Dokki used to be a village on a mostly royal and state-owned agricultural estate held under waqf (endowment) until the early 20th Century along with 'izbas (hamlets) such as Awlad 'Allam, Bein al-Sarayat and Dayr al-Nahya, surrounding the palace of princess Fatima, granddaughter of Khedieve Ismail.

[2] A renewed and expanded bridge and a real estate boom saw the land on Cairo's western bank being sold to property developers and subdivided into new suburban villa neighbourhoods.

[3] The Ministry of Awqaf was responsible for much of the urban sub-divisions in its northern part when its chief architect Mahmoud Riad planned Madinat al-Awqaf in 1948.

These developments and hamlets made up most of the Wasat (middle) district in the city of Giza,[4] before being divided in 1997 into the districts of Dokki (developments, hamlets and southern half of Madinat al-Awqaf, reflected in the names of the sub-districts, see Demographics below), and Agouza to the north with the northern half of Madinat al-Awqaf known colloquially today as Mohandessin.

[citation needed] Many Cairene landmarks are located in Dokki, the German school Deutsche Evangelische Oberschule Kairo (DEO)[5] and the embassies of many countries including Russia, Somalia, France, Chad, the Czech Republic, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.