Al Thakhira
human settlement
Al Thakhira (Arabic: الذخيرة, romanized: Adh Dhakhīrah, lit. 'provision') is a town on the coast of the Al Khor municipality in Qatar, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of the city of Al Khor and 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the capital Doha.
Al Thakhira developed in close connection with Al Khor, with both towns traditionally associated with the Al Muhannadi tribe, who settled the region in the mid-18th century. As with other coastal communities in Qatar, its early inhabitants depended on pearling and fishing as their main sources of livelihood.
Etymology
The name Al Thakhira derives from the Arabic root dh-kh-r (ذ خ ر), from which the word thukhr is formed, meaning "provision" or "store". According to the classical dictionary Lisan al-Arab, the term can also refer to saving oneself.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment offers two main explanations for the toponym. One attributes it to the area's historical role as a large-scale storage site for goods such as grain, currency, and ammunition. The other, more widely circulated account, relates to a lost sailor who found refuge there during a storm; locals assisted him and his crew, leading him to label the area Al Thakhira, Arabic for "the provision", in gratitude for the safety it provided.
Qatari historian Abdullah Al Hassan Al Muhannadi identified the sailor as a British embassy naval captain whose vessel had taken shelter at the site. A variant of this narrative, recorded by Ali bin Khamees Al Muhannadi in his book Memories of Al Thakhira, links the name instead to a Persian sea captain.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Al Thakhira” is human settlement. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Thakhira, human and settlement, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “human settlement” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q356535. Authority coordinates are 25.735, 51.547. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Al Thakhira”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Al Thakhira primary sources, Al Thakhira archive and Thakhira research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Al Thakhira”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Al Thakhira” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.