History of Kuwait peninsula. Midhat Pasha, the governor of Iraq, demanded that Kuwait submit to Ottoman rule. The al-Sabah found diplomatic allies in the British Foreign Office. However, under Abdullah II Al-Sabah, Kuwait pursued a general pro-Ottoman foreign policy, formally taking the title of Ottoman provincial governor, this relationship with the Ottoman Empire did result in Ottoman interference with Kuwaiti laws and selection or rulers. In May 1896, Shaikh Muhammad Al-Sabah was assassinated by his half-brother, Mubarak, who, in early 1897, was recognized, by the Ottoman sultan, as the "qaimmaqam" (provincial sub-governor) of Kuwait. Mubarak's seizure of the throne via murder left his
Bahrain administrative reforms of the 1920s in "prosecution of war, piracy and slavery at sea" and Britain was to provide maritime protection. The treaty also recognized the Al Khalifa ruler as an "independent ruler". Six years later, in 1867–8, the British navy intervened after a Bahraini attack on Qatar. After two years, in 1869, they intervened again to end an internal struggle over power, and appointed Shaikh Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa, then aged 21 as ruler of Bahrain. In subsequent years, the British exercised increasing control over Shaikh Isa's communications with foreign powers, especially the Ottomans, who had claims over Bahrain and Qatar. The increasing