Mubarak Al-Sabah guns to local Arabian leaders. In 1904-1906, while the Ottoman military occupied the important sub-region of al-Qasim in central Najd, Mubarak supported the Ottoman's opponent Ibn Sa’ud giving him strong “strong moral and material” support. In 1905 Mubarak also served as a mediator between the Saudis and the Ottomans, while simultaneously shaping Saudi strategy during the negotiations. A sign that the Ottoman attitude toward Mubarak was changing occurred in 1911 when in a draft message to Mubarak he was addressed not as “Kaymakam of Kuwait” but rather “Ruler of Kuwait and Chief of its Tribes.” This change in attitude, which
Rise of the Ottoman Empire and vassals. When the Ottoman polity first emerged at the end of the thirteenth century under the leadership of Osman I, it had a tribal organization without a complex administrative apparatus. As Ottoman territory expanded its rulers were faced with the challenge of administering an ever-larger population. Early on the Ottomans adopted the Seljuks of Rum as models, and by 1324 were able to produce Persian-language bureaucratic documents in the Seljuk style. The early Ottoman state's expansion was fueled by the military activity of frontier warriors (), of whom the Ottoman ruler was initially merely "primus inter pares". Much of