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.