A (Very) Short History of Qatar (Part Two)

The British Period.


While the earliest years of Qatar were dominated by Islamic forces, for about one hundred and fifty years the British were the most powerful influence in Persian Gulf and Qatari affairs.

Due to the Persian Gulf’s proximity to India and other trade interests, the British became highly concerned with stability in eastern Arabia.  To minimize piracy, the United Kingdom arranged the General Maritime Treaty in 1820 with the sheikhs of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Bahrain, Dubai Sharjah, and Umm Al-Quwain. The British solidified the protectorate status of the “Trucial States” in a subsequent treaty in 1853.

After a series of disputes over territorial claims between Qatar’s tribal elite and the rulers in Bahrain, the two went to war in 1867.  The conflict ended the next year with the semi-independence of Qatar under British protection.  Not only did the English recognize Qatar as a separate entity from Bahrain, but the 1868 Treaty endorsed Sheikh Mohammad bin Thani of Ad-Dawha as ruler of the peninsula.

Despite British dependency status, the Qataris maintained a historic connection with the Ottoman Caliphs.  The Turks held official governance over the Persian Gulf from the 1500s onward.  By the 1800s, that rule was truly indirect with the effective independence of the Treaty Emirates guaranteed by the British.  Still, the al-Thani emirs recognized their subject status to the Ottoman sultans into the early 1900s.  In 1871, Turkish forces established a garrison at the Qataris' invitation.  They would maintain forces in Qatar up until the start of the First World War in 1914.



When the Turks abandoned Qatar to concentrate forces against the Entente forces in 1915, the Ottoman and British governments recognized Abdullah bin Jassim as ruler of Qatar.

With the departure of the Turks, the British negotiated a new treaty with the al-Thani in 1916 and formalized the state’s protectorate status.  Under the agreement with Sheikh Abdullah, Britain gained control of Qatar's external affairs.  The Qataris promised not to cede any territory, or enter into relationships with, any other foreign governments without British consent.  In recompense, the British Government promised protection from all aggression. Another treaty in 1934 provided even greater British protection.  At the same time, British influence inside the country was limited to supervision of some administrative matters.