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Top Attractions in Madinat ash Shamal

Al Zubara

Zubarah (Arabic: الزبارة‎‎), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined and deserted town located on the north western coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Madinat ash Shamal municipality, about 105 km from the Qatari capital of Doha. It was founded by Al Bin Ali , 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. The name 'Zubarah' is derived from the Arabic word for sand mounds. It was presumably given this 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-Ma'a. 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. There remains some uncertainty over the earliest mention of Zubarah in written documents. Qatar's Memorial, a 1986 Arabic history book, alleges that a functional self-governing town existed before the arrival of the Utub. It supported this claim by invoking two purported historical documents, but they were later discovered to be forgeries produced by Qatar in an attempt to gain leverage over Bahrain in their long-standing dispute over the sovereignty of the town. Zubarah was founded and ruled by the Al Bin Ali tribe, whom have migrated from Kuwait to Zubarah in 1732, helping to build a large town characterized by a safe harbour. It soon emerged as one of the principal emporiums and pearl trading centres of the Persian Gulf. The Al Bin Ali, migrated from Kuwait and settled at Zubarah in 1732, founded and ruled the town of Zubarah, and its port making it one of the most important port and pearl trading centers in the Persian Gulf in the 18th Century. They also expanded their settlements, and constructed walls and a fort outside the town of Zubarah called Qal'at Murair (Murair Castle), the name is derived from a water spring in the Bani Sulaim area next to Madina Al Munawara in today's Saudi Arabia also known as Herat Bani Sulaim. The following poem was recorded about murair's water spring: وتشـرب أسـآر الحيـاض تسوفـه ولو وردت ماء المريرة آجمـا . The Al Bin Ali were the original dominant group controlling the town of Zubarah on the Qatar peninsula, they were a politically important group that moved backwards and forwards between Qatar and Bahrain, originally the center of power of the Bani Utbah. The Al Bin Ali they were also known for their courage, persistence, and abundant wealth. The Al Bin Ali had a practically independent status in Bahrain and Qatar as a self-governing tribe. They used a flag with four red and three white stripes with seven triangles facing the west, called the Al-Sulami flag in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the Eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under their jurisdiction, the town developed trade links with India, Oman, Iraq and Kuwait. Many goods were transported through its ports, including dates, spices and metals. The town soon became a favorite transit point for traders after the Utub abolished trade taxes. The town's prosperity further increased after the 1775–76 Persian occupation of Basra when merchants and other refugees fleeing from Basra settled in Zubarah. Ongoing wars between Bani Khalid and the Wahhabis and Persian invasion of Basra were among the factors that helped Al Zubara flourish into an important trade center. This prominent position led to conflicts with adjacent port towns. Merchants from nearby settlements migrated to Zubarah en masse during the 1770s due to the prevalence of attacks and the plague in the Persian Gulf region.
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