Yusufiyah () is an abandoned village in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

located in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Al Shamal Al Shamal () is a municipality in Qatar. Its seat is Madinat ash Shamal and it is considered to be one of the major cities in Qatar, although its population is barely over 7,000. The seat's name translates to "city of the north". Ras Rakan, t ...

. It was previously one of the most important towns on Qatar's north coast. An old stone fort, Qalaat Yusufiyeh, is found here. Nearby settlements include

Al Jumail Al Jumail () is an abandoned village in north-east Qatar located in the municipality of Al Shamal. It was an important town in the northern peninsula prior to the 21st century. Nearby settlements include Ruwayda to the south-west and Yusufiyah a ...

to the south and

Abu Dhalouf Abu Dhalouf () is a town on the north coast of Qatar, in the municipality of Al Shamal. It was demarcated in 1988 and is bounded by Madinat ash Shamal to the immediate east, with Ar-Ruʼays to the immediate east of Madinat ash Shamal. Etymology I ...

to the immediate east.

Etymology

There is some uncertainty regarding the origin of Yusufiyah's name. According to the Ministry of Municipality, the village's name is credited to the Yusifiyeh tribe who, in the past, resided here. This theory is disputed by the Al Mannai tribe, who claim that the name was chosen after a settlement in their ancestral homeland,

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

History

According to family tradition, the Al Mannai tribe was one of the earliest tribes to settle the area, doing so in the 17th century after being displaced from Iraq. Historical documents state that in 1671, the settlement was ruled by Saleh bin Damahm Al-Mannai. In 1738, Qalaat Yusufiyah was built to defend the village from sea raids. The village was later abandoned by the Al Mannai in favor of

to the east. In the 18th century, according to contemporary Arabic sources, there were about 1,500 members of the Al Bu Hussein tribe residing here.

Carsten Niebuhr Carsten Niebuhr, or Karsten Niebuhr (17 March 1733 Cuxhaven, Lüdingworth – 26 April 1815 Meldorf, Dithmarschen), was a German mathematician, Cartography, cartographer, and Geographical exploration, explorer in the service of Denmark-Norway. He ...

, an 18th-century German explorer who visited the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, created one of the first maps to depict the settlements of Qatar in 1765 in which Yusufiyah was among the few included. Major Colebrook, a British official, compiled a brief report on the towns in Qatar on 10 September, 1820. In it he states: In the 1820s, George Barnes Brucks was tasked with preparing the first British survey of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. He wrote down the following notes about Yusufiyah, referring to it as ''Yossfee'':

References

Al Shamal {{Qatar-geo-stub