Al-Ḡāṭ

Al-Ghat lies in an agricultural plain between the Tuwayq heights and the sands of al-Thuwayrat. Its valley can carry torrents after rain, and the old settlement grew amid farms and water sources in the northern part of Sudayr. A stopping place for caravans, it possessed houses built in the earthen architectural tradition of Najd. The al-Sudayri family held the local emirate from at least the late seventeenth century. Documents from Al-Ghat preserve the names of its rulers and witnesses, including an 1809 record concerning Turki ibn Muhammad al-Sudayri. During the troubled years following the fall of Diriyah in 1818, Sudayr's towns faced demands for money and provisions from troops operating in the region.