Al Bidda
|
Al Bidda البدع |
|
|---|---|
| District | |
 Al Bidda
|
|
| Coordinates: 25°17′59″N 51°31′11″E / 25.29972°N 51.51972°ECoordinates: 25°17′59″N 51°31′11″E / 25.29972°N 51.51972°E | |
| Country | Qatar |
| Municipality | Doha |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.3 km2 (0.5 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,102 |
| • Density | 850/km2 (2,200/sq mi) |
Al Bidda is a neighborhood of Doha, Qatar. It was previously the largest town in Qatar in the 19th century, before Doha, an offshoot of Al Bidda, grew in prominence. Al Bidda was incorporated as a district in the Doha municipality in the late 20th century.
The earliest documented mention of Al Bidda was made in 1681, by the Carmelite Convent, in an account which chronicles several settlements in Qatar. In the record, the ruler and a fort in the confines of Al Bidda are alluded to.
Al Bidda became the most important town in the country after the decline of Zubarah in the early nineteenth century. Doha, the present-day capital, developed from Al Bidda. David Seaton, a British political resident in Muscat, detailed one of the earliest English accounts of Al Bidda in 1801:
Account by David Seaton: —
In January 1823, political resident John MacLeod visited Al Bidda to meet with the ruler and initial founder of Doha, Buhur bin Jubrun, who was also the chief of the Al-Buainain tribe. MacLeod noted that Al Bidda was the only substantial trading port in the peninsula during this time. Following the founding of Doha, written records often conflated Al Bidda and Doha due to the extremely close proximity of the two settlements. Later that year, Lt. Guy and Lt. Brucks mapped and wrote a description of the two settlements. Despite being mapped as two separate entities, they were referred to under the collective name of Al Bidda in the written description.
In 1847, Al Bidda was demolished by the sheikh of Bahrain and its inhabitants were removed to Bahrain. The sheikh also placed economic blockade over the town in 1852. In 1867, a large number of ships and troops were sent from Bahrain to punish the people of Al Wakrah and Al Bidda. Abu Dhabi joined on Bahrain's behalf due to the conception that Al Wakrah served as a refuge for fugitives from Oman. Later that year, the combined forces sacked the two aforementioned Qatari cities with 2,000 men in what would come to be known as the Qatari–Bahraini War. A British record later stated "that the towns of Doha and Wakrah were, at the end of 1867 temporarily blotted out of existence, the houses being dismantled and the inhabitants deported".
Around early 1871, the town became a base of operations for Bedouins resisting Ottoman rule after they established a foothold in Eastern Arabia that year. By December 1871, emir Jassim bin Mohammed authorized the Ottomans to send 100 troops and equipment to Al Bidda. Shortly after, Qatar was assimilated as a province in the Ottoman Empire, and Al Bidda was recognized as the official provincial capital.
...
Wikipedia