Mubarak Al-Sabah anxiety over possible encroachment by the Great Powers, most notably Britain and Russia into the region due to the construction of the Baghdad Railway. They thought that bestowing the title could dissuade any foreign powers from interfering with Kuwait. "See Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899" The long Ottoman indecisiveness in naming Mubarak kaymakam, as well as feelings of vulnerability helped pave the way for Mubarak to pursue British ties. On January 18, 1899 Mubarak signed a secret agreement with Major M.J. Meade, British political resident in Bushire, that guarded Kuwait against any outside foreign aggression. It also required Mubarak and his
Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 capitulation rights for subjects of the Sheikh of Bahrain (protected by the Britannic Majesty’s Consuls) living in the Ottoman Empire (Article 15). The final step in ensuring its dominance over the Persian Gulf was formalizing British policing of the Gulf. Therefore, “for the Protection of its special interests…in the free water of the Persian Gulf and on the borders belonging to the independent Shaykhs from the south of al-Qatar up to the Indian Ocean,” the British were able to continue exercising, as in the past, the following measures (Article 16): <br> Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913