ABSTRACT
Kuwait is the Al Sabah and the Al Sabah is Kuwait. This is often heard in Kuwaiti circles, for it is generally acknowledged that Sabah leadership is an integral part of the modern state. During the second half of the eighteenth century, the Al Khalifah left Kuwait and settled in Zubarah, on the west coast of what is today Qatar. Until then, Qatar had been a dependency of Bahrain since the eighteenth century when the Al Khalifah had settled in Zubarah. It was in the eastern villages of Doha and Wakrah, away from Zubarah, that Bahrain faced intermittent opposition from the people of Qatar. It also implicitly recognized Muhammad bin Thani as well as the people of Qatar as being independent of Bahrain. This was the first step in the establishment of the Al Thani as a ruling family and of Qatar as a state separate from Bahrain.
