|
( Bahrain)
The Kingdom of Bahrain (in Arabic ????? ??????? ?, transliteration Mamlakat al-Ba?rayn, literally Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an island country in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway, which officially opened on 25 November 1986. Qatar is to the south across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.[5] Bahrain is the Arabic term for "two seas", referring to the freshwater springs that are found within the salty seas surrounding it. Bahrain's strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and the Arabs, under whom the island became Islamic. Bahrain is associated with Dilmun which is mentioned by Mesopotamian civilizations.[6] During its history it was called by different names such as Awal, then Mishmahig, when it was a part of the Persian Empire. From the 3rd to 6th century BC, Bahrain was included in Persian Empire by Achaemenians, an Iranian dynasty.[7] From the 3rd century BC to the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Bahrain was controlled by two other Iranian dynasties of Parthians and Sassanids. By about 250 BC, Parthian dynasty brought the Persian Gulf under their control and extended their influence as far as Oman. Because they needed to control the Persian Gulf trade route, the Parthians established garrisons in the southern coast of Persian Gulf.[8] In the 3rd century AD, the Sasanids succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later. Ardashir, the first ruler of Iranian Sassanians Dynasty marched forward Oman and Bahrain, and defeated Sanatruq.[9] At this time, Bahrain incorporated in the southern Sassanid province covering over the Persian Gulf's southern shore plus the archipelago of Bahrain.[10] The southern province of Sasanids was subdivided into three districts of Haggar (now al-Hafuf province, Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir (now al-Qatif province, Saudi Arabia), and Msihmahig (In Middle-Persian/Pahlavi means "ewe-fish").[11] Until Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD, it was a center of Nestorian Christianity.[12] Early Islamic sources describe it as being inhabited by members of the Abdul Qays, Tamim, and Bakr tribes, worshiping the idol Awal. In 899 AD, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, seized the country and sought to create a utopian society based on reason and the distribution of all property evenly among the initiates. The Qarmatians caused disruption throughout the Islamic world; they collected tribute from the caliph in Baghdad, and in 930 AD sacked Mecca and Medina, bringing the sacred Black Stone back to Bahrain where it was held to ransom. They were defeated in 976 AD by the Abbasids.[13] The final end of the Qarmatians came at the hand of the Arab Uyunid dynasty of al-Hasa, who took over the entire Bahrain region in 1076.[14] They controlled the Bahrain islands until 1235, when the islands were briefly occupied by the ruler of Fars. In 1253, the bedouin Usfurids brought down the Uyunid dynasty and gained control over eastern Arabia, including the islands of Bahrain. In 1330, the islands became tributary to the rulers of Hormuz,[15] though locally the islands were controlled by the Shi'ite Jarwanid dynasty of Qatif.[16] Until the late Middle Ages, "Bahrain" referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain that included Ahsa, Qatif (both now within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia) and the Awal Islands (now the Bahrain Islands). The region stretched from Basrah to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlim al-Bahrayn "Bahrayn Province". The exact date at which the term "Bahrain" began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown.[17] In the mid-15th century, the islands came under the rule of the Jabrids, a bedouin dynasty that was also based in al-Ahsa and ruled most of eastern Arabia. The Portuguese invaded Bahrain in 1521 in alliance with Hormuz, seizing it from the Jabrid ruler Migrin ibn Zamil, who was killed in battle. Portuguese rule lasted for nearly 80 years, during which they depended mostly on Sunni Persian governors.[18] The Portuguese were expelled from the islands in 1602 by Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, who instituted Shi'ism as the official religion in Bahrain.[19] The Iranian rulers retained sovereignty over the islands, with some interruptions, for nearly two centuries. For most of that period, they resorted to governing Bahrain indirectly, either through Hormuz or through local Sunni Arab clans, such as the Huwala.[18][20][21] During this period, the islands suffered two serious invasions by the Ibadhis of Oman in 1717 and 1738.[22][23] In 1753, the Huwala clan of Al Madhkur invaded Bahrain on behalf of the Iranians, restoring direct Iranian rule.[24] In 1783, an alliance of Sunni Arab clans from the Arabian coast, led by the Al Khalifa, invaded and took control of Bahrain from the Persians and their Huwala allies, establishing an independent emirate.[23][18][24] The Al Khalifa, however, had to weather a series of Omani invasions between 1799 and 1828[13][25] It was under the Al Khalifa's rule, in 1845, that a section of the Dawasir tribe from southern Nejd settled in Bahrain.[26] The Al Khalifa at times extended their authority to the northern shores of Qatar and the fort of Dammam on the Arabian coast. (See main article 1783 Al Khalifa invasion of Bahrain). Rule of the Sunni al-Khalifa tribe "resulted in a gradual attrition in the position of the Shi'a community" as Sunni Arabs were brought in from other parts of Arabia and soon formed the urban population including the ruling class, the military, and much of the merchant class. Land ownership slipped from the Shia "through a system of heavy taxes and other extortions and were reduced to cultivating the palm groves as feudal peasants of their Sunni overlords".[27] After the Saudis conquered al-Hasa and Qatif in 1796, the Al Khalifa briefly became their tributaries.[28] When the Saudis re-established their power in the region in the 19th century, they attempted again to bring the emirate of Bahrain under their control, resulting in many battles and skirmishes between the two dynasties.[29] This however, was opposed by the British, who by that time had become highly influential in the Persian Gulf, viewing it as essential to their control of India.[30] Britain's policy in the Persian Gulf at this time stipulated "uncompromising opposition" to the Saudis in Bahrain. In 1859, a British naval squadron was sent to protect the islands, and the British resident in the Persian Gulf notified the Saudi ruler Faisal ibn Turki Al Saud that it viewed Bahrain as an "independent emirate". In 1861, the British imposed a protection treaty on the emir of Bahrain, ending Saudi efforts to bring the islands under their sphere of influence as a protectorate.[29] The treaty was the culmination of a series of treaties with the British, beginning in 1820,[31] and ending with British withdrawal in 1971. The population of the island at the time was estimated to be around 70,000 persons.[32] In the early 1920s the islands were rocked by disturbances between the Dawasir and the Shi'ite Baharna of Bahrain. As a result, most of the Dawasir were compelled to leave Bahrain and settle on the Arabian mainland as subjects of Ibn Saud.[33]
|
Bahrain Subcategories
Bahrain Articles
|
|
