Qatar History

According to the results of archaeological excavations in the region, in the III millennium BC. e. Qatar was part of the state of Dilmun with a center on the island of Bahrain . Dilmun at that time was a rich and prosperous state due to its location on a busy trade route between India and Ancient Mesopotamia ^[2] . The neighboring kingdom of Magan , presumably located in the region of modern Oman, had a strong influence on Qatar . The inhabitants of the peninsular state were mainly engaged in the cultivation of grain crops and copper smelting, and also traded with the Sumerians , with the ancient city of Akkad , Babylonia and Assyria .

Then on the territory of Qatar, the Phoenicians became entrenched, who were soon replaced by the Iranians . Qatar entered the empire of Alexander the Great , and after its disintegration it entered the Seleucid Empire . Repeatedly Qatar was conquered by the Iranian Sassanid dynasty , which ruled in the Near and Middle Ages in the 3rd – 7th centuries.

In the 7th century, Qatar became part of the Arab Caliphate . After the collapse of the Caliphate in the 10th century, the history of Qatar is inextricably linked with Bahrain . First, Qatar is part of the state of Karmatians controlled from Bahrain ^[3] , which were adherents of one of the two branches of the Muslim Shiite sect of the Ismailis . The state of Karmatians ceased to exist in the XI century and Qatar gained independence. Gradually, the country is experiencing economic growth associated with the trade in pearls in neighboring countries. In addition to pearls, the inhabitants of Qatari settlements also engaged in shrimp fishing. But the country's economic well-being soon came to an end. Prosperous territories attracted the attention of neighboring countries, and therefore a struggle broke out over the peninsula between the Baghdad Caliphate and Oman , leading to the ruin of the Qatari territories.

In the 13th century, civil wars of Arab rulers began in Qatar, which made the country unprotected. Sheikh of the Hormuz state , who captured Qatar in 1320, took advantage of this. And from the XIII to the XIV century, the population of Qatar lived under the rule of the emirs of the same Bahrain .

In the 1470s , the country regained de facto independence, but Qatar pledged to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire . And in the 1510s , Qatar, along with Bahrain, was occupied by the Portuguese , who were soon subjected to military attacks from Turkey . After some time, Ottoman Turks and Qatar begin to dominate in the country, as well as many other countries of the region, it is part of the Ottoman Empire . Despite the dominance of the Ottomans, the local sheikhs had fairly broad power.

Since the XVII century, the territory of Qatar has become the object of hostility of several parties at once. Iran , the Ottoman Empire , the leaders of various Arab tribes, the rulers of Oman and Saudids are beginning to claim it. For a long time, the Qatar Peninsula did not appear on European maps, so this territory was unknown to many powers of the old world. But soon England and Holland tried to intervene in the struggle for power in the region. Joint Anglo-Persian forces in 1623 forced the Portuguese to leave Qatar and Hormuz , and then from all the coasts of the Persian Gulf . But the Persians were driven out of the country by the army of Oman , which ruled Qatar throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.

At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, power over Qatar was taken over by the tribes ruled by the Al Khalifa clan, who subsequently were able to conquer Bahrain . Subsequently, the Al Khalifa dynasty ceded Qatar to the representatives of the Al-Thani dynasty from the At-Tamim tribe. Under the leadership of the Al Thani dynasty, the territory of Qatar acquired modern outlines by the end of the 19th century. An important moment in the history of the country is that members of the Al Thani dynasty decided to adopt a new radical version of Islam - Wahhabism ^[4] . Feudal relations dominated the peninsular state, which at the same time were closely intertwined with elements of slavery and tribal economy.

The spread of Wahhabism in Arabia pushed Britain and the Ottoman Empire to again intervene in the political affairs of the Middle East , including Qatar. In the years 1818-1820, Great Britain was able to establish a permanent presence in the region.

In 1867, the Qatari-Bahraini war began , which Britain took advantage of in 1868, which intervened in the conflict and concluded an alliance treaty with Qatar. In 1871, the Ottoman Empire conquered Qatar again and established a regime under which rule was carried out by the Turkish governor ( Pasha ).

Sheikh Jasim bin Muhammad Al Thani, who came to power in 1878, united the warring tribes, for which he was considered the founder of the principality of Qatar . Until the end of his reign ( 1913 ), he pursued a relatively independent policy towards Turkey. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Wahhabi state of Nedzh began to pose a danger to Qatar, the threat of the invasion of which was managed to repel Qatar only thanks to the help of Great Britain.

In July 1913, Great Britain made the Ottoman Empire abandon claims to Qatar . In 1914, Turkey officially ceased to claim the territory of Qatar and ceded this right to Great Britain, which concluded an agreement with Qatar on November 3, 1916 on a British protectorate . This contract was updated in 1934 . Under the agreement, Great Britain was responsible for the security of Qatar and its external relations, and in return received the benefit from the extraction of sponges and pearls .

Large oil fields in the country were discovered in the late 1930s. In general, oil production in Qatar began in 1940 , but it was discontinued in connection with the Second World War . In 1935, the Anglo-French-American-Dutch company Petroleum Development of Qatar received a concession for the exploration, development and production of oil in Qatar for a period of 75 years, although oil production by this company itself began only in 1947 , that is, after the end of the Second World War II. Since 1952, oil production in the country was already carried out by its subsidiary, the Qatar Petroleum Company . In 1960, the development of offshore oil fields in Qatar began by the English company Shell-Kata , which had a long-term concession in the territorial waters of the country.

Some of the population of Qatar opposed the power of the British colonialists and local ruling circles, which carried out a rather tough policy towards the inhabitants of the country, and in the 1930s this resulted in protests in large settlements and in uprisings of individual tribes in the interior of Qatar. The liberation movement began with renewed vigor after World War II. Particularly significant were the actions in 1956 in support of Egypt during the Suez crisis .

Most of the protests were attended by the poorest urban strata, small traders and artisans, the poorest tribes, immigrants working in the oil fields, as well as slaves . Slavery in Qatar was officially abolished in 1952 ^[5] .

In 1960, mass demonstrations swept through the capital of Qatar , the result of which was the displacement of the ruler of Abdallah ibn Qasem Al Thani , who pursued a despotic policy. Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani stood in his place.

In an effort to change the situation, the United Kingdom in 1961 transferred a third of the concession area to the country's ruler, Sheikh Ahmed Al Thani (1960-1971), which belonged to the Qatar Petroleum Company . In mid- 1963, a regular strike of workers and office workers took place, demanding equality before the law of the entire population, the removal of foreign representatives from government posts, agrarian reform, and democratization of power. In 1964 , an underground organization of national struggle began to operate in Qatar, and in the early 1970s, representatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf appeared in the country. In 1966, a trade union was first established in Qatar, combining the interests of oil workers. Taking into account the growing protests every year, the Qatar government began to implement some reforms, among which were measures to create health systems, education, etc.

Back in the 1960s. political organizations began to emerge in the country that advocated strengthening ties with other countries in the Arab East. Soon, Qatar began to advocate for Arab solidarity and sharply condemned Israel during the Six Day War of 1967 , allocating material and financial resources to help the Arabs of Palestine . A year later, under the influence of Great Britain, Qatar, together with Bahrain and the principalities of Treaty of Oman, tried to organize the Federation of the Arab Emirates of the Gulf . However, negotiations between the parties in 1968-1969 led to serious disagreements between Qatar and modern UAE.

Qatar received an interim constitution on April 2, 1970 , and on May 29, 1970, the country's first government was formed, consisting of ten ministers , seven of whom were members of the Al Thani dynasty. On September 1, 1971, Qatar became an independent state, in connection with which a new friendship treaty was concluded with Great Britain , which said that the "traditional ties" between the two countries would be maintained. At the same time, Qatar was officially recognized by most countries of the world, including the USSR (September 8, 1971 ). In the same year, Qatar was admitted to the UN and the League of Arab States . The first Emir of Qatar was Sheikh Ahmed, who ruled from 1971 to 1972. After a year of rule in February 1972, the emir was overthrown as a result of the coup, and his cousin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani , who ruled until 1995 , when he was in turn overthrown by his own son, seized power.

In 1971, the North giant oil and gas condensate field was discovered with the help of Shell . In 1974, oil refining began in the country. In the same year, the government established the state General Oil Corporation , which carried out oil production and controlled the activities of foreign oil producing and oil refining companies operating in Qatar . In 1975, the entire capital of oil producers and oil refineries in Qatar was purchased by the government.

Since then, the entire domestic policy of the state is carried out by the emir and the ruling dynasty. In foreign policy, Qatar has mainly focused on cooperation with neighboring states and countries of the Persian Gulf region , mainly on Saudi Arabia . During the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 - 1988, the country supported Iraq , but already during the Persian Gulf War in 1990 - 1991 , when Iraq occupied Kuwait , Qatar took an active part in the actions of the anti-Iraq coalition led by the United States . For example , Canadian and French attack planes were located at the Doha airbase, while the Qatar Air Force was accompanied by Allied attack aircraft during the shelling of Iraqi targets in Kuwait ^[6] . After many conflicts in the Middle East, Qatar constantly organizes meetings within the framework of the Arab-Israeli peace process, thereby playing an important role in expanding Arab-Israeli economic and political ties. In this regard, Qatar has become one of the most “open” and liberal Arab states.

As a result of another coup in June 1995 , the emir of Khalifa was ousted by his son Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani . The new ruler retained the old policy, but some of its components were transformed by him. In particular, he increased the staff of the Advisory Council and organized a commission to create a permanent constitution . A year later, the post of prime minister was established in the country, and in March 1999 and April 2003 , Qatar held nationwide elections to the Central Municipal Council with advisory functions, which should carry out activities to improve governance at the regional level.

In 2001, Qatar settled territorial disputes with Bahrain along the maritime border. In addition, Qatar, together with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, came to a single decision on the ownership of the island of Hawar , which, by decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, went to Bahrain . On 29 April 2003 , a referendum was held in Qatar on the adoption of a draft permanent constitution, in which 96.6% of voters supported the draft new constitution. According to this constitution, Qatar remained an absolute monarchy. The head of state and government is the emir , who appoints members of the Council of Ministers and the Advisory Council . His power is limited only by the framework of Sharia .

In 2004, an international competition was announced for the development project of one of the central quarters of Doha - the capital of Qatar. The first place was taken by the Spaniards.

In June 2013, the ruling emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani abdicated in favor of his son, Tamim bin Hamad.

• Dilmun
• Qatar
• Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

• article in the Encyclopedia Krugosvet
• Qatar History
• Qatar's history of events
• Qatar History by Major Periods (link unavailable) (English)
• Information on archaeological finds in Qatar
• The history of Qatar during the protectorate of Britain
• Qatar Information: History, Recent Developments
• Old Qatar Photos
• Old photographs of the country's architecture
• The History of the Qatar Ruling Dynasty
• Qatar Historical Maps
• The Rulers of Qatar
• Qatar History
• Qatar History by Major Periods
• Rulers of the country