area using information from many different sources, including LANDSAT images from space.

[71][72][73] In Bubiyan, there is archaeological evidence of Sassanian periods of human presence as evidenced by the recent discovery of torpedo-jar pottery sherds on several prominent beach ridges.

[90] Archaeologists are currently excavating nearby sites to understand the extent of the settlements that flourished in the eighth and ninth centuries A.D.[90] An old island tradition is that a community grew up around a Christian mystic and hermit.

[99] In the latter half of the eighteenth century, Kuwait gradually became a principal commercial center for the transit of goods between India, Muscat, Baghdad, Persia, and Arabia.

[124] On 6 November 1914, British offensive action began with the naval bombardment of the old fort at Fao in Iraq, located at the point where the Shatt-al-Arab meets the Persian Gulf.

At the Fao Landing, the British Indian Expeditionary Force D (IEF D), comprising the 6th (Poona) Division led by Lieutenant General Arthur Barrett with Sir Percy Cox as Political Officer, was opposed by 350 Ottoman troops and 4 guns.

The same month, the ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, contributed to the Allied war effort by sending forces to attack Ottoman troops at Umm Qasr, Safwan, Bubiyan, and Basra.

[126] Mubarak's participation and previous exploits in obstructing the completion of the Baghdad railway helped the British safeguard the Persian Gulf by preventing Ottoman and German reinforcement.

When Percy Cox was informed of the border clashes in Kuwait, he sent a letter to Mohammerah Sheikh Khazʽal Ibn Jabir offering the Kuwaiti throne to either him or one of his heirs, thinking Khaz'al would be a more competent ruler the Al Sabah family.

[137] Al Sabah family rule remained limited until well into the 1930s because the merchants, owing to their financial power, were the primary sources of income in Kuwait.

[146] Iraqi prime minister Abd al-Karim Qasim was killed in a coup in 1963 but, although Iraq recognised Kuwaiti independence and the military threat was perceived to be reduced, Britain continued to monitor the situation and kept forces available to protect Kuwait until 1971.

[166] Major investment was made into developing new architectural projects reflecting a new liberal economy whilst advancing passive cooling and attempts at weaving in local styles and decoration.

[168] In 1982 the government submitted sixteen constitutional amendments that, among other things, would have allowed the emir to declare martial law for an extended period and would have increased both the size of the legislature and the length of terms of office.

[176] The Iraqi government described it as a form of economic warfare,[176] which it claimed was aggravated by Kuwait slant-drilling across the border into Iraq's Rumaila oil field.

This move was supported by the US, who believed that Iraqi ties with pro-Western Gulf states would help bring and maintain Iraq inside the US' sphere of influence.

[176] A UN mission to the Israeli-occupied territories, where riots had resulted in Palestinian deaths, was vetoed by the US, making Iraq deeply skeptical of US foreign policy aims in the region, combined with the reliance of the US on Middle Eastern energy reserves.

Saddam believed an anti-Iraq conspiracy was developing – Kuwait had begun talks with Iran, and Iraq's rival Syria had arranged a visit to Egypt.

But when this happens in the context of what you said on your national day, then when we read the details in the two letters of the Foreign Minister, then when we see the Iraqi point of view that the measures taken by the UAE and Kuwait is, in the final analysis, parallel to military aggression against Iraq, then it would be reasonable for me to be concerned.

[189] It was reported as a deliberate natural resources attack to keep US Marines from coming ashore (Missouri and Wisconsin had shelled Failaka Island during the war to reinforce the idea that there would be an amphibious assault attempt).

The testimony was widely publicized in the American media and was cited numerous times by United States senators and President George H. W. Bush in their rationale to back Kuwait in the Gulf War.

In 1992, it was revealed that Nayirah's last name was Al-Ṣabaḥ (Arabic: نيرة الصباح) and that she was the daughter of Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States.

[208][209][210] After the Gulf War in 1991, nearly 200,000 Palestinians fled Kuwait, partly due to economic burdens, regulations on residence and fear of abuse by Kuwaiti security forces.

[226] Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, accusations of Kuwait funding terrorism have been very common and come from a wide variety of sources including intelligence reports, Western government officials, scholarly research, and renowned journalists.

[231] Since then, "numerous associates of his have been targeted and detained by the Kuwaiti authorities on various charges,"[223] most notably members of the so-called "Fintas Group" that had allegedly been the original circulators of the fake coup video.

[233][234] In December 2015, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad was convicted of "disrespect to the public prosecutor and attributing a remark to the country's ruler without a special permission from the emir's court," issuing a suspended six-month prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 Kuwaiti Dinar.

[237][238] In June 2019, government official Fahad Al Rajaan and his spouse were given life sentences in absentia by the Kuwait criminal court; personal property was confiscated, and they were ordered to repay $82 million, as well as being fined "twice that amount.

[244][245] In July 2020, the US Department of Justice filed an asset forfeiture claim against The Mountain Beverly Hills and other real property in the United States, alleging a group of three Kuwaiti officials, including Sheikh Khaled Al Jarrah, set up unauthorized accounts in the name of the country's Military Attache Office in London, known as the 'Army Fund.'

[254] On April 13, 2021, a Kuwaiti court ordered the detention of former prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on corruption charges related to the 'Army Fund.