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House of Thani

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Thani)

House of Thani
آل ثاني
Parent house
CountryQatar
Foundedc. 1825
FounderThani bin Mohammed
Current headTamim bin Hamad
Titles
TraditionsSunni Islam

The House of Thani (Arabic: آل ثاني, romanised: Āl Thānī) is the ruling family of Qatar, with origins tracing back to the Adnanite Banu Tamim tribe.[4] Currently, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani leads the house.

Officially, the House of Thani rules Qatar as a constitutional monarchy,[5][6] but the wide powers retained by the emir and his family have led to it being described as an absolute monarchy[7][8] and autocracy.[9][10]

History

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Origins and basic structure

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The Al Thani family can be traced back to Mudar ibn Nizar, a claimed descendant of the Biblical figure Ishmael.[11] The tribe moved from the Najdi town of Ushaiger, a settlement north-west of Riyadh, and settled at the Gebrin oasis in southern Najd (present-day Saudi Arabia) before they moved to Qatar.[12] They settled in Qatar around the 1720s. Their first settlement in Qatar was in the southern town of Sikak, and from there they moved north-west to Zubarah, Al Ruwais and then to Fuwayrit.[13] They settled in Doha in the 19th century under their leader Mohammed bin Thani.[12] The group was named after his father Thani bin Mohammed.[12]

The family is made up of three main branches: the Bani Ali, Bani Hamad, and Bani Khalid.[1][2] As of the early 1990s, the family numbered an estimated 20,000 members.[2]

Rise to power

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Qatar acquired permanent settlements only in the late 19th century. The Al Thanis first emerged as one of Qatar's influential and dominant clans in the 1850s, and accepted the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire to strengthen their position against rivals. In 1868 the Al Thanis received British recognition of their rule, but still faced some opposition from other clans. They sought a stronger treaty with the British Empire, and eventually achieved it in 1916, greatly contributing to their political consolidation.[14]

In the following decades, the Al Thanis became an almost exclusive centre of power in the country, with the exception of British colonial power. Qatar's geography and relatively short history meant a weak merchant class and hardly any religious establishment, and other local tribes lost almost all power. The political system remained "highly personalist", with decision-making concentrated in the hands of the emir, and sometimes the heir apparent.[15]

Discovery of oil and royal factionalism

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In the 1950s, Britain started prompting the establishment of some state institutions, but throughout the 50s and 60s there was little political development. The discovery and exploitation of oil made the rule of the Al Thanis even more undisputed (and the Al Thanis came to be the only family allowed to name themselves sheikhs), but also increased tensions within the family.[15] All successions, in 1913, 1949, 1960, 1972 and 1995, were contested, and did not go smoothly.[16] The emirs tried to distribute land, oil wealth and political and institutional positions to the family to prevent political challenges, but largely failed, mostly contributing to the further empowerment of the family as a whole.[15]

Consolidation of power after Hamad's coup

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It was only Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, once he came to power in a bloodless palace coup in 1995 after gaining support from senior Al Thanis and the United States, that finally managed to concentrate political power more narrowly within the royal family, to himself and an inner circle of trusted relatives. One of his first official acts was changing the constitution so that the position of emir could only go to his sons, whereas before it could go to anyone within the family. He marginalised rivals within the family, and undertook an energetic drive to proliferate institutions of modern governance and entrust them to loyalists.[17]

Qatar scholar Mehran Kamrava argues that Hamad's promises and gestures of political liberalisation early in his rule were intended mostly to gain support from Western democratic countries, and especially the United States, while he safeguarded his rule from Al Thani factionalism, and limited the line of succession only to his own male descendants, whereas before any male Al Thani was eligible.[18] On 25 June 2013, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani became the Emir of Qatar after his father Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani handed over power in a televised speech.[19]

Assets abroad

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The family and their relatives and associates own significant properties in the Mayfair district of London, with an estimated quarter of Mayfair's 279 acres, including two of the area's best known luxury hotels—The Connaught and Claridge's. The area has acquired the nickname "Little Doha".[20]

Rulers

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List of rulers:

Family tree

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'Genealogical table of the Ruling Āl Thāni (Ma’ādhīd) Family of Dōhah in Qatar', produced in 1915
House of Thani
Muhammad
bin Thani
(1)
r. 1847–1878
Jassim
bin Muhammad
(2)
r. 1878–1913
Abdullah
bin Jassim
(3)
r. 1913–1949
Ali
bin Abdullah
(4)
r. 1949–1960		Hamad
bin Abdullah
Ahmad
bin Ali
(5)
r. 1960–1972		Khalifa
bin Hamad
(6)
r. 1972–1995
Hamad
bin Khalifa
(7)
r. 1995–2013
Tamim
bin Hamad
(8)
r. 2013–present

Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani branch

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The Ahmed bin Muhammed Al Thani branch

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The Jaber bin Muhammed Al Thani branch

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Kamrava, Mehran (Summer 2009). "Royal Factionalism and Political Liberalization in Qatar". The Middle East Journal. 63 (3): 401–420. doi:10.3751/63.3.13. S2CID 154521643. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Helen Chapin Metz, ed. (1993). "The Al Thani". Persian Gulf States: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "The Banu Tamim tribe". 28 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Meet the world's other 25 royal families". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  5. ↑ BBC News, How democratic is the Middle East? Archived 11 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, 9 September 2005.
  6. ↑ United States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011: Qatar Archived 26 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine, 2011.
  7. ↑ Gardener, David. "Qatar shows how to manage a modern monarchy". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Embassy of Canada to the State of Qatar". Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "The objections to Qatar hosting the World Cup reek of Eurocentrism". nbc. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022. In condemning Qatar, we should remember that the population of this authoritarian monarchy
  10. ↑ "Political Stability: the Mysterious Case of Qatar". Middle East Political and Economic Institute. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022. ; the Qatari state remains fundamentally autocratic
  11. ↑ Althani, Mohamed (2013). Jassim the Leader: Founder of Qatar. Profile Books. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-78125-070-9.
  12. 1 2 3 "Line of succession: The Al Thani rule in Qatar". Gulf News. 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Mohamed Althani, p. 26
  14. ↑ Kamrava, Mehran (2015). Qatar: Small State, Big Politics: With a New Preface. Cornell University Press. pp. 107–109.
  15. 1 2 3 Kamrava, Mehran (2015). Qatar: Small State, Big Politics: With a New Preface. Cornell University Press. p. 109-116.
  16. ↑ Steinberg, Guido. "Qatar's Foreign Policy". Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) (in German). doi:10.18449/2023RP04/. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Kamrava, Mehran (2015). Qatar: Small State, Big Politics: With a New Preface. Cornell University Press. p. 113, 116-118.
  18. ↑ Kamrava, Mehran (1 July 2009). "Royal Factionalism and Political Liberalization in Qatar". The Middle East Journal. 63: 401–420. doi:10.1353/mej.0.0063. Archived from the original on 12 August 2026. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad hands power to son Tamim". BBC. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  20. ↑ "How Qatar bought up Britain". The Guardian. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "File 160/1903 'Persian Gulf: El Katr; appointment of Turkish Mudirs; question of Protectorate Treaty with El Katr' [170v] (345/860)". Qatar Digital Library. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  22. ↑ "Sheikh Ahmad Bin Ali Al Thani | The Amiri Diwan". www.diwan.gov.qa. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  23. ↑ "Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad hands power to son Tamim". BBC News. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
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