In the nineteenth and twentieth century the sea here was known as the Bay of Bida.
http://catnaps.org/islamic/islaqatold.html
The development at al-Bida. Early images of al-Bida, made in the early years of the ninetieth century.
Taken in the late 1940s and from the south-east, shows more clearly the setting of Doha in its relationship with the West Bay.
Doha 1952.
Doha 1959.