The treaty ratified on 12 September 1868 effectively marked the end of interference on mainland Qatar by the country's neighbours, and the consolidation of Mohammed bin Thani's statusas the internationally recognised ruler of his country.

The eclipse of Saudi power in the later 19th century led to renewed interest of the Ottomans in the Arabian peninsula. They sent a deputation to Doha to persuade Qasim, the son of Mohammed bin Thani, to accept the Turkish flag. The British did not intervene, but made it clear they recognised no Turkish rights to Qatar.

The following year, 1872, saw the arrival of Turkish troops in Doha and the occupation of a fort. For the next forty years Qasim bin Mohammed Al-Thani charted a course between the Ottomans and the British. Qasim was a man of courage, tenacity and skill, and managed to maintain his position as the chief personage and recognised ruler of Qatar while balancing the two super-powers. But he resented Turkish interference in Qatar's internal affairs and their increasingly oppressive demands for tribute.

Matters came to a head when the Ottoman Wali of Basra, Nafiz Pasha, paid a visit to Qatar in 1893, accompanied by 300 cavalry and a regiment of infantry. Qasim retired to his fort at Wajbah, some 15 kilometres west, and declined the Wali's invitation to visit Doha. On 26 March 1893 Nafiz Pasha made a surprise attack at night on Qasim's headquarters, but the Qatari warriors bravely routed the attackers, who withdrew to Doha Fort.

The Ottoman defeat was a landmark. Qasim's reputation and popularity were firmly established. Although he went into semi-retirement soon afterwards, allowing his brother Ahmad, and later his son Abdullah, to deputise for him on many matters, he continued to exercise control over broad policy. He constructed roads to connect the main towns of the country, and set up religious schools and one secular school. On his death at an advanced age in 1913, Abdullah succeeded him.

In 1915 the last of the Turks left. By this time Britain and Turkey were fighting on opposite sides in the First World War. The Anglo-Qatari Treaty of 1916 guaranteed British protection of an independent Qatar from both land and sea attack on the premise of Qatar's neutrality in the World War, and secured the establishment of postal and telegraphic services in Qatar. The World War left prevailing authority in the region with the British. Meanwhile, nationalistic movements were arising in countries bordering the Gulf.

The 1930s saw a time of severe economic hardship when the Western world was in the grip of a recession and the demand for pearls fell. In 1933 the Japanese developed the cultured pearl, dealing a crippling blow to the Gulf pearl industry from which it never recovered. The population of Qatar at this time dropped steeply.

At this low ebb in the fortunes of Qatar, a new hope appeared. Although the possibility of the existence of oil in the region had been realised as early as 1908, when oil was discovered in southern Iraq, followed by a treaty in 1913 with the ruler of Kuwait securing for British companies rights to oil exploration, little happened in the southern Gulf for many years. It was not until the American oil company Socal struck oil in Bahrain in 1932 and then negotiated a concession with Ibn Saud, that the British began to take an active interest in the oil potential of the Arabian peninsula. They focused their attention on Qatar.

News of the attractive terms offered by Socal to Ibn Saud reached Qatar, and the British had to convince Abdullah that he should favour the more modest offer made by the British-controlled Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC).

No one was yet to know the true potential of the oil which lay beneath their territory and any geological evidence was largely the preserve of the oil company, which took care not to exaggerate to Abdullah his country's potential. However, he proved a shrewd negotiator, and was able to extract from the British various concessions, including further guarantees from external attack. On 17 May 1935 a document was signed granting the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, a participator in IPC, exclusive rights for production, refining and marketing of petroleum, as well as for natural gases and other by-products. After a series of down payments, Abdullah was to receive royalties of 3 rupees per ton.

Download the complete history of Qatar