A Nostalgic Journey to Qatif's Old City

In the last few decades the city of Qatif has expanded in area and population in ways that makes it very challenging for new generations to even imagine the old Qatif, and the life-style Qatifis sustained for hundreds of years, if not thousands. 

According to Captain G. Forster Sadlier, the population of Qatif in 1819 was a little over 25 thousand people (source). 90 years later, the British Resident, John Gordon Lorimer, estimated the population of Qatif to be almost 30,000, specifying the population of "Qatif town" to be around 10,000 (source). Such population estimates indicate that Qatif's fortified city had a significantly high population density (reaching that of modern day Manhattan), especially given the small area of the fortified city and its suburbs (less than 0.4 km²).

Keeping that in mind, we try to go through a nostalgic journey back to the past in the following pictures with the aid of the modern map of Qatif.

The modern city of Qatif consists of Tarout Island, the towns of Al-Awamiyah, Anak, and other villages (Al-Bahari, Al-Qudaih, Al-Taubi, Al-Al-Jaroudiya, Al-Khuwailidiya, Hellat-Muhaish, Al-Malahha, Al-Jish,). The city sits at the heart of the Oasis which extends from Saihat all the way to Safwa, and is the remaining area of what used to be Historical Qatif.

Examining the landscape of Central Qatif, we can clearly observe a major change in the layout of the ruins of Qatif's Fortified City. As mentioned in the previous post, the land that remained after the demolition of Qatif's Fortified City was left as a barren land for more than 20 years, until after 2006 when the municipality began the construction of a public park. 

Above: The demolished area of Qatif's Fortified City was left as barren land for more than 20 years, until it was replaced with a modern park (below).

The current layout of the streets in central Qatif are heavily influenced by the limits of the Fortified City. As an example, let's examine the following area highlighted in red.

Central Qatif, highlighted in red, is known to be Qatif's oldest area.

The selected area includes the neighborhoods of AshShammassiyah, Bab Ash Shamal, Mayyas, Jarrari, Al-Shariah and Al-Gal'ah (the local name for the Fortified City). 

The existing small streets and large roads in Central Qatif correspond to ancient ones, as seen in the red square.

Now, we attempt to trace back the highlighted area to match those neighborhoods accordingly.

A superimposition of Qatif's Fortified City and its dependencies on modern Central Qatif.

Let's look at the city from its southern gate. Notice the area highlighted in the red box.

Central Qatif as viewed from the city's southern gates.

The selected area includes the neighborhoods of Ad-Dababiyyah, Al Kuwaykib, Umm Al -Jizam, Mayyas, and part of Al-Gal'ah (the local name for the Fortified City). 

A superimposition of Qatif's old Qatif on modern Central Qatif.

As we superimpose the images of Qatif's ancient city on the modern one, we notice:

• The complete destruction of the city's ancient buildings, squares, souks, hammams (public bathrooms) and other public spaces and facilities.
• The complete loss of all the palm-tree forests that surrounded the ancient city.

Modern Qatif (with old Qatif superimposed), as viewed form the City's southern gates.

As we zoom-out, we can clearly notice the growth of the city. and the complete loss of green habitat in Central Qatif.

Comparison of Qatif's Fortified City and its dependencies with the size of modern Qatif.

The above comparison allows us to better acknowledge the growth of city's size, and its expansion towards the sea and on agricultural land (see other posts on the extent of Land-reclamation & Urban Encroachment).

The modern Town of Tarout in the center of Tarout Island.

Next we looked at the town of Tarout on Tarout Island, and we attempted to examine the expansion of the town's settlement.

A superimposition of the ancient town of Tarout on its modern map.

Just like the case of Central Qatif, the expansion of Tarout Town came at the expense of agricultural land.

Qatif's mangrove wetlands (source) were destroyed for the development of an urban area, currently known as Al-Nassirah Neighborhood.

Next, we examine the change in the landscape and the complete loss of Qatif's major coastal wetlands, known to be the center of the oasis' mangrove forests. This historical forest area has been destroyed in favor of urbanization, and is currently referred to as Al-Nassirah neighborhood.

The coastal wetlands of Qatif can bee seen in the horizon of this picture. (source)

Qatif's landscape in the last 40 years has been subject to intense urbanization. (source)

A sketch of the Qatif Oasis looking due West. The Qatif  ancient waterfront has been completely urbanized via land-reclamation (source).

The nostalgic trip that these pictures took us through should be an essential historical journey to all residents of Qatif and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province conurbation of the cities of Khobar-Dhahran-Dammam-Ras Tanura.
The knowledge of Qatif's historical landscape is critical to understanding the identity of this ancient coastal oasis.