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Battle of Al Wajbah in Qatar

  • Author: Admin
  • February 18, 2022
Battle of Al Wajbah in Qatar

Overview

The Battle of Al Wajbah was an equipped clash that occurred in March 1893 in Qatar, an area of the Ottoman Empire's Najd sanjak around then. The contention was started after Ottoman authorities detained 16 Qatari ancestral pioneers and requested a section of troops to walk toward the Al Thani fortress in the town of Al Wajbah in light of kaymakam Jassim Al Thani's refusal to come to Ottoman power.

The primary fight occurred in Al Wajbah Fort. After the Ottomans' fruitless effort to hold onto the stronghold, they withdrew first to Shebaka Fort, and afterward to their fortification in Al Bidda. Not long after, Al Thani's troop attacked the fortification and remove the water supply of the area, bringing about the concession of rout by the Ottomans. Following this was a consent to surrender the Qatari prisoners as a trade-off for the protected entry of Mehmed Pasha's mounted force to Hofuf via land.

In spite of the fact that Qatar didn't acquire full autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, the aftereffect of the fight is seen by Qatar as a vital crossroads in the foundation of Qatar as a cutting edge state and the Ottoman's standard was over in Qatar.

Background

Notwithstanding the dissatisfaction with regards to neighborhood clans, Al Thani kept supporting Ottoman rule. Notwithstanding, Qatari-Ottoman relations before long deteriorated, and in 1882 they experienced further difficulties when the Ottomans would not help Al Thani in his campaign of Abu Dhabi-involved Khawr al Udayd. Al Thani become undesirable with the Ottomans after they got grievances from Qataris in regards to his mistreatments from 1885 to 1886. In a further disaster for reciprocal relations, the Ottomans upheld the Ottoman subject Mohammed canister Abdul Wahab who endeavored to replace Al Thani as kaymakam of Qatar in 1888.

In 1890, the Ottomans endeavored to additionally solidify their impact over Qatar by forcing various managerial changes, expanding charges and positioning extra soldiers in their post at Al Bidda. This in the end drove Al Thani to oppose the Ottomans, who he accepted were trying to usurp control of the promontory. He surrendered as kaymakam and quit paying charges in August 1892.

Chronology

Negotiations

In October 1892, an Ottoman armed force containing around 200 men drove by the legislative head of Basra, Mehmed Hafiz Pasha, was shipped off Qatar in light of Al Thani's offenses. They showed up in February 1893, with additional fortifications on the way from Kuwait. Al Thani, expecting that he would confront demise or detainment, escaped first to Al Daayen, and afterward to Al Wajbah Fort (10 miles west of Doha) where he was joined by a few Qatari clans.

Mehmed sent a letter to Al Thani requesting that he disband his soldiers and vow unwaveringness to the Ottomans. In any case, Al Thani stayed inflexible in his refusal to conform to Ottoman power, and, moreover, wouldn't meet with Mehmed himself based on medical affliction. All things considered, he delegated his sibling, Ahmed canister Mohammed Al Thani, as his messenger. In March, following a month of this way and that conferring, Mehmed became annoyed and detained Al Thani's sibling and somewhere in the range of 13 and 16 conspicuous Qatari ancestral pioneers on the Ottoman corvette Merrikh. He additionally barred the town of Al Wajbah.

Al Thani gave to pay a charge of 10,000 liras as a trade off for the prisoners' delivery, yet Mehmed declined his deal.

Battle

In the wake of declining Sheik Jassim Al Thani's proposition, Mehmed requested a segment of troops to progress towards Al Wajbah Fort under the order of general Yusuf Effendi. Shortly after Effendi's soldiers showed up at Al Wajbah, they went under weighty gunfire from Qatari infantry and cavalry troops, which totalled 3,000 to 4,000 men. Following seven hours of trade of gunfire, the Ottomans withdrew to Shebaka stronghold, where they supported further setbacks from a Qatari incursion. The Ottomans additionally lost contact with their approaching fortifications from Kuwait, as their messages had been captured by Qatari Bedouins.

The Ottoman soldiers withdrew for a third time frame, to their stronghold in Al Bidda, where their corvette was positioned. They continued to fire unpredictably at the residents, killing various civilians. Shortly later, Al Thani's propelling segment assaulted the stronghold and remove the water supply of the area. Without water and ailing in provisions, the Ottomans yielded rout and consented to surrender the Qatari hostages as a trade-off for the protected section of Mehmed's cavalry to Hofuf via land.

A report by the British government distributed one year after the fight expresses the accompanying:

"The total Arab loss, including women and children, who, being driven out into the desert, perished from exposure, has been stated at 420, which is probably an outside estimate. On the Turkish side the loss has been set down at 40 to 100; and as both parties may be supposed, though from different motives, to be inclined to reduce the number, the higher figure is perhaps not very wide of the mark, excluding some of the wounded sent to Basra."

Aftermath

Out of dread of additional disobedience, the Ottoman government allowed Al Thani a full exculpation. Moreover, the Ottoman king, Abdülhamid II, dismissed Mehmet Hafiz Pasha as legislative head of Basra. In spite of the fact that Qatar didn't acquire full autonomy from the Ottoman Empire until 1915, the consequence of the fight additionally solidified the Al Thani rule over the country. It is additionally seen by Qataris as a pivotal occasion in the foundation of Qatar as a cutting edge state.