| Kuwait-Najd War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theUnification of Saudi Arabia | |||||||
 Kuwait Red Fort during the war | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
  Faisal al-Duwaish |  Salim I Sheikh Ali Khalifa Al-Abdullah II Al-Sabah † Sheikh Duaij Salman Al-Sabah † Sheikh Abdullah Jaber Al-Abdullah II Al-Sabah † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000 cavalrymen | 2,000 cavalrymen | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 500–800 killed | 300 killed[3] | ||||||
TheKuwait–Najd War erupted in theaftermath of World War I. The war occurred due toIbn Saud ofNajd's desire to annex Kuwait.[4][5] The sharpened conflict betweenKuwait andNajd led to the death of hundreds of Kuwaitis. The war resulted in sporadic border clashes throughout 1919–1920.
Following the Kuwait–Najd War, Ibn Saud imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait for 14 years from 1923 until 1937.[4][6] The goal of the Saudi economic and military aggression against Kuwait was to annex as much of Kuwait's territory as possible.[4] At theUqair conference in 1922, the boundaries of Kuwait and Najd were set.[4] Kuwait had no representative at the Uqair conference.[4] After the Uqair conference, Kuwait was still subjected to a Saudi economic blockade and intermittent Saudiraids.[4]
In 1913 EmirAbdulaziz Al-Saud ofRiyadh captured theSanjak of Hasa from the Ottomans to become the new neighbor to the Emirate of Kuwait. According to theAnglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, Kuwait's border extended south to Manifa (about 200 km from Kuwait city), but thenewly expanded Saudi state did not recognize the Convention since the Ottoman province annexed to Najd.
In 1919 SheikhSalim 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, dissuading Sheikh Salim from building the city.
In 1920, an attempt by theIkhwan to build a stronghold in southern Kuwait led to theBattle of Hamdh, involving 2,000Ikhwan fighters against 100 Kuwaiticavalrymen and 200 Kuwaitiinfantrymen. The battle lasted 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.
TheBattle of Jahra happened as the result of theBattle of Hamdh. A force of 3,000 to 4,000Ikhwan, led byFaisal al-Duwaish, attacked theRed Fort at Al-Jahra, defended by 1,500 men. The fort was besieged with the Kuwaiti position precarious; had the fort fallen, Kuwait would likely have been incorporated into Ibn Saud's empire.[7]
The Ikhwan attack repulsed for the while, negotiations began between Salim and al-Duwaish; 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.[7]
After the Battle of Jahra, Ibn Saud's warriors, theIkhwan, demanded that Kuwait follow five rules: evict all theShias, adopt theIkhwan doctrine, label the Turks "heretics", abolish smoking,munkar and prostitution, and destroy the American missionary hospital.[8]
Kuwait is known for itsreligious tolerance.[9] Palgrave noted that:[9]
"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 singleproselyte at Kuwait."[9]
The1922 Treaty of Uqair defined Kuwait's border with the Saudis and also established theSaudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, an area of about 5,180 km² adjoining Kuwait's southern border.
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.
