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This is the first detailed history of the turbulent centuries leading up to the emergence of Qatar as a sovereign state under British protection. This book examines the destructions, conflicts, intrigues, conspiracies and strategic contests which were factors behind the emergence of Qatar as an independent political entity, casting new light on Qatar’s little-known early history, against the background of the activities of the major foreign and regional powers in the region. Dr. Rahman analyses in detail the events that led to the shift of power from Zubara to al-Bida, centre of regional and international rivalries, and the circumstances that led to the rise of Sheikh Mohammad bin Thani and the al-Thani dynasty in Qatar. Dr Rahman makes extensive use of unpublished British official correspondence as well as Ottoman official records on Qatar. Arabic sources have also been consulted, and the author has spent more than twenty years researching Qatar and its relations with neighbouring states as well as foreign powers, providing him with a unique breadth and depth of specialist knowledge. No book has yet examined the years of frustration and upheaval that led to the emergence of Qatar, and few works on the early history of Qatar have appeared in the last two decades in Arabic or English. This is a significant and new contribution to the historical record as well as an important new resource for scholars and historians interested in the history of Qatar and the Gulf in general. This book is also an invaluable aid to the Arabian Gulf policy makers.
Dr Habibur Rahman is an acknowledged expert on Qatar and the Gulf region. He holds a B.A. and MA from Dhaka University, an additional M.A. from the University of Ottawa and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the author of The Making of the Gulf War, which won an International History Award, and of a highly acclaimed work on A British Defence Problem in the Middle East: 1946-47. He has also completed another book: Zubara an untold story of an Arabian Gulf Port, narrating its rise and fall and is currently working on a second volume on Qatar which will deal with the period of the British Protectorate to independence in 1971. He is currently at the Historical Documents and Research Division, National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage, Government of Qatar. Prior to this, he worked for the same department in the Office of HH the Amir of the State of Qatar.
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| Format: 156 x 234 mm
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| Binding: cloth
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| Pages: 300
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| ISBN: 0-7103-1213-X
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| Illustrations: 11 b/w illustrations, 7 b/w maps
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| Subject:
Middle East, Qatar, history,
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| Series / Library: Arabia Library
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Maps
List of Plates
Preface
Chapters: 1) Historical and Geo-Political Setting. 2) The Shifting Balance from Zubara to Al-Bida. 3) The Struggle for Power in Bahrain and the Fall of Bin Tarif. 4) Bin Thani and the Unification of Qatar. 5) The Ottomans in al-Bida and the Ascendancy of Shaikh Jaslim. 6) The 1895 Zubara Tragedy and the Aftermath. 7) Struggle for British Protection. 8) The Last Phase of Shaikh Jasim’s Rulership and the Zakhnuniyah Crisis. 9) The Baghdad Railway and the Status of Qatar. 10) Summary and Concluding Remarks.
Appendices I-XII
Bibliography
Index
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