Travel in Kuwait City - Kuwait - History

The present Al-Sabah dynasty was established in Kuwait in the mid-eighteenth century, about 1760. Kuwait was nominally a province of the Ottoman Empire, ruled from Constantinople. This was observed on paper but seldom in fact.

In 1899 when the Turks threatened to take actual control of the country, the ruling sheikh sought and received British protection.

Oil was discovered in Kuwait in 1938 by the Kuwait Oil Company but because of World War II, it was not exported until 1946, after which time Kuwait's economy flourished.

Kuwait remained a British protectorate until 1961 when it became independent under Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. However, when Kuwait claimed the emirate in the early 1960s, it once again received British protection.

In July 1961 Kuwait joined the Arab League and in 1963 became a member of the United Nations. Also in 1963 the first legislative elections were held and Sheikh Abdullah, the Emir of Kuwait, inaugurated the first National Assembly on 29 February 1963.

During the 1980's, Kuwait experienced several terrorist attacks by Shiite Muslim extremists, including one in 1985, which attempted to assassinate the emir. Kuwait, like most Arab states, supported Kuwait in the Iran-Kuwait War (1980-1988).

Kuwait played a major role in establishing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman in 1981. The Council held a firm position during Kuwait's invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and its seven-month occupation of the Emirate.

The state that became modern Kuwait began in the middle of the eighteenth century when members of the Utub clan from what is now Saudi Arabia settled in the area.

Since those long-ago days, many other Arabs have also settled in Kuwait but in general, it is fair to say that the ancestors of most Kuwaitis come of desert stock. At different points in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these traditional sons of the desert adapted themselves to a life revolving around the sea: trade, fishing, pearl diving and boat building.

Life centred on the sea was not easy in those days but probably the harshest life of all was that of the desert Bedouin. He roamed the desert in search of water and food for himself, his family and his animals. He generally gravitated to the town in the hotter weather and out into the desert in the winter. His life was based on his camels, his sheep and his goats.

After the discovery of oil in Kuwait, many of these people were invited to settle in government-supplied housing and, in the 1950s and 1960s, chose to do so.

In and around Kuwait, the names, which are seen on shops and businesses, indicate the origins of the owners. Some belong to the original Utub families and others to the great Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Desert.

Around the middle of the eighteenth century a group of Arabs known as the Utub settled in Kuwait. This group was a part of the Anizah tribe from modern-day Saudi Arabia.

It is believed the Utub came to Kuwait to escape a terrible drought that was decimating the Arabian peninsula. They and other inhabitants of Kuwait chose Sabah bin Jaber to be their ruler in 1756 and the little town at the head of the Arabian Gulf grew through trade, fishing and pearl diving to be one of the most prosperous in the region.

From 1756 to the present, there have been thirteen rulers of Kuwait from the Al-Sabah family:

· Sheikh Sabah bin Jaber I, 1756-1762

· Sheikh Abdullah I, 1762-1812

· Sheikh Jaber I, 1812-1859

· Sheikh Sabah II, 1859-1866

· Sheikh Abdullah II, 1866-1892

· Sheikh Mohammed I, 1892-1896

· Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, 1896-1915

· Sheikh Jaber II, 1915-1917

· Sheikh Salem Al-Mubarak, 1917-1921

· Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 1921-1950

· Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, 1950-1965

· Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, 1965-1977

· Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 1977-present

After a series of disputes over oil, money and boundaries, Kuwait invaded its much smaller neighbour on 2 August 1990. The invasion received immediate international condemnation and on 16 January 1991, after the failure of international diplomatic efforts and sanctions, a 28-member military coalition under U.S. command launched the Gulf War.

Kuwait was recaptured on 26 February 1991 and on 14 March, the emir returned to his country.

The Advisory National Council, created in 1990 before the invasion, was reconvened on 9 July. Later in 1991, Kuwait and the United States signed a ten-year security agreement.