INCREASED EUROPEAN PRESENCE IN THE MIDDLE
EAST AND GULF
1869 – opening of the
Suez canal
REASONS FOR THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE’S RETURN TO THE ARABIAN
PENINSULA AND GULF
Long term cause:
Ottoman Empire losing control over the Balkans
Revolt against the Ottomans by the Christian Balkan people.
“Sick man of Europe”
The “Big Game” over the Middle East
Great Britain, Ottoman Empire, Russia, and later, Germany
1869 opening of the Suez Canal
Ottoman Empire undergoes modernization reforms
Tanzimat Reforms: modern state, citizenship, military
Reaction to British expansion to the Gulf and India in the 19th c.
Indian rebellion, 1857
Trucial System
British control over the Gulf, Bahrain, and intrusions into Qatar in 1860s.
Chastisement of Bahrain, 1868
THE SAUDI CIVIL WAR AFTER 1865
The immediate cause Ottoman arrival
Abdullah vs. Saud , the sons of Faisal
bin Turkey (d. 1865)
Abdullah bin Faisal allies with
Ottomans
Midhad Pasha, Ottoman governor of
Baghdad
Peaceful intentions towards the Gulf
20 Apr. 1871, Abdullah bin Sabah AlSabah of Kuwait joins a naval force with the
Ottoman militia.
Establishment of the District of Najid
Najid and Al-Hasa, ruled by the Al-Sabah.
OTTOMAN VS. BRITISH INTERESTS
Clash with the British
British Interests:
make the Gulf into a “British lake” and maritime path to India.
Preserve Ottoman Empire to maintain balance of power in Europe
Ottoman interests:
Establish control of Gulf, from Basra to Oman.
Counterbalance British power in Gulf
Gain control over Arabia from Saudis
Ottomans overestimated British ambitions.
Ottoman arrival creates a “cold war” scenario
Neither side wants to directly confront the other.
Qatar becomes the major contested territory
Its first moment in the larger international arena.
Geopolitical importance.
QATAR’S PROBLEMS AFTER 1868
Saudi civil war spills over to Qatar
Plunder of Qatari coasts and cutting off of the water supply
Internal security problem
Attacks on Doha and other settlements
The Al-Khalifa rulers of Bahrain
Tax payment
Northern parts of Qatar
Mutually-claimed tribes
Sheikh of Abu-Dhabi and the southeast
Khor al-Udayd
Economic competition against the British
The Banyans (British-protected merchants)
Jassim bin Mohammed builds a huge fleet (3,000 ships) to compete with them.
THE OTTOMANS IN QATAR
July 1871, Abdullah bin Sabah comes to Doha by sea as an Ottoman representative
Mohammed bin Thani refuses, but Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani accepts
Ottoman flags flown in Doha, Wakra, Al-Khor.
The crisis in relations with the British
Major Grant lands in Doha on 19 July 1871 to meet with Mohammed bin Thani
Mohammed bin Thani: conquered by Ottomans
Jassim bin Mohammed, the Heir and de-facto ruler:
problems with the Treaty of 1868
No protection over land
Jassim did not sign Treaty of 1868
1868 limited to maritime peace and did not forbid Qatar from having own foreign policy
British turn away from the Al-Thani
Effective lapse of Treaty of 1868
British pro-Al-Khalifa and Al-Zayed stance.
Qatar in the Ottoman-British cold war
THE OTTOMANS IN QATAR
REPORT BY MEHMET NAFIZ PASHA, GOVERNOR OF BASRA, DEC. 1871 (KURSUN 2002, P. 54.)
THE OTTOMANS IN QATAR
Dec./Jan. 1871, Ottoman authorities at al-Hasa sent a military detachment of 100 troops
and a field gun to Doha.
Mehmed Nafiz Pasha, Ottoman governor of Bahra, who sent
commander Omar Bey to Qatar.
Naval vessel, Ashur
Conditions of Ottoman rule
1) Qatar an Ottoman district (Kaza Qatar) subordinate to Najd;
2) Jassim, the governor of Qatar, Qaimmaqam
No salary
3) Qatar exempt from tax payments
4) Ott military force in Bidda’, a symbol of protectorship
Midhat Pasha decided that “as Qatar … has no revenue of its own , Jasim b. Thani,
the ruling sheikh of Q. was appointed qaim-maqam without salary and the relevant
order of appointment was duly sent.” (Kursun 2002, p. 60)
THE OTTOMANS IN QATAR
JASSIM BIN MUHAMMAD AL-THANI (1825-1913)
Eldest son of Muhammad bin Thani
Served as father’s deputy
Imprisoned by al-Khalifa of Bahrain, 1867
Leading to “Qatari-Bahraini conflict” of 1860s.
Released in return for Bahraini POWs
Wealthy pearl trader, owned more than 20 ships. Traded pearls with India, among other
places.
Devout Muslim
Ottomans, British, Saudis praised his courage, intelligence, determination, resilience
Known for uniting the Qatari tribes and fighting for Qatari independence (against Ottomans and British)
Al-Mu’asis المؤسس – The Founder – of the Qatari State
18 December 1878 – succeeded his deceased father
National Day in Qatar.
SHEIKH JASSIM AS QAIMMAQAM OF KAZA QATAR
•Reasons for accepting Ottoman rule
• Security problem against Saudis and against marauding tribes and pirates
• Al-Khalifa and Abu-Dhabi problem
• Problems with the 1868 Treaty
• Al-Khalifa
• Security
• Challenges to power centralization
• Banyans
• Ottomans versus British
• Muslim solidarity
• Significance of Sheikh Jassim’s appointment as an Ottoman governor
• Sheikh Jassim, an Ottoman citizen
• Recognition of Qatar’s sovereignty as the peninsula
• Recognition of Al-Thani as rulers of Qatar
• End of Qatari tax payments to Bahrain
THE OTTOMANS IN QATAR
British reaction to Qatar’s falling under the Ottomans:
• Fear of Ottoman expansion into the Gulf
•Ottoman navy in Gulf threatened British navy
• British dispatch their ships for regular inspections
•Sheikh Jassim’s argument:
-vagueness and one-sidedness of Treaty of 1868,
whereby Britain does not do enough for Qatar
(esp. no Protection over land)
-Treaty of 1868 only pertains to affairs at sea, not
land
-He never signed the Treaty of 1868
ZUBARA – THE OTTOMAN-BRITISH BORDER
CONFLICT OVER ZUBARA starts in early 1870s.
-Ottoman presence drives Isa bin Ali Al-Khalifa, ruler of Bahrain, to claim the area on
historical grounds
18th c. presence and Bedouin there his subjects
Appeals to British for help. British tell him to stay out of Zubara, with a firm warning in 1875.
Significance:
-Big powers
start the
bordering of
Qatar.
-modernization
Zubara continues to
serve as a piedmont for
Isa’s enemies, e.g. Nasir
bin Mubarak, but now
the stakes are higher!
CONCLUSION
OTTOMANS AID QATAR’S SOVEREIGNTY
Kaza Qatar under Al-Thani rule
Security
Wedge against Britain
Sheikh Jassim’s advantage
Ottomans conceptualize a peninsula state
In general, “Big Game” leads to border drawing and territorialization
Cold war over the Gulf
Increased foreign control over the Gulf areas
Modernization
Jassim’s role
Struggling for Qatar’s sovereignty
Rebellion vs. the British
End to tax payments to Bahrain
Willing to go to war for Qatar’s interests
Invasion of the Emirates (Trucial states)