“The Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer” is the highest national award of:

Q: What is the answer to CDS (I) 2025 GK Q116?

B. Correct — B, Kuwait. The order is named after Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, called Mubarak the Great, who ruled Kuwait from 1896 to 1915 and secured its autonomy from Ottoman control through the agreement of 1899 with Britain — the founding figure of the modern Kuwaiti state. The decoration is Kuwait's order of knighthood, given to heads of state and members of royal families; earlier recipients include Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and several Gulf rulers. It reached Indian papers in December 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi received it on 22 December during the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Kuwait in forty-three years. The name is the reliable clue: Al-Sabah is the ruling house of Kuwait, and Mubarak Al-Kabeer is also the name of one of Kuwait's six governorates. One honest qualification on the stem's wording — Kuwait's own order of precedence ranks the Order of Kuwait above this one, so 'highest' is contested even though the country is not. (Provisional — pending the official UPSC key.)

(a)Egypt
(b)Kuwait
(c)Bahrain
(d)United Arab Emirates

Answer

Why

Correct — B, Kuwait. The order is named after Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, called Mubarak the Great, who ruled Kuwait from 1896 to 1915 and secured its autonomy from Ottoman control through the agreement of 1899 with Britain — the founding figure of the modern Kuwaiti state. The decoration is Kuwait's order of knighthood, given to heads of state and members of royal families; earlier recipients include Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and several Gulf rulers. It reached Indian papers in December 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi received it on 22 December during the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Kuwait in forty-three years. The name is the reliable clue: Al-Sabah is the ruling house of Kuwait, and Mubarak Al-Kabeer is also the name of one of Kuwait's six governorates. One honest qualification on the stem's wording — Kuwait's own order of precedence ranks the Order of Kuwait above this one, so 'highest' is contested even though the country is not.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Egypt — Egypt's highest state honour is the Order of the Nile, awarded to heads of state and to Egyptians of exceptional service. Narendra Modi received it in June 2023, which is probably why the option is here.
(c)Bahrain — Bahrain's senior decorations are the Order of Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and the Order of Bahrain. The Al Khalifa family rules Bahrain; Al Sabah rules Kuwait.
(d)United Arab Emirates — The UAE's highest civil decoration is the Order of Zayed, named for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan; Narendra Modi received it in 2019. Different country, different founding figure.

Concept

Most states keep a top-ranking order reserved largely for foreign heads of state and their own royalty, and these are usually named after a founding ruler or a national symbol. Kuwait's is named after Mubarak Al-Sabah; the UAE's after Sheikh Zayed; Egypt's after the Nile; Bahrain's after Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. India's prime minister has received a series of these on state visits, which is how they enter Indian general-knowledge papers at all.

Solve this one by the name rather than by memory of the award. Al-Sabah is the ruling family of Kuwait, and the word Kabeer, meaning great, marks a founder figure — Mubarak the Great is to Kuwait roughly what Sheikh Zayed is to the UAE. Once that connection is made, the three other Arab states on the list fall away, since each has its own differently named order. It is worth keeping a short list of the honours conferred on Indian leaders abroad, because the same set is recycled: the Order of Zayed from the UAE in 2019, the Order of the Nile from Egypt in 2023, and the Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer from Kuwait in December 2024, alongside honours from Bahrain, Maldives, Bhutan, Fiji and others.

Key facts

The Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer is Kuwait's order of knighthood, awarded to heads of state and royalty.
It is named after Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, 'the Great', ruler of Kuwait from 1896 to 1915.
Narendra Modi received it on 22 December 2024, during the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Kuwait in forty-three years.
Kuwait's own order of precedence places the Order of Kuwait above it, so calling it the highest award is contested — the country is not.
Comparable honours: the Order of Zayed (UAE, received by Modi in 2019) and the Order of the Nile (Egypt, 2023).

Study next

Foreign honours conferred on Indian leaders, and the countries that gave themIndia's relations with the Gulf states — energy, the Indian diaspora and remittancesThe Gulf Cooperation Council, its members and its institutionsThe ruling houses of the Gulf: Al Sabah in Kuwait, Al Nahyan and Al Maktoum in the UAE, Al Khalifa in Bahrain, Al Thani in QatarIndia's own civilian honours and how they differ from state orders given to foreigners

Common traps

Reaching for the UAE because the Order of Zayed is the Gulf honour most often recalled in India.
Assuming any Arabic-sounding award belongs to the largest state on the list.
Taking 'highest national award' at face value; the country is what the item tests, and the ranking claim is contested even in Kuwait's own precedence.

As an award-to-country item like this one, or by asking which honour a particular country conferred on the Indian prime minister in a given year.

Related PYQs

CDS_GK_2023_II_Q1192023Open & attempt →

The Grand Order of the Chain of the Yellow Star is the highest civilian honour of which among the following countries?

(a) Fiji
(b) Papua New Guinea
(c) Egypt
(d) Suriname

Answer(d) Suriname

The same item design two papers earlier — name a foreign state honour, offer four countries, and let the candidate who has followed the Indian prime minister's state visits recognise it. Egypt appears as an option in both.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The Order of Zayed, conferred on the Indian Prime Minister in 2019, is the highest civil decoration of which country?
- (a)Saudi Arabia
- (b)Qatar
- (c)United Arab Emirates
- (d)Oman
Answer(c) United Arab Emirates — it is named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE.
practice — not a real PYQ
Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, after whom Kuwait's order of knighthood is named, ruled Kuwait during which period?
- (a)1756–1814
- (b)1896–1915
- (c)1950–1965
- (d)1977–2006
Answer(b) 1896–1915 — he is regarded as the founder of the modern Kuwaiti state, having secured its autonomy from Ottoman control by the 1899 agreement with Britain.