A (Very) Short History of Qatar

Introduction and Early Centuries.

To understand a people, one must read their history.

Arabs have inhabited the Qatar Peninsular for centuries, but few records exist documenting the region’s early history before the eighteenth century.  For nearly a thousand years, the region’s population consisted largely of Bedouin nomads, and only a few lived in small fishing villages.

The Islamic Empire under the Abbasids, 750-1258

In the eighth century, Islam entered the area during the rule of the Al-Munzir king, Ibn Sawi al-Tamimi.  Qatar has, ever since, been an integral part of the Islamic civilization.  Under the Abbasid state, the peninsula enjoyed economic prosperity and provided a great deal of financial support to the Baghdad Caliphate.

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, direct and indirect rule of the region alternated between the Safavids, Omanis, Bahrainis, and Ottomans.

In 1766, a number of Kuwaiti families migrated to the Qatar Peninsula – most notably the al-Khalifah.  Their settlement at Al-Zubarah grew into a small pearl-diving and trade centre.  Then, in 1783, the al-Khalifah conquered nearby Bahrain (which the family still rules today).  After the transfer of power the Bahrainis maintained official control over the peninsula for some eighty years. But the country largely fell under the rule of local sheikhs – such as Raḥmah ibn Jabr al-Jalahimah – that preyed on Persian Gulf shipping, leading the British to term the area the “Pirate Coast.”