Catch a dubai before it becomes Dubai. In five years, you probably won’t know the difference but today, Doha, the capital of the state of Qatar, is still a place where you can get a glimpse of early Bedouin remnants. Every other car is an SUV, every mall reeks of western hegemony but every as-salaam-aleikum and sabah-al-khayr (good morning) takes you back to times beyond the reach of memories.

Back to the future: Qataris are, man to man, richer than the rest of the world. But back in 4000 BC, when they showed links between the coastal communities and the pre-Sumerian Ubaid civilisation of Mesopotamia and thereafter, they were probably richer in their hearts. Those days, Qatar is said to have flourished as a trading post between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

Dwalat Qatar (as the locals call it) is that thumb that sticks out into the Arabian Gulf and the Doha Bay cradles its capital off a fine, protected harbour.

That lucrative trading post was also an invitation to invaders — the Portuguese, the Ottoman Turks, and the British. Till the 1930s, the Qataris scooped out excellent pearls off its coast but then the Japanese cultured pearls took over. Then came the Great Depression. Those were tough times, but luck stayed. Drilling of oil started in 1938 and it flowed in 1940. That started the riches rolling in. When gas was drilled out in 1991, it was the beginning of a newer, brighter, richer era still.

That was when ambition germinated, sometime near when the Indian economy also opened up. That’s when modern Qatar really started taking shape. The current ruler, the Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, is the seventh descendent of a powerful Bedouin tribe that saw the development of the nation through its freedom. Like Bangladesh, Qatar got its freedom in 1971 (through pretty bloodless methods unlike our neighbour) and like Bangladesh, is floating on gas. How the nations have been able to utilise their blessings is clear to see.

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