WHAT MAKES QATAR SPECIAL
The State of Qatar is a challenging and charming country for its residents – visitors and nationals alike – and the aura surrounding this part of the world is still a mystery to many.
Just a few years ago Qatar was relatively unknown, yet today it is a famous country of almost unimaginable economic growth rates.
Qatar is now “on the map” for quite a few reasons. To start with, thanks to its formula for economic success Qatar has become the foreign direct investment capital of the Middle East. The country boasts the world’s third largest reserves of oil and natural gas, and it has one of the highest per capita GDPs, not only among the GCC countries, but also in the world. Qatar’s capital and largest city, Doha, is a hub of educational excellence and the country’s economic centre. Moreover, Qatar excels in improving telecommunications services and is the birthplace of the controversial Aljazeera Satellite Channel. Finally, it still presents itself as a calm and serene environment, despite the expansion and the development of new projects.
COMING TO QATAR
■ In the last sixty years the Qataris have been propelled from pearl divers and Bedouins struggling to survive to citizens of one of the richest nations on Earth. Find out how they managed to forge a cohesive nation, with a unique national spirit and identity, social customs and traditions, in chapters 1, History, and 2, Quick Facts.
■ If you are looking for moving companies and other useful tips, they can be found in chapter 3, Moving.
■ Qatar is a fairly cheap country to live in (with the exception of rent). For instance, the government does not charge high fees for most utilities such as water, electricity and home phone lines. Read more in chapters 5, Housing, and 7, Utilities and Services.
■ Shari’ah Law regulates the Islamic legal system. To know in advance all legal issues you may face (from visas to licences) go to chapter 4, Legal Matters.
■ Qatar has hardly any taxes. For money-related issues, go directly to chapter 9, Finances.
■ Doha offers an excellent studying environment in its schools, colleges and institutions. The private schools are mostly designed in accordance with the French, UK and US systems, as chapter 11, Education, explains.
■ Health care in Qatar is heavily subsidized. For details on health insurance, doctors, hospitals etc., refer to chapter 12, Health Care.
■ There is no specific means of public transport in Doha, apart from the affordable taxi service (chapter 8, Transport). In fact, most residents of Qatar own private cars (chapter 7, Driving).
■ You can explore the natural environment of Qatar by taking an exciting desert safari; relax at the many beaches and pools; or enjoy your favourite sport, be it bowling, golf or ice skating. Living in Qatar can be great fun, as the country also hosts a wide range of sports events. There is something for everyone in chapters 13, Leisure and Sport, and 15, Out and About.
TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE
Although Britain had already signed a protection treaty with Qatar and the Trucial States known as the United Arab Emirates, this did not help. On September 7, 1895, the Sphinx and another warship named Pigeon attacked Zubara. Zuhaf had unfortunately already left the area and the damages were immense. Despite varying reports, it is believed that at least 44 boats were destroyed. People left the town and moved into the desert.
The story somewhat changed at this point. It is alleged that Sheikh Jassim ended up switching sides. He told the British that he never intended to invade Bahrain and asked for their protection over Qatar. The British refused to abide by that demand; they however agreed to place a political agent in Bahrain to oversee Ottoman action in Qatar, but not before burning all the captured Qatari pearl boats. This had major ramifications as the Qataris main source of income at the time was pearl diving.
The battle of Zubara was of major importance to the British as they were trying to secure their commercial and military connections to India. Qatar and Bahrain’s geographical positions in the Gulf were in fact becoming strategically valuable to many – such as the Portuguese, the Iranians and the Wahhabi tribes – as they constituted a major link for trade routes between India and Europe.
The destruction at Zubara made it clear to Sheikh Jassim that the Ottomans would not be offering any assistance to Qatar. He was proven right, as the Ottomans did not intervene, yet again, when three years later Kuwaitis raided cattle from a tribe he had protected. This last incident was the perfect opportunity for Sheikh Jassim to head, in 1898, a small uprising against a tribe at Al Bida fort, an area on the east coast dominated by the Ottomans since 1871. Thus the struggles of the Qataris against the Ottomans began.
The British were determined to preserve their investments in the region and in 1900 the first political British agent was appointed in Bahrain while the Ottomans made sure to reinforce their already existing troops. Sheikh Jassim, on the other hand, was seeking protection for Qatar through the help of the British (in exchange he would make sure that the seas would be defended again), but the British were not keen. By the end of 1902, the Ottomans had set up three units throughout Qatar in Zubara, Wakra, and Khor al-Udeid. The Ottomans knew there was no other foreign assistance in Qatar and their main goal was to get the Al Thani family out.
THE ANGLO-QATARI TREATY
Although the British knew that the Al Thani family was a stabilizing force over the local Bedouins and the pearl fishing tribes, it was only in 1916, after heavy debate among the British colonialists in Britain, India and the Gulf, that the Anglo-Qatari treaty was signed to maximize the protection over Qatar.
The other concern of the British was that at the end of 1899 the German Ambassador to Constantinople managed to convince the Ottomans to build a railroad to Baghdad. This project was pushed through the system by Sultan Abdul Hamid II who commissioned a study to stretch the line to a harbour in the Arabian Gulf. Kadhamah in Kuwait was the suggested location on their bay, and it was the best harbour in the Gulf and an amazing military base location for the future.
Using diplomatic excuses, the British delayed any works on the project until 1907, when they decided to join the railways consortium and took on the role of protector in the Gulf, with special attention on Kuwait and Qatar. Complications followed as in return the Higher Court System of the Ottoman Empire (the Sublime Porte) expected Britain’s approval of Kuwait being a fully integrated part of the Ottoman Empire.
All of the sudden, the issues of the whole region were in question. An agreement had to be reached between Britain and the Ottoman Empire on the railways consortium, the state of Kuwait, the Trucial States, Bahrain and Qatar. By July 1912, following lengthy talks back and forth, the British stated they would abandon any stake in the railway consortium as long as it did not go beyond Basra, Iraq, and they acquired concessions on Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Early in 1913, the Ottomans agreed to withdraw from Al Bida as long as Qatar remained independent.
THE BRITISH PROTECTORATE
The British power was quite strong in the Arabian Gulf as the routes to India had already been secured. In the 18th and 19th centuries the bombardment of the East India Company and the troubles caused by Bahraini forces compelled retaliation on the part of Qatar.
The British influence increased with the end of the Turkish regime at the end of World War I, and the signing of a protection treaty limited to general administrative matters. Negotiations resumed regarding the treaty, however Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim proved to be a tough negotiator by avoiding three sensitive chapters (on the presence of a political agent and British merchants, the duties imposed on British goods, and the building of telegraph networks and post). The British agreed to offer protection to the Sheikh’s offices in the event of a land attack on Qatar, which made it the first among the Trucial States to benefit from this privilege (Qatar was the ninth and last state to join the Trucial States). Sheikh Jassim’s firmness set the ground for Qatar’s importance locally as well as internationally.