Western interest in the Qatar Peninsula dates back to the early arrival of the Portuguese in the Arabian Gulf. Some sources indicate that the Portuguese commander Dom Gonçalo de Silveira, commander of the Portuguese fleet in the Arabian Gulf region, ordered his fleet to head to the Qatari coast. He ordered the bombardment of Qatari cities along the coast between September 1627 and April 28, 1628. With a fleet of six ships, he burned several villages along the coast of Qatar, destroyed any local ships anchored in those ports, and destroyed all coastal settlements. Another Portuguese document indicates that Balastar de Sousa de Menz, the Portuguese officer assigned to support the Pasha of Qatif, participated in the destruction of several villages on the Qatari coast between 1626 and April 1630. European sources had already developed a clear understanding of the Qatar Peninsula since the beginning of the sixteenth century, although it began to appear in marine drawings as a city rather than a region. This book reviews some of the travelers who had a connection to Qatar, whether through visits or writing about it, considering that their writings constitute an important source for writing about Qatar's history. The book introduces them, their journeys, and their relationship with Qatar, as it is not the aim of this book to present the image of Qatar in the writings of Muslim or Western travelers. This is preceded by an introduction that provides a historical geographic overview of Qatar, its tribes, and its language, and a historical glossary of the most important influential events in its history, leading up to the emergence of the Al Thani family and the succession of their sheikhs, the rulers and emirs of Qatar, up to the current emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad.