Page 218 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

QATAR
I

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the Time of Ignorance, as the days before the revelations of the
Prophet arc known in Arabia, there were inhabitants in the Qatar
peninsula. Indeed, evidence has been found of paleolithic settlements
of 40,000 years ago; but, strangely enough, despite the proximity of
Bahrain to the west and Abu Dhabi to the east, nothing has been found
to indicate that Qatar formed part of the Dilmun or Makan trading
empires of 4,000 years ago.
The modern history of the State dates from the end of the 18th
century when Wahhabi tribes from Arabia founded a settlement at Doha.
Prominent amongst the settlers was the A1 Thani family, said to derive
from Amr bin Ma’dhad bin Musharraf who came from the Jabrin Oasis
some 200 miles south of Qatar, and it was the head of this family,
Muhammed ibn Thani who, on September 12th, 1868, entered into an
agreement with the British Political Resident (Pelly) to refrain from
hostilities at sea.
However, in July 1871, the Turkish occupation of the Hasa
Province of Arabia was extended to include pact of Qatar, and a Turkish
garrison was established at Doha. It remained there until November
1916, when the Ruler of Qatar signed a Treaty accepting the provisions
of the Exclusive Agreements, to which Bahrain and the Trucial States
were already parties. Qatar maintained her independence but came under
British protection, which continued until 1971.
The Qatar peninsula measures 100 miles north to south and 50
miles east to west, and covers an area of some 4,000 square miles. The
capital, Doha, with a population of 40,000 - mainly Sunni Muslims of
the Wahhabi sect is the only town of any size. The land is incredibly
ugly, gravelly desert with low limestone ridges, and almost completely
devoid of vegetation.
In “The Persian Gulf States” Sir Rupert Hay, one time British
Political Resident for the Gulf, wrote “But for the large quantities of
valuable oil beneath its barren surface, the Qatar Peninsula would be

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