Sheikh Kazal’s palace a symbol of pride
Kuwait’s iconic buildings hold valuable legacies
Kuwait began its rush towards urbanization by bulldozing architectural vestiges of its past, it thankfully spared a pair of iconic buildings which stood witness not only to important historical events that saw it emerge as a leading oil power, but also as examples of architectural splendour sadly lacking from the pre-oil era. Archeological monuments and artifacts play an important role not only in giving a distinctive character to a locality or a community, they also hold valuable cultural, educational, recreational, social, aesthetic legacies that must be preserved. They give a meaningful sense of roots and cultural identity to present and future generations.
The National Council For Culture, Arts & Letters (NCCAL) in Kuwait recognized this and acquired two important heritage buildings for restoration.
Importance
In 2008, the NCCAL acquired Khazal palace and the Diwan, two buildings regarded as important historic edifices and in 2009 work began on these two buildings located near the Dasman Palace in Kuwait City.
The importance of the Khazal Palace and the Diwaniya is closely intertwined with the personage to whom they belonged. Built in 1916, the two buildings were the property of Sheikh Khazal bin-Jaber binMirdaw al-Khan, the Arab ruler of Mohammerra (present-day Khorramshahr) in Persian-held Arabistan (presently-day Iranian province of Khuzestan). But Sheikh Khazal was not just a tribal leader of local importance. His story is linked to the gradual discovery of oil in southwestern Iran, in the towns and villages of Khuzestan province.
Leila Papoli Yazdi, an archeologist who researched the Persian Gulf Coast colonial sites of Sheikh Khazal Khan notes, “Sheikh Khazal Khan, an Iranian Arab who lived in the early twentieth century ruled Khuzestan and counseled the governors of Kuwait. He also apparently worked as Great Britain’s political dependent in the region at least from 1890s.
He constructed five palaces on the shores of southwestern Iran and two in Kuwait... Khazal’s identity is a problematic subject in contemporary Iranian history. He is judged variously as a spy (for most Iranians) and as a hero (for PanArabs).” The close study of his buildings, observes Yazdi helps interpret his identity and leads to a better understanding of the material culture of that era.
The story of these two buildings under restoration is also one of close friendship that Sheikh Khazal shared with Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah, who ruled Kuwait during a difficult period in history when political intrigue was the order of the day and when the Western powers found it easy to use the small kingdoms of the East as pawns in political games.
In her book ‘Pioneers in the Arab World’, Dorothy Vann Ess mentions, “Sheikh Khazal Khan was the ruler of the Province of Arabistan, over the Persian border, and was nominally under Persian suzerainty.... Khazal had treaty relations with Great Britain, and the British India ships always fired a salute when they passed his palace above Mohammerra on their way up the Shatt Al Arab river to Basra. He was one of the persons considered as the possible Amir for the new Kingdom of Iraq after World War I, before King Feisal the First was finally chosen.”
Excavation
Incidentally the sons of Sheikh Mubarak and Sheikh Khazal studied in the same School of High Hope in Basra. “Their friendship was well-known,” smiled Evangelia Simos Ali, an architect with Kuwait Municipality who is leading work at the site. She is assisted by a team of local talents including Abdullah al-Bishi, Alaa al-Awadhi, Waleed alHumidi,Fatema al-Qabandi,Hussain al-Durrai and Zahra Ali Baba.
As she took me for a tour of the site where excavation, research, and documentation is being carried out, Evelyn explained, “The two men were extremely good friends and one would visit the other all the time. They helped each other militarily during skirmishes.” There is one story of their friendship that Evelyn, as the Australian Greek born architect is popularly called, likes to share.
“In the late nineteenth century the American Missionaries wanted to set up hospital in Kuwait, but were unable to do so because there was great resistance in Kuwait to Christian missionaries setting up any base in the country. During one of his trips to Mohammerra, Sheikh Mubarak took along his young daughter. On arrival his friend Sheikh Khazal realized that the little girl had a problem in her eyes. He convinced Sheikh Mubarak to allow the doctors of the American Mission to have a look. Sheikh Mubarak agreed. The little girl was treated and healed. As a token of appreciation Sheikh Mubarak allowed the American Mission to set up a hospital in Kuwait.”
The story of these buildings is also closely connected with two of Kuwait’s most prominent families, pointed out Evelyn. “When Sheikh Khazal died in Iran, his properties in Kuwait were bought by two families, the Al Sabah and the Al Ghanims. The palace was bought by Ahmad Muhammad Al Ghanim, a prominent Kuwaiti merchant. His family lived there until the mid seventies before they moved.
The diwanieh was bought by Sheikh Abdullah Jaber Al Sabah who later turned over the diwanieh to the state for use as Kuwait’s first national museum in 1957. After the museum moved to Qibleh, the diwanieh was used as a bachelor tenement and deteriorated steadily until the final blow during the invasion when the place was destroyed by fire.”
Heritage
Soft spoken, quiet and warm Evelyn is tenacious when it comes to preserving the architectural heritage of the country she adopted as her own after her marriage to a Kuwaiti. The founder of the Historic Building Preservation of Kuwait Municipality, it is her dogged perseverance that has helped preserve several old buildings that would have been other- wise bulldozed into oblivion.
Evelyn is one of those few people who dedicated herself to a lifetime of advocacy work to save whatever was left of Kuwait’s heritage building. The initiator of the Kuwait Heritage Building Register, she was quick to identify the potential of these extraordinary buildings as magnificent examples of formal upper Gulf region architecture with Ottoman and European influences. While doing a comprehensive study of heritage architecture in Kuwait, Evelyn singled out Sheikh Khazal’s residence, harem, guest house and the diwanieh. She wrote, “The residence featured a single grand family courtyard, to one wing of which were attached a series of smaller service courtyards and a private hamam or Turkish style bath.
The harem was noted for its double storey height, palatial dimensions, external screened galleries and distinctive internal timber colonnades. It featured red tinted mangrove poles ceilings, Persian doors and windows with European style panels and a wind catching tower of the type associated with the more humid regions of the Gulf. The residence’s most unique features, however, were a semi basement and a detached upper storey chamber made entirely of wood and glass. The glass hall or ‘jahm khane’ as it was known to Khazal Palace inhabitants, had a coffered ceiling, sash windows and external walls of wood furrowed to resemble brickwork.”
Contrast
For years, the Khazal palaces were perhaps the most magnificent structures in Kuwait. They were large, elaborate two storey structures in coral stones and mud brick, a stark contrast to Kuwait’s single storey, austere architecture. “The diwaniyah, which served as a guest house was architecturally unique. The plan is gigantic with detailing one will not find elsewhere,” observes Evelyn. “Unlike other buildings of the same genre, it had no courtyard. Its plan was simple with six guest rooms lining a central corridor.”
The structure was dominated by cylindrical corner towers, external verandahs, another deviation from traditional Kuwaiti architecture with rooms facing inwards, and dainty front and back porches trimmed in Mughal arches. “The building plan resembled a turtle with head, feet and tail extended.”
The qasr or the palace on the other hand was built along the classic lines of a Baghdadi courtyard house with open-faced verandas facing a gigantic internal courtyard, screened upstairs external galleries and a string of connected rooms. “Observe the width of the rooms,” Evelyn pointed towards the roof.
“Traditional Kuwaiti architecture is marked by long narrow rooms depending on the length of the mangrove poles, but in these two buildings the width of the rooms are broad because of the mangrove poles being held together by big timber beams.”
Unfortunately nothing remains of the former magnificence as both complexes got buried in decades of disinterest, rubbles, forced occupancy and shelling during the Iraqi invasion. “The place was covered in mounds of mud. It took us ages to just dig out the structure and study our findings,” said Evelyn as we walked through the imposing complex which has seen years of meticulous work.
The NCCAL’s strategy for the restoration of the Khazaal palaces is to desist from construction until the completion of thorough academic and site investigations. “It is painstaking work and it will take time,” explained Evelyn.
Construction
“We are excavating the site as we would do in an archeological dig to uncover original building features and construction methods, searching out old photographs and interviewing former occupants and owners. We will follow this up with detailed three-dimensional surveys to produce measured drawings, computer modeling and precise record of traditional Kuwaiti building techniques which will act as blueprint for the restoration and reconstruction work that we will carry out. We need to know what the building actually looked like; we need to know the detailing for us to restore it properly.”
The excavations have revealed successive building evolution stages and valuable material that will be used for restoration. “We have collected recyclable material such as loose clay, mud bricks, coral stones, wooden panels etc and we will use these during the rebuilding process.”
Preserving
It is important to recognize that restoring and preserving old buildings contribute to economic and community development. It is also important to accept that restoring and rehabilitating heritage buildings take time. Proper research that Evelyn and her team are carrying out allows a better understanding leading to a more accurate restoration of a building that belonged to a way of life that Kuwait had known as a pearl diving, shipping and trading nation.
The aim of sensitive restoration is to avoid destroying distinctive original features, recognizing the structure as a product of its time, respecting changes that have taken place, repairing rather than replacing worn architectural features when possible and preserving archeological resources. The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters has acknowledged the need for through and detailed work in restoring these heritage buildings to productive use.
The rehabilitation of the Khazal palace will not only restore a magnificent landmark to Kuwait’s architectural topography, it will be an irreplaceable component in the nation’s collective history and community identity, evoke a sense of pride and provide a tangible link to the past. Evelyn agrees. “I believe these sites will be opened to the public after restoration. It will be a great opportunity for them to savour and enjoy a building which is at par with the Seif Palace and the Dasman Palace as far as architectural and historical significance is concerned.”