Azimusshan Haider
“Faheihil; 50 houses ; 20 wells of good water at 8 ft.، 150 date palms، sheep and goats”.
“Fintas، village;100 houses، 30 wells، 300 date palms”.
Above are some of the references to the pre-oil Kuwait contained in what was once a “confidential” document prepared by the British military intelligence about 95 years ago. (A Handbook of Arabia… prepared by the British Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division in 1916).
On the site of the above description now stand posh buildings with modern amenities، whose residents can hardly conjure up the not-very-distant past look of these areas.
Of the origin of Kuwait، how many people know that the first reference to Kuwait under the name of “Kuwait” is made by Syrian traveller and pilgrim Murtada Al Alwan who visited the place in 1709 while on his way to Mecca and Medina? Murtada found Kuwait to be a flourishing town، which indicates that Kuwait existed as a human habitat of some importance at least fifty or maybe a hundred years earlier، say in about 1600 A.D.، as towns do not grow overnight.
Regarding the population of old Kuwait، there are several contemporary references. Danish explorer and scientist Cartsen Niebuhr (1733- 1815) who passed by the vicinity of the Kuwait territory in early 1760’s estimated the population of the town to be 10، 000. However، Niebuhr did not actually land in the town of Kuwait.
About 135 years later، British official Stavrides، in his memorandum dated 30 June 1896 wrote that the population of the “town” of Kuwait amounted to 50، 000 souls، mostly fisherman who netted both fish and pearls.
Not many visitors to the Zoo at Omariya know that Kuwait was the first country in the Gulf where a zoo was established، in 1955. And even less people will remember that it was Shaikh Jabir Al Abdullah Al Jabir Al Sabah who set up the region’s first zoo known as Salwa garden، after which the place Salwa was so named subsequently. He purchased animals، with his own money and eventually transferred his collection in 1965 to form the nucleus of Umariya Zoo.
The long and moving story has been told in the book titled “Salwa Garden: the first zoo in Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf” written and published by his daughter Shaikha Mona Jabir Al Abdullah Al Jabir Al Sabah، Assistant Undersecretary of Al Diwan Al Amiri and author of several research-oriented books on Kuwait and the Gulf.
There are many obvious sectors depicting the expansion of Kuwait، such as the growth of cooperative societies popularly known as “Jamaiyya”.
It will be news to many that there are now as many as 55 Jamaiyyas in Kuwait، each representing a Mintaqa and that the first Jamaiyya in Kuwait was established at Kaifan in 1961? With the expansion Kuwait، Jamaiyyas also increased. They have a Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies. Dr. Hussain Ali Aldwihes، Chairman of the Union، explained to this writer the problems of Jamaiyyas and the way to sort them out، often in coordination with the concerned Ministry. The Union also brings out a magazine in Arabic named “Al Ta’awun”. I humbly suggest that as a large number of Jamaiyya users do not know written Arabic، the magazine may contain some pages of English also.
Kuwait then and now is also expressed through a proverb “From Jamal to Opel”; but I leave this to be elaborated in the second part of my column.
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