'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1516] (589/688)

1516
QAT—QAT
town, and was always precarious even there. In 1904 Herr Burchardt, an unimpeach
able witness on such a point, noted that upon his request for permission to take photo
graphs, he was referred by the Turkish commandant, to the local Shaikh, and that posts
were carefully placed at night because the Arabs were well armed, not only with Martinis
but even with magazine-rifles. The Porte, however, was strong enough to control the
foreign relations of the local Shaikh, though the British Government never acknowledged
the occupation; before the outbreak of war there had been negotiations between the
two Powers for the removal of the garrison which has since shared the fate of
that of Al-Hasa. Down to 1882, the Government of India had an agreement with the
Shaikh of El-Qatar simUar to that signed with the Trucial chiefs; but it was after
wards allowed to lapse. At the present time, Great Britain exercises an informal
protectorate.
The ruling Shaikh is Abdullah Ibn Jasim At-Thani, second son of the old Sheikh Jasim
Bm-Muhammad, who died in the summer of 1913. Before his father's death he had
acted for a time as governor of the port of Dohah, though supplanted in this post bv his
x of .rother, Khalifa, in 1912. This brother is still hostile, as are his cousins, the sons
u Ahmed At-Thani. Sheikh Abdullah has maintained friendly relations with
fx, • j ' Which have contillued during the war ; he is on good terms with Ibn Saud
o Rxadh, for whom his father more than once acted during the latter's overtures to the
Indian Government. He is not, however, regarded as an energetic ruler.
QATAR—
A bluff point m the ridge in Jau (q. v.), in independent 'Oman, which overlooks the
Muzdailah plam.
QATARAH—
One of the villages of the Baraimi oasis (q. v.), in independent 'Oman.
QATARNAH—
One of the rural tribes of 'Iraq (q. v.).
QATAWAH (Q alaibat-al)—
A Bedouin camping ground in the interior of Qatar (q. v.), eastern Arabia.
QATlB (W adi)—
A small valley in the maritime district of Batinah (q. v.), in the Sultanate of 'Oman.
It reaches the sea at Ma abilah and rises 12 or 14 miles inland of that hamlet.
QATlF OASIS—*
A well watered maritime tract in the Sanjaq of Hasa, the counterpart upon the coast of
the larger and ncher Hasa Oasis in the interior.
Position and^ extent. ~"The oasis of Qatif immediately adjoins the coast for a short
distance on both sides of the town of the same name : on the east it is bounded by the
sea and on the other sides it is enclosed by the large desert tract of Bivadh except It its
south end upon the coast where it meets Barr-adh-Dhahran. The oasis extends about
lln^riS l + t ¥ S * m , G dlstf fce south of Qatif Town and has thus a total length of
about 18 miles ; its depth from the coast inland is on the average about 3 miles
Physical charactenshcs and climate.-The greater part of the Qatif Oasis is a sandy
plam, saturated with spring water and raised only a few feet above the level of the sea
The springs are not warm hke those of the Hasa Oasis, but the source from which they
are supplied is doubtless the same — the drainage, namely, of Southern Najd which
disappears underground in the Dahanah desert and the Sahabah tract. There arlako
Shak. 8 mar producing reeds, especially in the north about Safwa and Umm-as-
Not the whole area comprehended by the boundaries above described is cultivated
Qatif W a^ tothrnortt ^ ^ of Saih ^' or about 6 miles south ot
f t" 1 own, and to the north and north-westwards it is somewhat dispersed • the villafrpq
o Satwa - and Lajto stMd , ^ it were , in sepaite S of S
. The principal authorities, maps, etc., on this tract arp
the title of the general article on the Hasa Sanfiq. included among those specified in a footnote to