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The name of the ruling family of Qatar is Al Thani. It was part of a tribe which was long settled around the Jibrin oasis in what is now Saudi Arabia. The oasis, a well-known one, is south of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The Al Thani family are a branch of the Arab tribe Tamim , which lived in the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula. The name Al Thani comes from the family's ancestor, Thani bin Mohammed, who was the father of the first Al Thani sheikh to rule over the entire Qatar peninsula in the mid-19th century.
The Al Thani family arrived in Qatar in the early years of the 18th century and initially settled in the northern part of the peninsula. In the mid-19th century, under the leadership of Mohammed bin Thani, they moved to present day Doha. |
