The old buildings of Qatar

This page illustrates something of the older buildings and development in Qatar. It might usefully be read in association with the page looking at the history of the peninsula. A number of the photographs on this page are taken from the web site of the Qatar Embassy in Washington and are placed here under what I believe to be fair use, permission having been requested. I have also used photographs from the web site of the Diwan al-Amiri in Qatar. In addition to these I have also been kindly directed to photographs on here and, from there found a link to this site, though you will find a certain amount of repetition on all these sites. These four sites have many more photographs than I have used here and I recommend them to those with an interest in the country. I have also included photographs taken from a publication of the Qatar History Committee in 1977. My intention here is to show as wide a selection of old photographs as I can find in order to present a rounded picture of the immediate past of Qatar by the addition of appropriate commentary. They are a relatively limited resource at present, but I’m sure that, with time, more will become available. Finally, I have found it difficult to make this a logical essay; it will have to move backwards and forwards in time, location and type of building. My apologies for what follows…

These supporting notes constitute a sort of essay based solely on the photographs, hopefully tying them together in a manner that makes sense. There is a warning: I have corrected some previous mistakes I have made and I have corrected mistakes made by others, both in dating and in mirroring some photos as well as attributing incorrectly. It has been difficult dating some of the photographs and I may have made errors despite inspecting them as closely as possible. Because most images were small, this may have given rise to mistakes on my part. I hope not. I should also apologise for the uneven quality of the photographs. I have improved them where possible, but I have not attempted to create a similar look to each as, in doing so, I would have lost detail.

These first three aerial photographs – that above and these two below – are here because they are the earliest I have seen of any part of Qatar. The first of them is of a part of Zubarah, the ancient development in the far north of the peninsula which was an important settlement for centuries, being the focus of interest for many of the families in this part of the Gulf. The photograph immediately below it was taken in 1960 and shows that there were some buildings still standing to first floor level. By the early 1970s these had all gone and there is little or nothing there now.

This second aerial photograph is of Doha, taken from the south-west in 1937, and shows the settlement at that time to have been a relatively small urban development arranged round the wadi Musheirib, leading to the sea and where boats were brought through the shallow waters to serve the town that had, by that time, become the most important settlement in the peninsula. Note how the development stretches east along the littoral to feriq al-Salata where Sheikh Abdulla’s original settlement had been made.

The third photograph is of Rayyan and was, I think taken from the south-west though at a steeper inclination than that of Doha. The photograph of Rayyan shows it to have been a much smaller settlement in 1937. It is today, and was then, the main area in the peninsula which the al-Thani family favoured for their settlements. Here you can see how the families dispersed around the arable land in that area, particularly grouping themselves next to the large enclosed structure which can be seen in the centre of the photograph. There appears to have been excavation in the area, but I have no idea what it might have been. All three photographs were taken in 1937. Bear in mind this was only seventy years ago at the time of writing – just two generations…

The photo of Doha, two above, clearly shows the three reefs off the old jetty and demonstrates that the jetty had not yet been constructed, the boats being pulled up close to or onto the land. The structure in the foreground is the old Turkish fort, known as the Kuwt. The road to Rayyan leads out of the bottom towards the left hand corner of the photo and the wadi Musheirib from the bottom right.

This aerial photograph, said to have been taken in the late 1940s and from the south-east, shows more clearly the setting of Doha in its relationship with the West Bay. The jetty at the end of the wadi Musheirib can be clearly seen with, at its northern end, the end extension that returned towards the east not yet constructed. More clearly, the three small reefs are identifiable as is the shallow land on the left of the photograph, east of al Markhiya, with the southern tip of jazeerat al Safliya just glimpsed in the top right hand corner of the photograph. For comparison with both photographs, here is a photo of Doha taken in 1959. The photograph clearly illustrates how Doha and al-Bida were accessible by water, but with significant shallow waters to the west and reefs immediately opposite the centre of Doha’s suq. The shallows were dredged in the nineteen seventies to create the New District of Doha, the reefs were used to form a base for extensions to the jetty developments.

The lower of these two photos is a detail of that above. It is included in order to show more clearly the relationship between the suq, the maqbara, the Kuwt and the open air prayer ground in the lower left corner of the photograph, as well as something of the texture of the residential and commercial development of Doha’s centre.

The photographs above illustrate something of the character of Doha which lived on until the early nineteen-seventies when the whole of residential accommodation was demolished. To give an even better indication of the texture of traditional housing, here is an earlier photograph of the al-Sharq area of Doha, situated on a promontory north of the old development of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim on feriq al-Salata, a small peninsula subsequently incorporated into the port area.Note here the pattern of reefs protecting and constraining the use of the littoral, and the fish trap to the west of the end of the peninsula. The present area known as al-Sharq is around a kilometre south-east of the area shown here, across Doha’s east bay.

Here is a view of Doha taken around the nineteen-forties and shows the urban development with feriq al-Salata in the foreground. The al-Sharq development can be made out in the bottom right hand corner of the photograph and Sheikh Abdullah’s complex would be out of picture on the left. The sprawl of Doha can be seen at the top of the photograph with the jetty stretching out from the end of the suq development. Note the shallow waters edging the littoral, and how development tends to cling to the shoreline.

This photograph must have been taken around the same time as those above and is looking around south-west across al-Sharq and feriq al-Salata. In this photograph the masjid in the foreground is the dominating feature of the urban development. It is a simple building, very much in the wahabi tradition that produced architecture which lacked ostentation but created beauty through simple lines and proportions. The building can be seen in both the oblique and plan photographs above it. It is interesting to see how close to the water’s edge the masjid has been built, as well as to observe the simple nature of the housing.

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Fortified structures

The Ottoman Empire established a fort in 1880, the Kuwt, above the centre of Doha in order to control this strategically important port on the east coast of the peninsula. A small force was garrisoned in the Kuwt, but left with the signing of the protection agreement of 1916 between Great Britain and Qatar. Subsequently the Kuwt was used as a prison for a time, this photograph of it, is said to have been taken in 1945 or the early 1950s, depending on which source you look at. The Kuwt also housed the guards who patrolled the suq at night, a service paid for by the merchants. The Kuwt can be clearly distinguished in the bottom centre of the above photograph.

The Kuwt was constructed on rising ground south of the suq. The form is similar to desert developments in that a surrounding wall gave protection to an arrangement of rooms inside it. Inset in the walls and defensive towers there are fat’ha al murakaba, small holes in the walls which allow protected viewing and some ability to use small arms against attackers. You can also see on the photograph a number of mirzam designed to throw rain water away from the building, in this case also allowing some of the function of the fat’ha al murakaba.

However, although I have located this first photograph here in the context of Doha as it is officially labelled as being the Kuwt, I am certain the photograph actually shows the fort at Zubarah as there are significant differences between the two buildings. Compare it with the photograph above and, particularly, with the photograph below it which is taken from a similar angle, though from a greater distance. The white marks are likely to be patching to cracks in the walls, suggesting that the photograph was taken in the nineteen-fifties. The Zubarah fort was constructed around 1938 in response to concerns for deteriorating relations between Qatar and Bahrain. It was used both as an outpost as well as a prison. It is not to be confused with the fort immediately outside the town of Zubara, known as Murair, a fort constructed by the ’Utub in the eighteenth century, and designed to protect the town from sea-borne invasion.

As you can see, the two fortified structures above are relatively small and would not have been able to house, protect and sustain a sizeable military garrison and their associated administrative personnel. Here, however, are photographs of two larger fortified developments.

This is a rare photograph of the fortified development at al-Wakra. Constructed by Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Jassim over a hundred years ago, the photograph shows the development on the left with, on the right, the four bays of the iwan of Sheikh Abdulrahman’s masjid. The photograph was taken looking from the east and shows the development in considerable ruin. I don’t know the date of the photograph.

This photograph was taken in the nineteen-fifties and is of the fort at al-Wajbah, west of al-Rayyan and the setting for a famous battle between Qataris under Sheikh Jassim and the Turkish occupying forces. Constructed in 1882, the walls are substantial and incorporate within them a number of two-storey structures. Outside the protection of the walls there is a building very close, suggesting that it was constructed at a time when there was no longer a concern for protection.

The above examples of fortified structures are mainly distinguished by a surrounding wall within which there are separate or attached buildings to house the personnel living within the forts. The surrounding wall has corner towers both to strengthen that part of the wall as well as to enable observation and enfilading fire if necessary. But there were other types of fortified buildings in the peninsula and that at Umm Salal Muhammad north-west of Doha is a significant example. This photograph of the structure were taken in 1956.

Umm Salal Muhammad is a small settlement in the centre of the country and is different from most of the other urban developments in Qatar for that reason. Its climate is drier than the conurbations on the littoral, and it has a gardened area of date palms with ground crops beneath them supported by a reservoir of water contained by a small dam. Around this resource a coalescence of residential development grew up as can be seen in the photographs. However, compared with Doha and Wakra to its south, Umm Salal Muhammad was relatively poor and, to some extent, this demonstrates one of the differences between the badu, interior settlements, and the trading and fishing settlements on the coastline. This development was constructed by Sheikh Muhammad bin Jassim bin Muhammad prior to the First World War and there is an obvious connection to the architecture of the Nejd.

In the flat landscape of this part of the peninsula the development contains a tall tower which permitted anybody in it to see some distance and give warning in the event of attack. In addition to the residential development there is also a tower to the east of the town which, I believe, was constructed purely for this purpose.

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Development in Doha

The area of old Doha in the centre and adjacent to the sea, is the area of feriq al-Jasrah, now some distant from the sea due to the creation of two roads running east-west, first that trimming the edge of the sea and, later, the installation of the Corniche. These two photographs were taken in 1945 from buildings fronting onto the west bay of Doha in feriq al-Jasrah. The first looks approximately north-west, the second approximately south-east. Behind the buildings in the first photograph, the rise on which the Diwan al-Amiri was constructed can be glimpsed with the littoral of the west bay moving north to the right of the photograph. In front of the buildings in both photographs can be seen the unpaved foreshore with, in the lower photograph, a rowing boat drawn up. Small craft enabled the larger boats to be unloaded and their goods brought straight ashore to the houses of the merchants living by the sea. I believe that the building in the lower photograph belonged to the al-Mana family. Behind the lower buildings can be seen the masts of abwam in the main harbour of that time.

This photograph was taken in the 1950s and shows a building which is said to have housed British residents, perhaps associated with the British political presence of the time. The building shows the influence of Bahraini architecture in its simple trabeated form. The open nature of the façade and front wall shows it would not have been lived in by a Qatari family. The decorative treatment in the angle between columns and beams is simple but refined, enlivening the rigid orthogonal architecture of the building.

Al Jasra street was the name of the road that was constructed along the frontage of Doha’s centre between the suq and the Clock Tower roundabout and its associated development. The buildings above fronted onto this new road. Here is what the road looked like in 1956, viewed approximately south-west. The old Customs House with goods stacked in its yard is on the left, and I believe that the development to its west is the Al Mana house from which that family carried out its commercial business.

A year later, in 1957, this photograph illustrates the link between the enlarged jetty and the suq, as well as the prominence of the merchants’ properties that lined the old littoral, and on which the al Jasra Road was constructed. Note how the sea is being filled to create more, and valuable, land as well as getting rid of the irregular shore line and shallow waters. Tied up to the west side of the jetty can be seen lighters or barges used to transport goods from the large ships standing out in the roads to the shore.

This aerial photograph was taken in 1947 according to the date written on it, and looks down on Doha from the south-east. Comparing it with the square photo six photos above, suggests that it might be earlier than that as the latter shows a constructed jetty. Perhaps it is more likely that the above photograph was taken later than was reported in the source from which I took it. At that time the wadi from the hinterland brought water through the suq in winter but was also the main access route through the suq to the sea and jetty. This is a common system for the location of routes not only in the Persian/Arabian Gulf, but elsewhere in the world, though has the disadvantage of creating difficulties in the rainy season both for those using it as a route as well as for those living and working immediately adjacent to it. This was certainly the case in Doha where winter rains caused significant problems.

This aerial photograph of the centre of Doha was taken in 1949 and looks approximately south or south-east over the developing centre. The Kuwt, the Turkish fort established by the Ottomans to control Doha, can be clearly seen and in front of it the main maqbara for Doha. A little way to the right of the Kuwt can be seen the open air eid prayer ground surrounded by a low wall. The dark diagonal line across the top of the photograph is, I believe, a track leading to the important development of Wakra and on to Umm Said, where development was starting relating to the export of oil.

I had thought this photograph was also taken in 1947, but now believe it was a little later, perhaps 1950. Taken from the north-west, the covered suq can be seen to the west – left – of the wadi with the main maqbara behind it. At the south side of the maqbara is the al Kuwt fort. On the sea front can be seen some of the compounds of the major merchants of Doha who had established themselves near to the shore where their goods were landed. There are more detailed photographs of this area on the Gulf architecture page.

The fifties saw the beginnings of development along Doha’s foreshore. This first photograph is from 1955 and looks south-west towards the rise on which the Diwan al-Amiri was developed on the site of Sheikh Abdullah’s complex which can be clearly made out on the higher ground behind the dhow. On the left of the photograph is the manara of the Sheikhs’ mosque.

The first of these three photographs of parts of Doha was taken in 1958, but I have to admit that I am not sure where it is even though there are some interesting buildings in the background. I am not even sure in which direction the photo was taken. There is evidently considerable building activity with a stockpile of concrete blocks in the foreground. Interestingly there are also two prominent piles of mangrove poles, normally used in traditional buildings as danjal or floor joists.

The second photograph was taken in 1960 looking over Doha to the north-west. The old palace compound of Sheikh Abdullah in feriq al-Salata can be seen to the right silhouetted against the sea. Behind it is the area in which Doha port was developed in the nineteen sixties and later. One interesting aspect of the photograph is what appears to be the beginning of structured residential development to be seen in the right foreground of the photograph, though much of the rest that can be made out follows old tracks. In those days, of course, there would have been little commercial development in these areas, most being concentrated in Doha’s central suq, though there were local shops providing a service reinforced by travelling salesmen selling everything from water and oil to clothing, materials, brushes and the like.

The third photograph is a detail of the second and shows a group of residential compounds in feriq al-Hitmi. The compounds, being on the outskirts of the feriq are relatively spacious and well developed. One or two of the compounds incorporate covered verandahs, but it is surprising to see so many rooms without them. Note that there neither two-storey development as there was at al-Wakrah, nor any badgheer to be seen, indicating that this is was not a well-off area.

There is more written about this particular photograph of a building on one of the Gulf architecture pages, as I now believe it to be a significant and important structure. The photograph was taken in the 1950s and appeared on the cover of a booklet published in 1977. I believe the structure to be the al-Qubib masjid, also known as the Qassim bin Muhammad al Thani masjid. If I’m right, it was demolished and another masjid took its place, also known as the al-Qubib masjid or, more familiarly as the ‘pigeon’ masjid, itself also demolished. The term qubib refers to dome structures and, as you can see, the masjid must have been the first, if not the only, early masjid to incorporate domes over its musalla. Just as impressive is the gadrooning applied to the top of the manara. This would have been the view south-west from Al Ahmed Street.

The first of these two photographs was taken in 1968 of the centre of Doha and shows that about one hundred metres has been added to the shoreline at the north end of the suq. You can gauge the distance to some extent by comparing the relative positions of the graveyard – the large open space in the top right of the photograph above. At the end of the wadi Musheirib you can see a large construction which was the offices of the Darwish family, one of the country’s major merchants. The beginning of the jetty development can be seen at the foot of the photograph.

The second photograph was taken a year later and is labelled as being taken from the roof of the Finance and Petroleum building in 1969. In the distance the manara of the Grand Mosque can be seen and, to its right, the Diwan al Amiri, its north end partly obscured by another building. In the middle of the left edge of the photograph can be seen the Darwish headquarters building.

With the road infrastructure starting came the first major new building, Government House, which was constructed on this newly reclaimed land, the old corniche or littoral running behind it. Behind the old corniche can be seen the Ministry of Education and the Courts building to its right. This photograph, looking from approximately the north-west, shows the shore a little to the east of the photo above it, as well as the end of the small jetty constructed to ease the moving of goods ashore from the dhows and straight into the suq behind it.

To contrast with the above photos, here is one that gives some indication of the character of activity in the port in 2005. In the nineteen-seventies the port was only able to take four ships at a time and, with the amount of materials being brought in to feed the escalating economy, there were always ships out in the roads waiting their turn to berth. Now the port has been enlarged but the same pressure is on the port authorities to bring materials in and have them dispersed rapidly.

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The oil industry

This first photograph, taken in 1949, shows people working on establishing the first jetty at Umm Said. The development of a deep water port at Umm Said was necessary as it was impossible to bring tankers in to the shallow waters of the west side of the peninsula where oil had been previously discovered around Dukhan. Umm Said sits just north of the sand dunes that link through to Saudi Arabia and become, eventually, the Empty Quarter, but was identified as suitable for developing a port for ocean-going tankers, particularly with selective dredging. The photograph has a tanker of around 10,000 tons deadweight sitting in the roads outside the port and awaiting the loading of crude oil as can be seen by its riding high out of the water. The second photograph was also taken in Umm Said, this time in 1956, and shows the development of a pipeline along the shore there. Note that it is significantly larger than those pipelines in the photographs above and below it.

Contemporary with the first photograph is this of a pipeline being laid across the peninsula from Dukhan where the oil was being pumped out of the ground. The pipes are relatively small which suggests they may be feeders to the main cross-country pipeline, but the landscape is flat and more in keeping with the centre of the pensinsula whereas the land around Dukhan where the feeders were situated, is more heavily modelled.

The fourth of these five oil industry related photographs was taken in 1948 and shows one of the first drilling operations in the desert. The photograph illustrates the beginning of the industry that drives Qatar’s economy. Note the scale of the rig and equipment from the size of the crew on the left.

The nascent oil industry was considered a hardship posting for those who were sent to Qatar in order to establish the systematic abstraction of oil. The peninsula was bleak in those days and there was little support for the workers, everything having to be imported with some difficulty. Here, at Bi’r Zikrit on the west coast above Dukhan, goods were craned onto a lorry standing on the simple jetty there with, in this case, a local audience in attendance in 1948.

To round out these few photographs of the beginnings of the oil industry I’ve added this photograph of a pipeline in the desert and gas being flared off near Dukhan on the west of the peninsula as it was a feature of the desert since the middle of the last century when oil was discovered under Qatar. For those travelling round the desert this was a relatively common feature of the west side of the peninsula. The pipelines were used by badu to guide and pen their animals, as well as to cross and move along them on the tracks created by the security organisations to guard them.

Before looking at the next group of photographs, you should be warned that there are a small number of discrepancies relating to their dating. Because of this I have had to suggest some dates by the appearance of the buildings, some of which are very difficult to make out due to the condition of the photographs. However, the next photograph is the earliest I have found of the Diwan al Amiri site.

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The area around the Diwan al Amiri

Prior to the Diwan al Amiri of the nineteen-sixties and seventies being constructed, there was a more traditional group of buildings sitting on its site. As mentioned below, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim moved from his site on feriq al-Salata to this location around 1923, eight years after the Turks had left. The move perhaps signifying an increasing amount of work on the affairs of State as well as an opportunity to expand into a larger grouping or palace. This first aerial photograph, looking approximately south, shows the foreshore with boats drawn up at its lower edge and the road to Rayyan leading out on the right edge. Sheikh Abdullah’s complex can be seen centre right with, centre left, the Sheikhs’ mosque and, to its left a development that was used both as a residence and majlis.

Notice, in the two photographs – those immediately above and below – that the area around the complex is relatively free of buildings, perhaps a courtesy or requirement of those days when the ownership of land was of considerable importance to families. Though, with time, other compounds of close members of the al-Thani family grew along the Rayyan Road. This photograph, incidentally, shows the old Sheikhs’ mosque on the right and a building on the left used by the Royal family. Originally occupied as a majlis by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al Thani it subsequently was lived in by Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Hamad before becoming a residence for the British Advisor, Phillip Plant and his wife, Aziza. In 1957 it became the residence of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz al Mana at the behest of the then Governor of Qatar, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah al Thani, being passed on to his son Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali al Mana who used it as a majlis. In 1977 it was renovated and converted to become the headquarters of the Arab Cities Award.

In a relatively flat peninsula, the land on which the Diwan al Amiri is situated appears significantly higher than the land to its east, the area in which the suq was established along the wadi leading to the sea and with which Doha grew, mainly to the south and east. To the west of the raised ground was the historic urbanisation of al Bida, itself situated on a continuation of the low scarp.

I understand that there used to be a Turkish fort on the site of the Diwan al Amiri. The site is certainly a sensible one in terms of its strategic location as from there it would have been possible to monitor activities both in Doha to its east and Bida to its west, as well as movements on the track leading to Rayyan and Wajbah. The Turks had, in fact, landed at al-Bida in 1893 and Sheikh Jassim had responded by moving to al Wajbah. So, establishing a stronghold on the Diwan al Amiri position would have made strategic sense.

Movement by Sheikh Abdullah to this site may, therefore, have fulfilled two objectives – firstly a political one in removing a visually domineering reminder of Ottoman rule and, secondly, appropriation of its commanding position for his State and personal use. If this is correct, by extension the Kuwt may have been retained for its use which was, during the Ottoman presence of 1872 to 1915, a fortified prison. It was also the location of a Bazaar Master who was responsible for the safety of the suq, providing armed guards by night.

I am not yet able to say anything about the character of the Turkish development on the Diwan al-Amiri site. If this was a fortified structure similar to the Kuwt in Doha or at al-Zubarah, I don’t know, though it might be sensible to believe that it was a sizeable development, large enough to contain a significant garrison to protect their interests in the peninsula. I had thought that the fortified wall and corner tower that exists at the southernmost part of the Diwan al Amiri site, adjacent to the Rayyan Road, was it, but this photograph, taken from the side of the Sheikhs’ mosque, and looking north-west, shows the development on this corner of the site in 1945 and is not that similar to the above-mentioned forts. The second photograph appears to have been taken some time later than the upper photograph, and shows a little more of the detail of the east wall. The photograph is ascribed to Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah who ruled from August 1948 to October 1960.

Compare the two photographs above with the third photograph, taken in 1958, which shows a view looking north-east from the Rayyan Road with a fortified wall, large entrance gate and, now, a circular corner structure on the south-east corner of the Diwan al-Amiri development. The west side of the Sheikhs’ mosque can be seen beyond the corner tower, on the right, its mihrab right on the edge of the photograph. There is another photograph of this corner of the complex, below, taken two years earlier in 1956.

In 1956, it was evident that there was quite a lot of the construction in Doha concentrated around the Diwan al Amiri in an attempt to consolidate this important development with the newly designed road system. Here you can see both the mosque under construction on the right with the Rayyan Road between it and the Diwan al Amiri on the left, the Rayyan Road leading left out of picture. This view looking north shows the Rayyan Road leading west and, straight ahead, turning east past the mosque and entering the Clock Tower roundabout, just out of sight behind the mosque.

Above, in the first photograph in this area, there is a masjid on the road that leads from the end of the Rayyan Road diagonally towards the left of the photo as well as leading on to the central Doha suq. This masjid was known as the ‘Sheikhs’ mosque’, as I imagine it was associated with the members of the Royal Family making their homes in the area to the south and west of Sheikh Abdullah’s complex. This photograph was taken of it in 1946, immediately after the Second World War. The photograph looks north-east over the sahan of the masjid towards what later became known as the Ruler’s jetty. Note the relative simplicity of the architecture which appears to reflect the wahabi character of the peninsula.

Sitting on its prominent rocky outcrop west of the main suq, and mid-way between the suq and the old village of al Bida, this photograph was taken from the north-east, looking from the Ruler’s jetty. The photograph is said to have been taken in 1950 and shows a relatively traditional development, though one that was larger than anything else in the State at that time. You can see both in this photograph and those below it that, although there is a rock jetty perhaps intended to give access to slightly deeper water, boats were being drawn up onto the foreshore behind it.

Here is a slightly different view of the Diwan al Amiri site, this time taken in 1955 and showing a little more of the development to its west – the right. The towers of the eastern fortified wall can be seen on the left of the photograph, but there is also what appears to be a square tower on the right or west side of the development. I am not able to say if this was there before Sheikh Abdullah removed to the site, or if this was constructed after his arrival. But there is also more development to its west which suggests that the tower was there first and the western development was added later when there was perceived to be no further need for a defensive structure. The second photograph is labelled as being also 1955, and is labelled as recording the return of Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah al Thani, though where from, is not stated.

This view of Sheikh Ali’s complex was taken in 1958 and shows the whole of this important grouping with the palace complex on the right and land I believe belonging to the Darwish family on the left. The jetty, later known as the Ruler’s jetty is cut by the bottom of the photograph. The Sheikhs’ mosque can be seen as can the Clock Tower.

The second photograph is also from 1958. I have included it as although it seems to have been taken from a similar perspective, it was taken in the morning and is a little clearer than the former which was photographed in the afternoon. The Clock Tower is on the left edge of the photograph.

The lowest of the three photographs is a detail of the first photograph showing the double staircase entrance to the Diwan, a feature of the Municipality building constructed a little later. At the far, south, side of the complex there are watchtowers or fortified towers incorporated into a protective wall which can be seen in some of the photographs lower down the page. The beginning of the Rayyan Road can be seen turning round the south-east corner of the complex before heading directly west, right, to Rayyan.

In the first of these three photographs, the complex is seen two years later in 1960, this time from the south-west. The west wall of the fort can clearly be seen along with three of its fortified corner towers. The main entrance gate is from the south which leads into the first courtyard. It is difficult to make out but the next courtyard has a number of more traditional buildings constructed around it. The Ruler’s jetty is more prominent than it would become when land was reclaimed and the Corniche driven between it and the Diwan al-Amiri site. The Clock Tower can be seen as can, right on the edge of the photograph, the manara of the Sheikhs’ mosque.

The second of these three photographs shows a little of the development of the south-east corner of the first courtyard, though the photograph appears to date from the nineteen-seventies.

The third photograph, apparently taken from the manara of the Grand Mosque, looks straight into the south-east corner of the southern courtyard of the Diwan al-Amiri or, perhaps more accurately, into the courtyard of Sheikh Abdullah’s development of the site. Note the traditional buildings, centre right, that are located within the inner courtyard of this development. The corner of the first Diwan al-Amiri can be glimpsed on the right edge of the photograph.

The next two photographs have been used in the context of construction in the middle of the twentieth century on another page where you will find a little more information. Here they are included because the building formed a part of the enclosure of the area in front of the Sheikhs’ mosque and Sheikh Abdullah’s complex. This building, used as the British Political Agency in Doha, occupied a site on the east side of the area, facing west over the site of the Clock Tower to Sheikh Abdullah’s complex and with Sheikh Hamad’s majlis and the Sheikhs’ mosque to its south-west. The first photograph was taken in the early 1950s, possibly 1952, the second as the building appeared in 1963. The architecture has resonances of Sheikh Abdullah’s residence at feriq al-Salata in its trabeated construction as well as its plan form of central rooms with surrounding verandah. Note the small features in the junction between beam and columns, adopted from the local design vernacular.

In order to give some idea of the context of the Political Agency building, this photograph shows the south-east corner of the important grouping of buildings in 1958, comprising Sheikh Abdullah’s complex on the west, the Sheikhs’ mosque and Sheikh Hamad’s majlis on the south, and the Political Agency on the east. The Clock Tower can be seen in the foreground with the manara of the Sheikhs’ mosque top right. Sheikh Hamad’s majlis is the white building directly above the Clock Tower, and the Agency building is on the left of the photograph, the east side of the area. Incidentally, note that the riwaq or iwan of the mosque is two-storied.

This photograph was probably taken around the nineteen sixties or even seventies, as there are street lights in evidence. It is a view from the British Political Agency building north towards the West Bay of Doha over a storage area belonging to the Darwish family. The building on the other side of the road and on the left of the photograph was, or became, Qatar Cold Stores, a retail outlet for groceries. On the right is the manara of a small mosque which I believe was constructed by the Darwish family. All that area was eventually taken by the government in order to construct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the nineteen seventies. The dhows are standing off what was known as the dhow jetty the end of which can just be seen.

This first of these four photographs is of the Sheikhs’ or Ruler’s mosque and is said to have been taken in 1957, probably early in the year, looking west and showing the jum’a masjid for Sheikh Ali being constructed. Known as the Sheikhs’ mosque, the photograph is also interesting for the numbers of people around. It is difficult to make out what they are doing, but I assume it has to do with construction works around the Clock Tower. Note that this appears to be a rebuilding of an earlier manara as it can be compared with the photograph above which shows a much simpler structure.

The second photograph shows what appears to be the completed building, this time viewed from the south-west, the Rayyan Road visible as it skirts the mosque before straightening out to run west towards Rayyan. The south-east corner of Sheikh Abdullah’s complex would be immediately to the left of this photograph. Note the vertically ribbed decoration to the top of the mihrab and its flat dome capping, similar in design to that which caps the top of the entrance porch on the east side of the building.

This next photograph is a view of the Sheikhs’ mosque, stated to have been taken in 1956, apparently from the first floor of Sheikh Ali’s complex. It appears that this and the twp photographs above it need to be reversed in date, or at least in order. The area between the mosque and the Ruler’s complex can be seen to have been given some degree of design organisation with a small garden having been laid out and planted. The area in front of the majlis on the left has been given over to car parking at a time when there would not have been many cars on the roads.

The fourth photograph of the Sheikhs’ mosque is dated 1958 and shows the final form of the manara, this being at least the second on the site. Interestingly the manara rises from a square base to an octagonal middle section on which a circular drum rises to a circular balustrading above which a conical cap is held on top of eight semi-circular headed arches supported by circular columns with, apparently, small capitals. The riwaq of the mosque has a very traditional and simple arrangement with projecting maraazim. The entrance porch seems slightly out of character with its elongated arch arrangements.

But it wasn’t many years before a new, larger mosque was required. Whether this reflected the increasing population it was now required to serve, or the need to produce a more modern design in keeping with the new Diwan al Amiri and Clock Tower development, is difficult to say, though the rationale is most likely to have had something to do with both. This photograph, taken in 1963, shows the body of the Grand mosque being constructed as a redevelopment of the Sheikhs’ mosque. Note that the older entrance porch has been retained, and that it has a design resemblance to the Clock Tower. This latter seems to have been constructed around the same time as the entrance porch to the Sheikhs’ mosque.

This photograph of the Diwan complex was said to have been taken in 1957, probably from the Darwish offices that were on that corner of the Clock Tower roundabout, but appears to be later than the 1958 photos shown above as witnessed by the growth of the ficus trees in the garden. If you compare Sheikh Ali’s complex on the left of the photograph, taken from the south-east, with the sepia photograph five photographs above it, you will see that some of the older development has been taken down and there are the beginnings of a heavy concrete structure being raised which will have been the foundations for an extension to the Ruler’s compound, the first Diwan al-Amiri. I don’t know when the coloured photograph was taken, but it shows that construction has progressed on the northern most part of the development and, I believe, that the southern part of the old complex is also being developed.

Incidentally, Darwish Engineering were responsible for the construction of the Clock Tower as well as for the ‘Marmar’ or Guest Palace, shown in this photograph, that was constructed in the early 1950s at Rumailla a mile to the west of the Diwan al-Amiri, though this photograph was taken twenty years later and is included in order to demonstrate the scale of the building and complex for those days.

This photograph should be read along with those above and below it. By 1962, when the photo was taken, the decision had been made to develop a different type of building at this point of the bay. This position located it between the settlements of Doha and al Bida, four hundred metres to the west of Doha, according to the British Admiralty’s 1864 Persian Gulf Pilot. The building type was extremely large compared with anything that had gone before it. Although it had a similar footprint to the building that preceded it – that being a large complex in itself – its style was significantly different as can be seen by comparing this photograph with those above. Constructed of concrete and with a definite influence from the Indian sub-continent it created a strong focus, its main entrance facing east over Doha. There are a number of interesting details in the photograph. There is considerable landfill taking place in order to produce what became the parking area for the Diwan al Amiri, the Clock Tower is completed, though its surrounding colonnade appears not to be, and the Grand mosque is under construction, the tower having been completed. The land on the left, east, of the photograph, belonged to one of the main merchants and the lighters show how goods were brought in from the ships standing out in the deeper water of the bay. Incidentally, it can be seen that the traffic drives on the right. I’ not sure when the change from driving on the left took place but it is likely to have been before 1962.

To the west of the suq and its new jetty was constructed another place to berth local craft. Known as the Ruler’s jetty, it was built opposite the new Diwan al Amiri, a development originally made for the Ruler and his family, though not completed nor used as such. For quite a time the jetty was utilised by the police as a base for their marine activities. This photo of it was taken from the tower of the Grand Mosque, under construction in 1962, and shows at the bottom of the photograph, a part of the roundabout below the mosque incorporating the Clock Tower. Parking is set out for the Diwan al Amiri whose front porch can just be seen to the left of the photograph. It is notable that the ground between the sea and Diwan al Amiri is not finished and I would be interested to learn what was intended as it would have been difficult to soft landscape it. It is likely that a hard landscaping solution would have been sought, with trees in small planters to break up the paving. The Diwan al Amiri was originally built for the ruler, Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali, but not completed before the accession of his successor, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad in February 1972.

This photograph is likely to have been taken in the late nineteen-sixties and shows that the landscaping in front of the Diwan al-Amiri is more or less complete with the car parking shown in the above photograph having been reorganised and a staircase from it descending to the lower level opposite the Ruler’s jetty, flanked by two semi-circular retaining walls based on the half-moon battery of Edinburgh Castle. At the top of the photograph, and projecting further north than the Diwan al-Amiri, is an element of the complex designed, I understand, as two houses for the family of the then Ruler, Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali al-Thani but neither completed nor lived in.

This photograph again shows the Grand Mosque with its green domes and the minaret from which the photograph above was taken. This view of it was taken looking at it from the west with the south wall of the Diwan al Amiri to the left. The Rayyan Road runs on the right, parallel to the wall on the left but not shown on this photograph and separated from the Diwan al Amiri wall by a small fenced garden area. This area provided some visual relief to the area but was generally closed and treated as a security area to the Diwan despite this photograph showing a pedestrian walking through it.

The Clock Tower was and, despite the considerable new development, is still a very distinctive feature of Doha. Constructed on a small promontory in 1956 it, together with the old Diwan al Amiri and Grand Mosque, formed an important focus for what were some of the first new developments constructed with the proceeds of the increasing oil revenue. The main masjid and Diwan al Amiri represented the secular and religious faces of the new Doha. This photograph of it shows it under construction but before the surrounding vaulted canopy was built, the pair of structures forming on plan, a representation of a star – the Clock Tower – and crescent moon – the vaulted canopy, one corner of which can be glimpsed in the photo of the entrance to the Diwan al Amiri and its car park above. With the construction of the first road along the north face of the suq, a number of merchants constructed the first modern offices in Doha, the Darwish family having an office immediately adjacent to the Clock Tower and on its south-east corner. This area has now been cleared but, at that time, it represented the strong link there was between the merchant and ruling families.

The road at the top of the photograph above, that shows the Ruler’s jetty, was constructed along the shoreline and led west past feriq al Bida and feriq al Rumeillah to the new hospital and fort which were located at Rumeillah. It also ran past the wadi Sail to the road which now leads to the north of the country where Umm Salal Muhammad, the fishing towns of Khor and Ruweis were located as well as Zubara, the town where the al Thani – the ruling family – originally settled in the eighteenth century, and which was recorded as long ago as the first century. It should be noted that the history of Qatar can be taken back as long ago as the fourth millennium BC. A fort was built outside Zubara in 1938 as a Police post and is now a museum similar to the Kuwt in the centre of Doha. Incidentally, the original road to al Khor followed the coastline, not the line it now takes further inland.

Here is a photo of the road in front of the Ministry of Education. It is likely to be contemporaneous with the 1957 photographs further up the page. The ministry was constructed as a two storey building immediately to the east of the centre of the suq with the Court of Justice between them. The road linked the Ruler’s jetty and the road to the north with feriq al Salata – straight ahead in this photograph. The interest here is in the road itself and its relationship with the water. Vehicles are parked next to the sea and people were able to move to and from the shelter and operation of the suq to the water’s edge.

The development of Umm Salal Muhammad can be compared with that at Khor, a much larger town and one based on pearling and fishing. The khor was a protected inlet of the Persian/Arabian Gulf and, on its sloping shores, the houses developed leaving room only for the fishing boats to be beached and nets spread out. The old town was demolished wholesale in the early seventies with the inhabitants being given ‘Public Houses’, a standard three-bedroomed house sitting centrally located in its enclosing, thirty-metre square surrounding wall. These houses were established on the periphery of the existing town and no plan was made for littoral part of the town when relocating the houses.

Here you can see a photograph of Medinat Khalifa, the new town which was developed two kilometres west of the existing edge of Doha. The housing was as described above and the character of the layout can be plainly seen. I have to say that, while there has been criticism of these layouts, to a large extent it was those who lived in the old housing who pressed for these new developments as they wanted to take advantage of the government’s generosity to obtain both land and a house. Of course they were not responsible for the form of the development which was considered, by its designer, to represent a rational form of housing. I have written more about this on the al-Salata page.

Here are two photographs of the old town of al-Wakrah, south of Doha, and looking north-east. The lower one you can see to be dated 1956, so it is evident that it had been abandoned by that date. However, I can recall people living there in the early nineteen-seventies, and making a small living from fishing, though many were moving to government employment in Doha.

From the evidence of what remains it appears that Wakrah was a relatively well-off town. Some of that wealth will have come from pearling. I don’t know why Khor should appear less well-off as I believe that pearling used to be its main industry. But the buildings at Wakrah, both in their arrangement and decoration, were some of the best in the country, though it is interesting to see that there is an arrish, a pitched roofed building which would have been roofed with palm fronds in the foreground.

Earlier I mentioned the town of Rayyan as being one of the centres of the al-Thani family. West of al-Wakra was another important al-Thani settlement, that of al-Wukair. Regrettably I have no old photographs of al-Wukair though there is one of Rayyan at the top of the page. I remember al-Wukair as being a relatively quiet town and only entered for the access there was through it to the nearest accessible sand dunes to Doha.

In the third, coloured, photo of al-Wakrah you can see one of its important features, the sand bank which created a natural harbour but which, I understand, slowly restricted its use. In fact, nowadays there is a long jetty to the right of this photograph enabling access to deeper water. I guess this photograph was taken in the nineteen seventies, though I am not sure. It certainly shows a dual carriageway road moving north-south and was the road connecting Doha with the industrial city and oil loading port of Umm Said.

In the first two photos you can see a little of the character of the buildings. There were many two-storeyed houses, most of them facing the sea and turning their backs on the west and its hot, afternoon sun and the shamal, protected by badgheer which allowed cooling winds to flow through the building and were capable of being closed in the event of rain or dust storms.

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Development at al-Salata

This next group of photographs were taken from two sources, one of them an old government publication on the Qatar National Museum. They date back to the 1930s and illustrate something of the old complex of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim bin Muhammad al Thani. Generally referred to as the ‘Old Amiri Palace’ the development was refurbished, mostly accurately and sympathetically, but with the addition of a new building and surrounding wall for security, to serve as the Qatar National Museum in the early 1970s. The site, and the buildings within it, are located with the long axis of the site approximately in line with the holy city of Mecca – a little south of west – and most probably a deliberate decision.

Sheikh Abdullah established the development east of the centre of Doha around the end of the nineteenth century. This period of Qatari history had much to do with the competing British and Turkish interests in the Gulf, one of the routes to the Far East, particularly the Indian sub-continent and China. The Turks established themselves in the peninsula with a presence on the high ground to the south-west of the Doha suq and residential development. The ground between the suq and their qal’at al askar was given over to a maqbara, I suspect a way of keeping relatively clear ground in front of their fortified position.

These photographs illustrate something of the character of the region at that time, with influences of both the Najd hinterland as well as that of the Gulf littoral where the influence of sea breezes and environmental considerations are reflected in the structure, character and detailing of architectural designs. In particular, this form of architecture integrates structure, environmental and decorative treatments to a considerable extent.

It should also be borne in mind that Sheikh Abdullah, as the Ruler of the country, was involved in affairs of State, commercial dealings as well as social and cultural issues. In this he brought to this development many of the social characteristics of the badu, creating a complex that, within a wahabi tradition, would have been surprisingly open with women having considerable freedom within this complex.

Around 1923 Sheikh Abdullah left this development and moved to the other side of Doha where he developed a larger palace complex on the high ground overlooking Doha’s suq to its east and shown above. This group of photographs illustrate how the group was allowed to deteriorate. The first and third photographs were taken around ten or fifteen years after he left, the lower three most probably in the late 1940s. That above shows the western entrance structure to the compound and was located in the west wall adjacent to the majlis which was in the north-west corner of the complex.

This second, sepia photograph, an enlargement of a small image, is an aerial photograph taken from the north, approximately the reverse angle of the photograph above it. The photo shows the northern corner of the complex with the north and west gate structures clearly visible. By the time this photograph was taken, it is interesting to note that there is development relatively close to the eastern wall of the compound, presumably because Sheikh Abdullah had moved to the new development west of Doha. The photograph also illustrates the character of the complex with single-storey buildings contained within a surrounding wall and a tall, two-storey building at its centre where he and his family lived, other buildings being lived in by the families of Shaikhs Hamad and Ali, and supporting the life and work of Shaikh Abdullah.

Sheikh Abdullah developed his complex as a discrete compound, partly fortified with high walls and watch towers as was the custom in the region. In the centre were his family’s living quarters and, on the north-west corner a majlis or meeting room where he was able to carry out affairs of state as well as his personal business. In those days there was about a mile between the centre of the suq and Sheikh Abdullah’s development, situated at the north end of feriq al-Salata, the land traditionally belonging to the Sulaiti qabila. With time the development was enlarged to provide houses for his two sons, Sheikh Ali and Sheikh Hamad. This development served not only as his family’s home but, in the traditions of the area, as the centre of his work as governor of the peninsula, the Turks having left in 1916 and the British taking their place.

The first of these two photographs shows the palace complex of Sheikh Abdullah as it was in 1960 over some of its surrounding buildings in feriq al-Salata. The view, looking approximately north-west, shows something of the haphazard urbanisation to the south of the complex as well as its relationship with the sea. Many of the family who inhabited this feriq – as well as the feriq al-Hitmi, adjacent to and south of the complex – were associated with the fishing and pearling industries.

The central building in Sheikh Abdullah’s complex was a two storey formal structure, photographed here as it was in 1967. This was the family residence of Sheikh Abdullah, supplemented by a group of rooms arranged around the external wall of the complex and to the south of this building.

Constructed for Shaikh Abdullah in 1918 by the Bahraini master builder, Abdullah bin Ali al-Mail, its architecture based on contemporary modern buildings in Bahrain. Its design importance lies in its central location, a building of height to be experienced in the round, as well as in the logical disposition of its rooms around a central space on two levels, the lower having rooms or covered spaces, the upper constituting an almost continuous gallery. Its location within the compound together with its height will have allowed it to take advantage of the littoral sea breezes, in a similar manner to which the public, single-storied majlis, located in the north corner of the complex, was able to provide to those sitting within it.

This photograph shows the remains of the public majlis of the complex, the formal meeting room in which the men of the family would meet, discuss and make decisions on a daily basis. It was the public face of the Sheikh Abdullah. It appears to be relatively low due to the construction above the panels being missing. It was situated in the north-west corner of the complex, this photograph having been taken from inside the complex to the north-west. It is the nearest building in the square sepia photograph a little way above, and can be glimpsed in the photograph above that one over the entrance structure.

The form of the structure is plain to see and formed the basis of most buildings in Qatar. It is of trabeated, or column and beam construction, the columns being provided by hasa, desert stones set in a juss limestone mortar with horizontal timber beams between them. Elsewhere I have written about this in more detail. Decoration has introduced non-structural round-headed and ogee arches, but these are purely decorative and make no structural contribution.

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Other development

Bearing the above structure in mind, for comparison here are two photographs of old houses in the centre of Doha which will have been constructed using that system. The rendered ground floor walls appear to be solid for the sake of privacy and security and, in the ground level walls where the render has come away, they can be seen to be solid masonry constructed of desert hasa or, perhaps, hasa bahri. But I think it’s more likely that the two storey houses have been built with the same column and beam construction, the outside wall finished flush without reflecting this. Note in the top photograph a small ventilation hole at the top of the ground floor to exhaust hot air. I should also mention that the use of solid ground floor walls contrasts with architecture in Bahrain and Dubai where there were often majaalis fronting onto the public sikkat that passed them by.

Inside, the structure would have been expressed, creating alcoves which are used both decoratively as well as functionally for storage, shelves or hanging items. Note the rounded corners of the first floor which show that the result of using random-shaped stones for masonry means that you can’t have a bonded, right-angled construction as you would have with rectangular blocks.

You can see the badgheer system operating at first floor level both in providing air to the enclosed rooms while safeguarding privacy, and allowing air to sweep onto the roof surface in the open roof areas. Rainwater is shed from the roof with mirzam. Note how many are used in an effort to shed the water quickly and prevent its build-up and the associated risk of penetration.

In the lower photograph the poles providing the structural foundation of the first floor have been allowed to project to their different lengths. Only in the houses of the better off would the poles be cut to a common length. By projecting the poles through the walls they provide a more secure structural support.

It is notable that there is no naqsh work to be seen as would be anticipated in good quality buildings. These appear to be the houses of ordinary merchants living in a relatively tight urban situation despite the fact that there appear to be relatively wide roads in front of both buildings, suggesting they would have been constructed in the 1950s.

I was under the impression that this photograph was taken in Rayyan, but now think it to be Doha. It would have been a relatively central area as the buildings appear to be two, even three storeys high. The photograph would date from about the nineteen-fifties.

Maritime tradition in the Gulf produced, over a period of time, the zuli affording a degree of privacy and protection from the elements for the crew needing it. Here you can see three or, maybe, four similar systems constructed on the first floor of houses with vertical stacks connected to them. I assume this was a development of the marine zuli, rather than vice versa as I imagine there would have been a need for the marine variety well before multi-storey development suggested a need. But, it’s only a guess…

It’s not possible to tell if they are plumbed into a drainage system. I would have thought that, at the time, the stacks would lead to septic tanks, but the fact that they are in a line and look as if they were constructed as a single development suggests that they might, in fact, be part of a proper sewerage system. Interestingly, I don’t recall seeing such systems above ground floor level, nor do I know when a sewerage system was introduced to Doha though there was work being carried out in the nineteen-seventies.

This photograph was discovered in the suq, but regrettably there was no way of identifying where it was taken. It is interesting in that it shows a relatively poor neighbourhood. There are at least four points to note in the photograph. Firstly, the width of the road is considerably wider than was traditional and certainly wider than the centre of the suq. To me this implies a later stage of development or, perhaps, a more littoral development. Secondly, the two retail units are built higher than the road by a considerable amount, suggesting that the area was liable to inundation, or at least that there was concern for flooding. Thirdly, the wall on the left has less juss to complete its surface from that on the right, which is a less expensive finish and, therefore illustrates a poorer neighbourhood. Fourthly, the building on the left has maraazim to lead water off its flat roof whereas the building behind it and on the left has material draped over its sloping roof, perhaps as a temporary solution to a roofing problem. It is typical in a sense of barasti development, and it is interesting to see that there is the traditional material used on the right to create shade, the supporting mangrove poles spanning the whole of the street.

Further up the page there are three photographs of the fortified structure in the village of Umm Salal Muhammad. The building is both a watch tower as well as protection for a considerable area of cultivation and its associated water source, a small dammed wadi adjacent to it. This photograph, looking east either from the tower or, perhaps, from the burj of the adjacent masjid shows, beyond the simple houses, the water source. On the horizon to the right, there is one of the Barzan towers.

Even though traffic was not as heavy as it is now, the need to have a form of control was introduced in the middle of the last century and was demonstrated by a small number of traffic police located in the suq on small raised stands that gave them some form of protection as well as solar shading. This first photograph was taken of the north end of Musheirib street in either 1956 or 1957, depending upon which source you believe. Oddly enough, the sun shade appears to be slanting the wrong way and can’t have been that much help to the policeman standing there on duty. I can recall policemen on traffic duty in the early nineteen seventies but can’t remember when the system stopped. Recently this has been reintroduced, but I think it has to do with decisions on tourism relating to the centre of Doha and the reconstruction of the suq. In the background, the white building on the right is the Courts building. The second photograph shows a junction further south in the suq, with a merchant’s property of significant scale demonstrating the relationship of road to the retail element of the building. I don’t know, but believe the photograph is also likely to have been taken in the 1950s.

A few years later, this photograph was taken in the nineteen sixties by the look of the women’s style of dress, and shows a part of the old suq in Doha on Wadi Musheirib and the character of the stalls facing the old street. It illustrates the relatively dilapidated character of the suq in those days. Incidentally, the women’s dresses were considered to be quite improper at the time but, regrettably, this was relatively common…

A little further down the street and, by contrast, this photograph of the Bismallah restaurant shows a new type of building to the country at that time. It appears to be one of the first of the concrete buildings being established in the country. The trabeated construction is evident, and the detailing has much to do with that of the Indian sub-continent. Open ventilation can be seen and the shaded verandah will also assist in keeping the building cool, something which is important as concrete buildings can be extremely uncomfortable. The introduction of electricity enabled restaurants such as this to install ceiling mounted fans which certainly helped cool the spaces.

Suq Waqf street was the main road through Doha’s central shopping area. This photograph was taken in 1956 and looks north-east along it, the road turning north at the end, towards the West Bay. The suq’s mosque can be seen centre left. Outside the mosque sat people mending shoes and selling household necessities such as traditional tooth brushes, along with scribes and their typewriters writing letters and legal documents.

With increasing wealth and development, commercial buildings stretched out of Suq Waqf south-west along wadi Musheirib, their scale becoming increasingly larger to reflect the parcels of land acquired. From this street two commercial streets developed linking north with the Rayyan Road, Abdullah bin Thani street and, here, Electricity Street, looking south in 1961.

The mid nineteen-fifties saw the development of a hospital at Rumaillah, north of the Rayyan Road. This first photograph, taken looking north-east, is of the hospital, built on the slightly higher ground and western edge of Doha in the fifties. It is obviously a concrete frame construction and owes its origins to the development of British architecture in the Indian sub-continent with its reliance on shading and cross-ventilation to create rooms which were relatively cool. It differed from the traditional construction of the country and, of course, it uses different materials and was designed to encompass a new scale and number of spaces compared with traditional architecture.

On the other side of the road can be seen the beginnings of residential development for the expatriates who were being brought into the country to work for the government in the oil industry, and the medical and the construction industries, particularly the engineering and utility services. Some of the housing was in two-storey traditional buildings relying on natural ventilation – soon supplemented by air-conditioning units – and seen in the first photograph, and some was in single storey bungalows seen at the bottom of the second photograph.

This second aerial photograph shows the hospital complex, this time looking down from the north-east. The curved road at the bottom of the photograph is the road leading to the fort, and the angled road at the top left of the photograph is the Rayyan Road, running east-west. Above the road, and in the bottom left hand corner of the photograph, is the British Embassy and Residence, now gone with the Diplomatic mission removed to the New District of Doha.

The third of these photographs is taken from a similar angle as that above it but shows that the government housing at the bottom of the photograph that was constructed for expatriates, has been taken down and the Guest Palace placed there. The entrance to the Guest Palace is the white structure in the lower centre of the photograph.

While the centre of Doha was developed and important structures such as the hospital built, housing was also changing. The first o these two photographs was taken in the 1960s and looks out across part of feriq al-Salata. The housing is courtyard in style with many of the structures having some form of decoration at the intersection of beams and columns. Some roofs are obviously designed to be used but, in the main, they are not and are just finished in the traditional manner. It is noticeable that there are no wind towers.

This second photograph illustrates the later housing development in feriq al-Salata that was common at its fringes where there was more land available for development and where the government instituted wider roads. Here the housing can be seen to enjoy tall ceiling heights, car ownership was more common, there were telephone lines appearing ̵ though as yet no street lighting, and children played on the streets. What is evident is the change in character between the densities of the urban environments illustrated in the two photographs.

While development within the Qatar peninsula was mainly focussed on Doha, other centres around the country also saw some development. The old centres of al-Khor, al-Ruwais and, later, al-Wakra, saw new development, mostly constructed away from the old housing that had been built along the coast which was left, in the first instance, to decay. But other small centres also saw development associated with those who had traditional rights to settle in those areas, as well as responding to government initiatives to collect and settle the mobile population. The small settlement at al-Sumaismah was a case in point. These three aerial photographs illustrate the beginnings of the new style of residential development, and were taken in the 1980s.

The settlement of al-Sumaismah is situated roughly two-thirds of the way between Doha and al-Khor. In the early days of settlement there was a coastal track linking the two towns, and this would have passed through al-Sumaismah. But development of the North Road five to fifteen kilometres from the coast, reduced its viability to some extent. Located on an open stretch of coast the settlement is now approached by a five kilometre link road east from the North Road. Set back from the coast, the government established a road pattern within which land was distributed to those wishing to live there. Note the single masjid established for the growing community and, in the first photograph, a large residential development established on the coastline.

These last two photographs are interesting as they show something rarely seen – part of the operation of the centre of a household. A similar bi’r would have been a central part of every household’s operation. Unfortunately, the proximity to the sea, the rising salinity levels caused by both this and water abstraction as well as problems created by nearby septic tanks created increasing problems for this source of the household’s water. This led to the market in water transported around the town in tankers – both donkey and lorry based – and eventually to the piping of potable water along galvanised steel pipes into similar tanks resulting in the common sight and taste of rust.

Above the two doors to the left of the photo are permanent ventilation openings and the two windows are protected by iron bars as well as – in the case of that on the right – what appear to be internal shutters. The final item to note are the pigeon boxes on the back wall. It was common to have these as well as seeing hens within the compound.

The last photograph shows two women grinding wheat in a large pestle as they prepare harees, a traditional meal that requires the soaking of crushed wheat and then mixing it with a meat, cooking it and serving it with a sugared topping. Just as with machboos, every family has its own jealously guarded recipe adding different grains, vegetables and spices in differing proportions. There are household items ranged along the wall and the children of the household are watching. Why they’re not helping or playing, I’m not sure.

More to be written…