Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Dar al-lmara, Iraq
Further reading:
S.Ahmad, ‘Survey of the Kufa area’ (in Arabic), 
Sumer
21:
229–252, 1965.
M.A.Mustafa, ‘Dar al Imara at Kufa’, 
Sumer
21: 229–252,
1965.
——, ‘Preliminary report on the excavations in Kufa
during the third season’, 
Sumer
19: 36–65, 1963.
kuliyye
Ottoman term used to describe large complexes
around mosques, which might include madrassas,
libraries, khanqas, bath houses and a kitchen for the
poor.
Kuwait
Small desert country located in the northern Arabia/
Persian Gulf.
The first Islamic settlements in the Kuwait area were
on the island of Failika and at the small port of
Kathima near the modern town of Jahra. The present
state of Kuwait was founded in the eighteenth
century when descendants of the ruling al-Sabah
family established themselves as rulers in alliance
with local merchants. The prosperity of the town of
Kuwait rapidly increased attracting a growing
population. In 1793 the British moved their
commercial base from Basra to Kuwait and in 1899
Kuwait ended its formal ties to the Ottoman
authorities by signing a protection treaty with Britain.
In the early part of the nineteenth century Kuwait
was relatively poor with an economy reli-ant on a
declining dhow trade and pearl fishing. After the
Second World War the economy was transformed
by the discovery of oil (it had actually been
discovered before the war) and since then the country
has seen unprecedented economic growth.
Little has survived of Kuwait’s traditional
architecture because of its high-speed development.
The traditional building materials were rubble stone
covered with thick mud plaster, mud brick and some
coral stone. With the exception of date palms wood
was rare, although mangrove poles imported from
East Africa were used for the roofs.
Kuwait city was surrounded by a wall with five
gates in the eighteenth century but this has now
disappeared. Apart from the city wall Kuwait was
protected by two forts, one in the city and the other
on the end of the peninsula known as the Red Fort.
Within the city there were a number of mosques most
of which have been rebuilt several times. The oldest
mosques in Kuwait are the Masjid al-Khamis built
between 1772 and 1773 and the Masjid Abd al-Razzaq
built in 1797. Before the nineteenth century minarets
were rare and where they did exist consisted of small
square towers covered with a small roof canopy.
Kuwait

---

158
A typical Kuwaiti merchant house was built in
the Ottoman style which reached the city from Basra.
Ottoman features included projecting wooden
balconies enclosed with wooden screens, or
mashrabiyya, and carved wooden doorways which
sometimes included European motifs. The extreme
heat of the city made wind-catchers and ventilators
a necessity for most houses.
Modern architecture in Kuwait is mostly in the
modern international style, although there are
several buildings which demonstrate some relation-
ship to Islamic themes. The best-known example of
Kuwaiti modern architecture is the water towers,
consisting of tall pointed conical spires on which
spherical water tanks are skewered.