During the rise to power of Ibn Saud, he created new villages by settling down nomads and indoctrinating them in the Wahabbi interpretation of Islam, calling them the Ikhwan.

In 1920, as part of this program nomads from the Mutayr tribe founded the city of Qaryat al-Ulya, led by Hayf bin Shuqayr al-Duwaish [ar].

The city occupied a strategic position along the pilgrimage route from Basra and Bahrain to Mecca.

After the 1920 Battle of Jahra, the poet Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen wrote in reference to the city: وإذكر مآثر قوم جل قصدهم جهاد أهل الردى لله لا السلبُ هم أهل قرية إخوان لهم قدم في الصالحات التي ترجى بها قربُ The city is located 350 km northeast of Riyadh, 280 km northwest of Dammam, and 150 km south of Kuwait–Saudi Arabia border.

Qaryat al-Ulya is distinguished by a high water table and fertile land, which makes it well-suited for farming.