Early Life
Mubarak was born into Kuwaiti’s powerful al-Sabah family in 1837 son of Sheikh Sabah II Al-Sabah (r. 1859-1866). Once he was older Mubarak served primarily as a military leader in many tribal operations, including several Ottoman campaigns; most notably: 1871, 1892, and 1894 campaigns into Hasa, Qatar, and southern Iraq. For his long service Mubarak received the title istabl-i amire payesi, “(Rank of) The Grand Equerry of his Imperial Majesty” in August 1879 for a campaign into Qatif and southern Iraq. He was for more Ottoman honors as reward for his services in the Qatar campaign, though the value of his contributions are disputed. Although Mubarak was widely known for his ties with the British after his ascension to sheikhdom in 1896, he did have interactions with the British as early as 1863 when he met Sir Lewis Pelly, British political resident of Persia who went on many diplomatic missions around the region, and in 1883 when he was sent on a Ottoman diplomatic mission to Bahrain.
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