Zubarah | EPFL Graph Search

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Zubarah (الزبارة), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined and ancient fort located on the north western coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about 105 km from the Qatari capital of Doha. It was founded by Shaikh Muhammed bin Khalifa, the founder father of Al Khalifa royal family of Bahrain, the main and principal Utub tribe in the first half of the eighteenth century. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. It was once a successful center of global trade and pearl fishing positioned midway between the Strait of Hormuz and the west arm of the Persian Gulf. It is one of the most extensive and best preserved examples of an 18th–19th century settlement in the region. The layout and urban fabric of the settlement has been preserved in a manner unlike any other settlements in the Persian Gulf, providing an insight into the urban life, spatial organization, and the social and economic history of the Persian Gulf before the discovery of oil and gas in the 20th century. Covering an area of circa 400 hectares (60 hectares inside the outer town wall), Zubarah is Qatar's most substantial archaeological site. The site comprises the fortified town with a later inner and an earlier outer wall, a harbour, a sea canal, two screening walls, Qal'at Murair (Murair fort), and the more recent Zubarah Fort. Zubarah, derived from the Arabic word for 'sand mounds', was presumably given its name due its abundance of sand and stony hillocks. During the early Islamic period, trade and commerce boomed in northern Qatar. Settlements began to appear on the coast, primarily between the towns of Zubarah and Umm Al Maa. A village dating back to the Islamic period was discovered near the town. Between September 1627 and April 1628, a Portuguese naval squadron led by D. Goncalo da Silveira set a number of neighboring coastal villages ablaze. Zubarah's settlement and growth during this period is attributed to the dislodging of people from these adjacent settlements.

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Related concepts (3)

Zubarah

Qatar

Qatar (UKˈkætɑr,_ˈkʌt-,_ˈgæt-,_ˈgʌt-,_kæˈtɑr,_gæ-,_kə-, USˈkɑːtɑr,_kəˈtɑr; Arabic: قطر, romanized: Qaṭar ˈqɑtʕɑr; local vernacular pronunciation: ˈɡɪtʕɑr), officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain.

Doha

Doha (ad-Dawḥa adˈduħa or ad-Dūḥa) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khur, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's fastest growing city, with over 80% of the nation's population living in Doha or its surrounding suburbs. Doha was founded in the 1820s as an offshoot of Al Bidda. It was officially declared as the country's capital in 1971, when Qatar gained independence from being a British protectorate.