suggested that Qatar is the earliest known site of shellfish dye billion[9] (55th)

production, owing to a Kassite purple dye industry which • Per capita $82,877[9]
existed on the coast.[41][45] (5th)

In 224 AD, the Sasanian Empire gained control over the

Gini (2007) 41.1[10]
medium
territories surrounding the Persian Gulf.[46] Qatar played a
role in the commercial activity of the Sasanids, contributing at HDI (2021) 0.855[11]
least two commodities: precious pearls and purple dye. Under very high · 42nd
the Sasanid reign, many of the inhabitants in Eastern Arabia
Currency Qatari riyal
were introduced to Christianity following the eastward (QAR)
dispersal of the religion by Mesopotamian Christians.[47]
Monasteries were constructed and further settlements were Time zone UTC+3 (AST)
founded during this era.[48][49] During the latter part of the Driving side right[12]
Christian era, Qatar comprised a region known as 'Beth
Qatraye' (Syriac for "house of the Qataris").[50] The region was Calling code +974
not limited to Qatar; it also included Bahrain, Tarout Island, ISO 3166 code QA
Al-Khatt, and Al-Hasa.[51]
Internet TLD .qa
In 628, the Islamic prophet Muhammad sent a Muslim envoy ‫قطر‬.
to a ruler in Eastern Arabia named Munzir ibn Sawa Al-
Tamimi and requested that he and his subjects accept Islam. Munzir obliged his request, and
accordingly, most of the Arab tribes in the region converted to Islam.[52] In the middle of the century,
the Muslim conquest of Persia would result in the fall of the Sasanian Empire.[53]

Early and late Islamic period (661–1783)

Qatar was described as a famous horse and camel breeding centre

during the Umayyad period.[54] In the 8th century, it started
benefiting from its commercially strategic position in the Persian
Gulf and went on to become a centre of pearl trading.[55][56]

Substantial development in the pearling industry around the Qatari

Peninsula occurred during the Abbasid era.[54] Ships voyaging from
Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest Basra to India and China would make stops in Qatar's ports during
extent, c. 850 this period. Chinese porcelain, West African coins, and artefacts
from Thailand have been discovered in Qatar.[53] Archaeological
remains from the 9th century suggest that Qatar's inhabitants used
greater wealth to construct higher quality homes and public buildings. Over 100 stone-built houses, two
mosques, and an Abbasid fort were constructed in Murwab during this period.[57][58] When the
caliphate's prosperity declined in Iraq, so too did it in Qatar.[59] Qatar is mentioned in 13th-century
Muslim scholar Yaqut al-Hamawi's book, Mu'jam Al-Buldan, which alludes to the Qataris' fine striped
woven cloaks and their skills in improvement and finishing of spears.[60]

Much of Eastern Arabia was controlled by the Usfurids in 1253, but control of the region was seized by
the prince of Ormus in 1320.[61] Qatar's pearls provided the kingdom with one of its main sources of
income.[62] In 1515, Manuel I of Portugal vassalised the Kingdom of Ormus. Portugal went on to seize a
significant portion of Eastern Arabia in 1521.[62][63] In 1550, the inhabitants of Al-Hasa voluntarily
submitted to the rule of the Ottomans, preferring them to the Portuguese.[64] Having retained a
negligible military presence in the area, the Ottomans were expelled by the Bani Khalid tribe and their
emirate in 1670.[65]

Bahraini and Saudi rule (1783–1868)