The history of Qatar spans from its first duration of human occupation to its formation as a modern state. Human occupation of Qatar dates back 50,000 years, and Stone Age encampments and tools have been unearthed in the Arabian Peninsula. Mesopotamia was the first civilization to have a presence in the area during the Neolithic period, evidenced by the discovery of potsherds originating from the Ubaid period near coastal encampments.
The peninsula fell under the domain of several different empires during its early years of settlement, including the Seleucid, the Parthians and the Sasanians. In 628 AD, the population was introduced to Islam after Muhammad sent an envoy to Munzir ibn Sawa who was the Sasanid governor of Eastern Arabia. It became a pearl trading center by the 8th century. The Abbasid era saw the rise of several settlements. After the Bani Utbah and other Arab tribes conquered Bahrain in 1783, the Al Khalifa imposed their authority over Bahrain and mainland Qatar. Over the following centuries, Qatar was a site of contention between the Wahhabi of Najd and the Al Khalifa. The Ottomans expanded their empire into Eastern Arabia in 1871, withdrawing from the area in 1915 after the beginning of World War I.
In 1916, Qatar became a British protectorate and Abdullah Al Thani signed a treaty stipulating that he could only cede territory to the British in return for protection from all aggression by sea and support in case of a land attack. A 1934 treaty granted more extensive protection."Background Note: Qatar". U.S. Department of State (June 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. In 1935, a 75-year oil concession was granted to Qatar Petroleum and high-quality oil was discovered in 1940 in Dukhan.
During the 1950s and 1960s, increasing oil revenues brought prosperity, rapid immigration, substantial social progress, and the beginnings of the country's modern history. 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. By mid-1971, as the termination date of the British treaty relationship approached, the nine still had not agreed on terms of union. Accordingly, Qatar declared its independence on September 3, 1971. In June 1995, deputy emir Hamad bin Khalifa became the new emir after he deposed his father Khalifa bin Hamad in a bloodless coup. The Emir permitted more liberal press and municipal elections as a precursor to parliamentary elections. A new constitution was approved via public referendum in April 2003 and came into effect in June 2004.
Prehistory
Paleolithic Age In 1961, a Danish archaeological expedition carried out on the peninsula uncovered approximately 30,000 stone implements from 122 Paleolithic sites. Most of the sites were situated along the coastline, and were divided into four separate cultural groups based on flint typology. Macrolithic tools such as scrapers, arrowheads and hand axes dating to the Lower and Middle Paleolithic periods were among the discoveries.
The flooding of the Persian Gulf, roughly 8,000 years ago, resulted in the displacement of Persian Gulf inhabitants, the formation of the Qatari Peninsula and the occupation of Qatar to capitalize on its coastal resources. 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.
Neolithic period (8000–3800 BC) Al Da'asa, a settlement located on the western coast of Qatar, is the most extensive Ubaid site in the country. It was excavated by the 1961 Danish team. The site is theorized to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment, possibly a lodging for a hunting-fishing-gathering group who made recurrent visits. This is evidenced by the discovery of nearly sixty fire pits at the site, which may have been used to cure and dry fish, in addition to flint tools such as scrapers, cutters, blades and arrowheads. Furthermore, many painted Ubaid potsherds and a carnelian bead were found in the fire pits, suggesting overseas connections.
In an excavation done in Al Khor in 1977–78, several Ubaid-period graves were uncovered in what is considered the earliest recorded burial site in the country. One grave contained the cremated remains of a young woman with no grave goods. Eight other graves contained grave goods, including beads made of shell, carnelian, and obsidian. The obsidian most likely originated from Najran in southwest Arabia.
Bronze Age (2100–1155 BC)
The Qatari Peninsula was close enough to the Dilmun civilization in Bahrain to have felt its influence.Toth, Anthony. "Qatar: Historical Background." A Country Study: Qatar (Helen Chapin Metz, editor). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (January 19693). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Barbar pottery was excavated in two sites by the Qatar Archaeology Project, suggesting Qatar's involvement in Dilmun's trade network. When the people of Dilmun began engaging in maritime activities around 2100 to 1700 BC, the inhabitants of Qatar started diving for pearls in the Persian Gulf. The Qataris were engaged in the trading of pearls and date palms during this era.Mohamed Althani, p. 15
It has been argued that the remains of Dilmun settlements found in Qatar do not represent major evidence of long-term human habitation. Qatar remained largely uninhabited during this period due to regular migration by nomadic Arab tribes searching for untapped food and water sources. The settlements dating to the Dilmun period, particularly in Al Khor Island, may have been established to expedite trade journeys between Bahrain to the closest significant settlement in the Persian Gulf, Tell Abraq. Another scenario entails that the encampments were created by visiting fishermen or pearl fishers from Dilmun. It has also been suggested that the presence of pottery is indicative of trade between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Dilmun civilization, though this is considered unlikely due to the scarce population of the peninsula during this period.
Kassite Babylonian-influenced materials dating back to the second millennium BC, which were found in Al Khor Island, are evidence of trade relations between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Kassite. Among the findings were 3,000,000 crushed snail shells and Kassite potsherds. It has been asserted that Qatar was the site of the earliest known production of shellfish dye owing to a purple dye industry operated by the Kassite which existed on the island. The dye was obtained from the murex snail and was known as "Tyrian purple". Dye production may have been supervised by the Kassite administration in Bahrain to export the dye to Mesopotamia.Carter, Killick (2014). p. 45.
Antiquity
Iron Age and Babylonian–Persian control (680–325 BC)
Assyrian king Esarhaddon led a successful campaign against Bazu, an area which encompassed Dilmun and Qatar, in . To date, no archaeological evidence of early Iron Age settlements has been discovered in the peninsula. This is likely due to adverse climatic changes rendering Qatar less inhabitable during this period.
In the 5th century BC, Greek historian Herodotus published the earliest known description of the population of Qatar, describing its inhabitants as 'sea-faring Canaanites'.
Hellenistic period (325–250 BC)
Around 325 BC, Alexander the Great sent his top admiral, Androsthenes of Thasos, to survey the entire Persian Gulf. The requested charts arrived shortly after Alexander died in 323 BC. Seleucus I Nicator was awarded the eastern part of the Ancient Greek Empire after Alexander's death. Starting from 312 BC, he expanded the Seleucid Empire eastward of Babylon, purportedly encompassing parts of Eastern Arabia. Archaeological evidence of Greek-influenced materials has been discovered in Qatar. Excavations north of Dukhan uncovered potsherds of Seleucid characteristics, and a cairnfield consisting of 100 burial mounds dating to the era was discovered in Ras Abrouq. The relatively large number of cairns suggest a sizeable sea-faring community prevailed in the area.
After losing most of their territories in the Persian Gulf, Seleucid influence ceased in the area by .
Persian control (250 BC – 642 AD)
Following the eviction of the Seleucid by the Parthian Empire in , the latter gained dominion over the Persian Gulf and Arabian coast. As the Parthians were dependent on trade routes through the Persian Gulf, they established garrisons along the coast. Pottery recovered from expeditions in Qatar has demonstrated links to the Parthian Empire.
Ras Abrouq, a coastal city north of Dukhan, housed a fishing station which foreign vessels used to dry fish in 140 BC. Several stone structures and large quantities of fish bones were recovered from the site.
Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, wrote an account of the peninsula's inhabitants around the mid-first century AD. He referred to them as the "Catharrei" and described them as nomads who constantly roamed in search of water and food. Around the second century, Ptolemy produced the first known map to depict the landmass, referring to it as "Catura".
In 224 AD, the Sasanian Empire gained control over the territories surrounding the Persian Gulf. Qatar played a role in the commercial activity of the Sasanids, contributing to at least two commodities: precious pearls and purple dye. Sasanid pottery and glassware were found in Mezru'ah, a city north-west of Doha, and fragments of glassware and pottery were discovered in a settlement in Umm al-Ma'a.
Under the Sasanid reign, many of the inhabitants in Eastern Arabia were introduced to Christianity after the religion was dispersed eastward by Mesopotamian Christians. Monasteries were constructed in Qatar during this era, and further settlements were founded. During the latter part of the Christian era, Qatar was known by the Syriac name 'Beth Qatraye' (ܒܝܬ ܩܛܪܝܐ; "region of the Qataris"). A variant of this was 'Beth Catara'. The region also included Bahrain, Tarout Island, Al-Khatt, and Al-Hasa. The dioceses of Beth Qatraye did not form an ecclesiastical province, except for a short period during the mid-to-late seventh century. They were instead subject to the Metropolitan of Fars.
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. Munzir obliged his request, and most Arab tribes in Qatar converted to Islam. It has been proposed by historian Habibur Rahman that Munzir ibn Sawa's seat of administration existed in the Murwab or Umm al-Ma'a area of Qatar. 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. After the adoption of Islam, the Arabs led the Muslim conquest of Persia which resulted in the fall of the Sasanian Empire.
It is likely that some settled populations in Qatar did not immediately convert to Islam. Isaac of Nineveh, a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop regarded as a saint in some churches, was born in Beth Qatraye. Other notable Christian scholars dating to this period who hailed from Beth Qatraye include Dadisho Qatraya, Gabriel of Qatar, Gabriel Arya and Ahob of Qatar. In 674, the bishops of Beth Qatraye stopped attending synods.
Caliphate rule
Umayyad period (661–750)
Qatar was described as a famous horse and camel breeding centre during the Umayyad period. It began benefiting from its commercially strategic position in the Persian Gulf during the 8th century, going on to become a center of pearl trading.