Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913

The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 was a short-lived agreement signed in July 1913 between the Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI and the British over several issues. However it was the issue over the status of Kuwait that came to be the only long-lived result, as its outcome was formal independence for Kuwait.

According to the agreement, Shaykh Mubarak I as-Sabah, who was a qaimmaqam under the Ottomans, was given authonomy of the city of Kuwait and the hinterlands. These lands were mainly uninhabited desert, and all areas inside a radius of 40 miles (103 km) came under the shaykh. This included the islands of Warda, Bubiyan, Mashian, Failakah, Auhah and Kabbar.

Furthermore, Mubarak was authorized to collect tributes from tribes inside an area beyond this, within a radius of 140 miles (equals 362 km). But when World War I broke out in June 1914, and the Ottomans and the British became enemies of war, the convention was declared void and empty. The result was that Britain declared Kuwait an independent shaykhdom under British protection.