Editing History of Qatar (section)

===Portuguese and Ottoman control (1521–1670)===
{{See also|European exploration of Arabia}}
[[File:Atlas-de-lazaro-luis Cidade de Qatar.jpg|thumb|''Sidade de Catar'' in Lázaro Luís' 1563 map of Arabia.]]
Bahrain and mainland Qatar had been seized by the Portuguese in 1521.<ref name="mohamed"/><ref name="gillespie">{{cite book|last=Gillespie|first=Carol Ann|title=Bahrain (Modern World Nations)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OoR1e79B3mAC|publisher=Chelsea House Publications|year=2002|page=31|isbn=978-0791067796}}</ref> After the Portuguese claimed control, they constructed a series of fortresses along the Arabian Coast.<ref name="gillespie"/> However, there have been limited findings of Portuguese ruins in Qatar.<ref name="mccoy"/> One possible contender for a Portuguese presence is the 16th-century fort built in Portuguese architectural style in the ruined town of [[Ruwayda]]. A map dating to 1563 created by Portuguese cartographer Lázaro Luís depicts ''Sidade de Catar'', making it the earliest depiction of any specific settlement in Qatar. Some historians believe that it refers to Ruwayda, though there remains much ambiguity as to the location's true identity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gis.psa.gov.qa/QatarAtlas/History|title=Qatar Timeline|publisher=Planning and Statistics Authority (Qatar)|accessdate=26 June 2024}}</ref>

[[Gasparo Balbi]], a Venetian merchant and traveler, made the first mention of Qatar in a print book in the West. The book, titled ''Viaggio dell’Indie Orientali Balbi'', detailed Balbi's travels to the Far East from 1579 to 1588. In it, he mentions a place called 'Barechator', thought to be a corruption of ''Bar Qatar'', or mainland Qatar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.qatar-tribune.com/article/180700/NATION/First-printed-record-of-Qatar-highlight-of-book-fair|title=First printed record of Qatar highlight of book fair|publisher=Qatar Tribune|date=10 January 2020|accessdate=8 June 2024}}</ref>

The Portuguese focused on creating a commercial empire in Eastern Arabia, and exported gold, silver, silks, cloves, amber, horses and pearls.<ref>{{cite book|last=Orr|first=Tamra|title=Qatar (Cultures of the World)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ID7fa0Mn3RkC|publisher=Cavendish Square Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-0761425663|page=18}}</ref> The population of [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]] submitted voluntarily to the rule of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1550, preferring them to the Portuguese.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anscombe|first=Frederick|title=The Ottoman Gulf: The Creation of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=og5vjx2V_xoC|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1997|page=12|isbn=978-0231108393}}</ref> After the Portuguese were [[Dutch–Portuguese War|expelled from the area]] in 1602<ref>{{cite book|last=Leonard|first=Thomas|title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mE04D9PMpAC|publisher=Routledge|page=133|year=2005|isbn=978-1579583880}}</ref> by the Dutch and British,<ref name="potter">{{cite book|last=Potter|first=Lawrence|title=The Persian Gulf in History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncfIAAAAQBAJ|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2010|page=262|isbn=978-0230612822}}</ref> the Ottomans saw little need to maintain a military presence in the Al-Hasa region. As a result, the Ottomans were expelled by the [[Bani Khalid]] in 1670.<ref name="potter"/>