[17] As punishment for alleged piracy committed by the inhabitants of Al Bidda and breach of the treaty, an East India Company vessel bombarded the town in 1821.

[19] In January 1823, political[clarification needed] resident John MacLeod visited Al Bidda to meet with the ruler and initial founder of Doha, Buhur bin Jubrun, who was also the chief of the Al-Buainain tribe.

A. H. Nott, a British naval commander, demanded that Salemin bin Nasir Al-Suwaidi, chief of the Sudan tribe (Suwaidi) in Al Bidda, take Ghuleta into custody and warned him of consequences in the case of non-compliance.

Despite the compliance, the British demanded a fine of 300 German krones in compensation for the damages incurred by pirates off the coast of Al Bidda; namely for the piracies committed by bin Jabir.

[30][31] A British record later stated that "the towns of Doha and Wakrah were, at the end of 1867 temporarily blotted out of existence, the houses being dismantled and the inhabitants deported".

[32] The joint Bahraini-Abu Dhabi incursion and subsequent Qatari counterattack prompted the British political agent, Colonel Lewis Pelly, to impose a settlement in 1868.

It implicitly recognized Qatar as a distinct entity independent from Bahrain and explicitly acknowledged the position of Mohammed bin Thani as an important representative of the peninsula's tribes.

[34] The Ottoman commander, Major Ömer Bey, compiled a report on Al Bidda in January 1872, stating that it was an "administrative centre" with around 1,000 houses and 4,000 inhabitants.

Townsite and quarters, — The south-eastern point of the bay are quite low but the land on the western side is stony desert 40 or 50 feet above the level of the sea.

The town is built up the slope of some rising ground between these two extremes and consists of 9 Fanqs or quarters, which are given below in their order from the east to the west and north: the total frontage of the place upon the sea is nearly 2 miles.

[16] Qatar was not long in exploiting the new-found wealth from oil concessions, and slum areas were quickly razed to be replaced by more modern buildings.

Starting with remodeling the old complex of the Old Amiri Palace, Plant then initiated the construction of a seaside road about a half-mile in length which opened up and made accessible the half dozen jetties along Doha's most built-up section.

[59] Since the start of the 21st century, Doha attained significant media attention due to the hosting of several global events and the inauguration of several architectural mega-projects.

[67] The geology of Doha is primarily composed of weathered unconformity on the top of the Eocene period Dammam Formation, forming dolomitic limestone.

[106] Doha witnessed explosive growth rates in population in the first decade of the 21st century, absorbing the majority of the thousands of people then immigrating to Qatar every month.

[110] As there is a large expatriate population in Doha, languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali, Tagalog, Spanish, Sinhala, French, Urdu and Hindi are widely spoken.

[108] In 2004, the Foreign Ownership of Real Estate Law was passed, permitting non-Qatari citizens to buy land in designated areas of Doha, including the West Bay Lagoon, the Qatar Pearl, and the new Lusail City.

[124] Beginning in the late 20th century, the government launched numerous initiatives to diversify the country's economy to decrease its dependence on oil and gas resources.

Plaster, known as juss, was made from crushed beachrock, shell, baked lime, or gypsum, and applied in three layers for both functional and decorative purposes.

Roofing was characteristically flat, utilizing mangrove beams (danshal) imported from East Africa, overlaid with split bamboo, woven reed, and palm mats, then sealed with tamped earth.

[144] Distinctive architectural elements included colonnaded verandas (liwan) with lintels made of mangrove poles bound with jute rope, and wooden waterspouts for drainage.

These blocks were likely produced locally and incorporated a distinctive shelly sand rich in small gastropod remains, a material abundant along Qatar's coastline.

[152] The museum features an innovative design by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel[153] that is inspired by the desert rose and grows organically around the original 20th century palace of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jassim Al Thani.

Designed by architect Hadi Simaan and AREP and engineer Ove Arup and Partners,[159] the tower served as the focal point for the 15th Asian Games hosted by Qatar in December 2006.

[166] In the pre-modern era, Doha's architectural landscape was characterized by densely clustered dwellings interconnected by narrow passageways, a design that offered mutual shade, privacy, and safety to residents.

Thick stone walls, often reaching 0.6 metres (2 ft 0 in) in width, served as effective thermal insulators, mitigating heat transfer to the interior.

[167] Due to excessive heat from the sun during the summer, some Doha-based building companies implemented various forms of cooling technology to alleviate the extremely torrid climatic conditions in the late 20th century.

[173][174] One of the largest projects underway in Qatar is Lusail City, a planned community north of Doha which is estimated to be completed by 2020 at a cost of approximately $45bn.

Since 2004, Doha has been undergoing a huge expansion to its transportation network, including the addition of new highways, a new airport in 2014, a new seaport in 2016, and an 85 km metro system which went operational in 2019.

[234] Celebrities such as Robert De Niro,[235] Salma Hayek,[236] Adel Emam,[237] Mira Nair,[238] and Kevin Spacey[239] attended the festivals.