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Lahsa Eyalet was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire between 1551-1663 and 1871-1913. The territory of the former eyalet is now part of Kuwait and Qatar. Qatif was the main city of the eyalet, which was named after the city of Al-Hasa.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Portuguese Empire dominated the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, having built forts and monopolised trade in the region. The Ottomans advanced in the region, taking Basra in 1538 and the Qatar peninsula in 1551, ultimately annexing the entire territory.
However, the 1552 siege of Hormuz and the 1559 siege of Bahrain failed to dislodge the Portuguese defenders, heralding the high watermark of the Ottoman expansion in the region.
The Bani Khalid tribe seized the territory in 1663, facing little opposition from the Ottomans, because the importance of the region was waning towards the end of the century, and securing control of the area was not seen as a priority in Istanbul. The Sabah clan of this tribe settled Kuwait, while other clans settled in Bahrain and Qatar, establishing dynasties that rule those states to this day.[1] The Sabah family continued to acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty when it was necessary but otherwise administered their own affairs independently from the Porte.[1]
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave a new strategic importance to this eyalet, stoking again Ottoman interests in establishing effective control as a result of the revival of trade. In 1871 Midhat Pasha invaded al-Ahsa and restored Ottoman control.[1] Lahsa became part of the Sanjak of Najd of Baghdad Vilayet (from 1875 Basra Vilayet).[2] The sultan recognized Abdullah II Al-Sabah as the kaymakam of Kuwait as a subprovince of al-Ahsa, formally acknowledging that Kuwait was a part of the Ottoman Empire and that it was ruled by the Sabah family.[1]
The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 would have confirmed Ottoman sovereignty over the area, but with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, British forces occupied Kuwait and proclaimed it a British protectorate.[1]
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