Mubarak Al-Sabah

Mubarak Sabah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah الشيخ مبارك بن صباح الصباح
Photograph by Hermann Burchardt, 1903
7th Ruler of Kuwait
Reign	18 May 1896 – 28 November 1915
Predecessor	Muhammad I
Successor	Jabir II
Born	c. 1837 Sheikhdom of Kuwait
Died	28 November 1915(1915-11-28) (aged 77–78)
Issue	Jabir II Salim I Sabah Nasser Fahad Hamad Saud Abdullah Sharifa Hussa Mudhi Mariam Habiba Moza Aisha Bibi
House	Sabah
Father	Sabah II
Mother	Lulwa bint Muhammad Al Thaqib

Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah KCSI KCIE (c. 1837 – 28 November 1915) (Arabic: الشيخ مبارك بن صباح الصباح) "the Great" (Arabic: مبارك الكبير), nicknamed "The lion of the peninsula" (Arabic: أسد الجزيرة), was the seventh ruler of the Sheikhdom of Kuwait, from 18 May 1896 until his death on 18 November 1915. Mubarak ascended the throne upon killing his half-brother, Muhammad Al-Sabah. Known for his significant role in shaping modern Kuwait, the constitution of the State of Kuwait mandates that the Emir of Kuwait must be a descendant of Mubarak from the ruling Al-Sabah family.^[1]

Mubarak was the seventh ruler of the Al-Sabah dynasty. Mubarak was also the father of two rulers of Kuwait who succeeded him, Jaber and Salim, from which the Al-Jaber and Al-Salim in the Al-Sabah family branches originated respectively, and is the paternal ancestor of all successive rulers and prime ministers of Kuwait.

Mubarak signed the Anglo-Kuwaiti Treaty with Great Britain on 23 November 1899, pledging himself and his successors not to receive foreign agents or representatives or to cede or sell territory without the approval of the British government; with this agreement, and the guarantee it represented to Kuwait and the Al-Sabah family, he is regarded as the founder of modern-day Kuwait. German explorer Hermann Burchardt photographed Mubarak in 1903, in what is now an iconic photograph.^[2]