Map/Chart > The Persian Collection

Part of the coast of Saudi Arabia and Qatar including Bahrain

A 'finished copy' of an original survey completed by Lts. J.M.Guy, G.B.Brucks & W.E Rogers of the Honourable East India Co. Marine

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This detailed coastal survey covers the coasts of modern day Saudi Arabia, from just above what is now Al Jubail, down through Al Qatif (shown as 'El Katiff') and the East coast of Qatar up to 'Ras Reccan' (at the tip of the Qatar peninsula).  This sheet is the second sheet in a larger survey of this part of the Arabian coast which in total covers the coastline starting from Core Abdullah (Kuwait) and is what is called a 'finished' copy in the hand of the surveyor.

The overall survey was conducted as part of the Honorable East India Company Marine larger survey of the Persian gulf between 1821 and 1825 by Lieuts. J.M. Guy, G.B. Brucks, R. Cogan & W.E Rogers, some of which was finally published in 1826.

The inscription under the survey title which reads ‘H.E.I.C y’s Marine’ is a reference to the all-powerful East India Company which traded in commodities such as cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, pepper, tea, and opium. Although the company had started in the East Indies it had, by the 19th century, assumed effective control over trade in Asia, and India and China in particular.  That the Honourable East India Company had its own navy is a measure of its power and influence at the time. The survey has at the heart of it the islands of Bahrain which itself was surveyed by the British in the 1817 & 1818 (see P718 & P719).  All of he Western coast of Qatar as far up as 'Ras Reccan' is depicted in detail and includes the (now ruined) settlement of 'Zabarra'. Zabara (now ‘Zubara’) was once a successful centre of global trade and which had, over time, developed trade links with India, Oman, Iraq and Kuwait. Many goods were transported through its ports, including dates, spices and metals. Pearl fishing was another industry that flourished in the settlement. With Qatar being located midway between the Strait of Hormuz and the west arm of the Persian Gulf, Zubara, not unsurprisingly became a favorite transit point for traders after the Al Khalifa abolished trade taxes. Today, although ruined, Zubara is one of the most extensive and best preserved examples of an 18th–19th century urban settlement in the region and it gives us a glimpse of what life was like in Qatar at the time. The well preserved fabric of the settlement give us an insight into urban life of the time and today Zubarah is Qatar’s most substantial archaeological site including a later (1830s) Fort. The name 'Zubara' is derived from the Arabic word for sand mounds. It was presumably given this name due its abundance of sand and stony hillocks. The survey includes hydrographical or navigational information such as water depth marked by numbers off the coast showing Fathoms. It also includes rocks, shoals and sand-banks amongst other hazards.