History of Qatar

After Britain announced a policy of ending the treaty relationships with the Persian Gulf sheikdoms in 1968, Qatar joined the other eight states then under British protection in a plan to form a federation of Arab emirates.

[10] From this time onward, Qatar was regularly used as rangeland for nomadic tribes from the Najd and al-Hasa regions in Saudi Arabia, and a number of seasonal encampments were constructed around sources of water.

[41] Muhammad sent Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami, a Muslim envoy, to a Persian ruler in Eastern Arabia named Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi in 628 and requested that he and his people accept Islam.

This theory is supported by an archaeological find of approximately 100 small stone-built Islamic-period houses and fortified palaces of a tribal leader in Murwab, which are thought to have originated from the early Islamic period.

[87] Desiring to keep surveillance over the proceedings of the Wahhabis, Bahrain stationed a government official named Abdullah bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa on the coast of Qatar as early as 1833.

At the end of 1839 or the beginning of 1840, the governor of Al-Hasa dispatched troops to lay waste to Qatar following the refusal of the Al Nuaim tribe of Zubarah to pay the demanded tribute.

[94] Shortly after the battle ended, Mohammed bin Thani negotiated a separate peace agreement with Faisal in which he agreed to be under Wahhabi governance provided that he remains chief of Al Bidda.

Consequently, the Bahrainis attempted to drive away residents of Al Bidda and Doha who were suspected of being loyal to the Wahhabi by imposing an economic blockade on the inhabitants, which prevented them from engaging in pearl hunting.

After Bahrain received assurance from Qatar that they would not cooperate with the Wahhabi forces if they crossed their borders, they sent Ali bin Khalifa to the mainland to act as a collaborator with the local resistance.

Before this could be effected the tribes of Qatar retaliated by an attack on Bahrain which proved unsuccessful; but in the naval action which took place a number of vessels were destroyed and great loss of life occurred.

[6] To further add to their apprehension, Jassim bin Mohammed, who assumed his father's role during this period, authorized the Ottomans to send 100 troops and equipment to Al Bidda in December 1871.

[116] The conflict was rooted in longstanding territorial disputes over poorly defined borders, competition for control of resources such as grazing lands and pearl banks, and the secession of the Qubaisat tribe from Abu Dhabi to Qatar in 1869.

[121] In February 1893, Mehmed Hafiz Pasha arrived in Qatar to seek unpaid taxes and accost Jassim bin Mohammed's opposition to proposed Ottoman administrative reforms.

Fearing that he would face death or imprisonment, Jassim bin Mohammed moved to Al Wajbah (10 miles west of Doha); he was accompanied by several tribe members.

In March 1893, Mehmed imprisoned his brother, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Thani, in addition to 13 prominent Qatari tribal leaders on the Ottoman corvette Merrikh.

After Mehmed declined an offer to release the captives for a fee of ten thousand liras, he ordered a column of approximately 200 Ottoman troops to advance towards Jassim bin Mohammed's fortress in Al Wajbah under the command of Yusuf Effendi.

Some few years ago his father was engaged in hostilities with the Turks, who succeeded, after some hard fighting, in establishing a garrison in the fort of Al Bida’ (Dohah) on the eastern side of the peninsula and in reducing Jasim to nominal subjection.

Since about 1900 various attempts have been made by the Porte to assert its sovereignty in other parts of the Qatar peninsula, and in 1910 Turkish mudirs were to be despatched to Zubarah, Odaid, Wakrah, and Abu ’Ali Island.

"[126] The Ottomans officially renounced sovereignty over Qatar in 1913, and in 1916, the new ruler Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani signed a treaty with Britain, thereby instating the area under the trucial system.

The disruption of food supplies caused by the war prolonged a period of economic hardship in Qatar, which began in the 1920s with the collapse of the pearl trade and was exacerbated in the early 1930s with the onsets of the Great Depression and the Bahraini embargo.

Ali bin Abdullah's increasing financial difficulties and inability to control striking oil workers and obstreperous sheikhs led him to succumb to British pressure.

[135] The group made a statement that week where it listed 35 of its demands to the government entailing less authority for the ruling family; protection for oil workers; recognition of trade unions; voting rights for citizens and the Arabization of the leadership.

[132][135] Ahmed bin Ali rejected most of these demands and moved to arrest and detain fifty of the most prominent National Unity Front members and sympathizers without trial in early May.

[139] The rulers remained divided on multiple issues despite Khalifa bin Hamad's election as chairman of the Temporary Federal Council in July 1968 and the establishment of numerous ministries.

[140] Shortly after the meeting, the Political Agent in Abu Dhabi revealed the British government's interests in the outcome of the session, prompting Qatar and Ras al-Khaimah to withdraw from the federation over perceived foreign interference in internal affairs.

[141] Ahmad bin Ali subsequently promulgated a provisional constitution in April 1970, which declared Qatar an independent Arab Islamic state with the Sharia as its basic law.

[1] In contrast to his predecessor's policies, Khalifa bin Hamad cut family allowances and increased spending on social programs, including housing, health, education, and pensions.

[1] In 1991, Qatar played a significant role in the Gulf War, particularly during the Battle of Khafji in which Qatari tanks rolled through the streets of the town and provided fire support for Saudi Arabian National Guard units which were engaging Iraqi Army troops.

[142] Qatar allowed coalition troops from Canada to use the country as an airbase to launch aircraft on CAP duty and also permitted air forces from the United States and France to operate in its territories.

[159] Beginning in 2015, Qatar has participated in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was deposed in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings.