View source for Eastern Arabia

{{Short description|Historical region of Arabia}}
{{About|the historical region of Arabia|the present-day state|Bahrain}}

{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Eastern Arabia<br />Bahrain
| native_name        = Al-Baḥrayn ({{lang|ar|ٱلْبَحْرَيْن}})
| native_name_lang   = ar
| image_map          = Bellin - Karte von der Küste von Arabien c.1745 (crop).png
| mapsize            = 300
| settlement_type    = [[Historical region]] of [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]]
| map_caption        = Eastern Arabia (historical region of Bahrain) on a 1745 [[Jacques-Nicolas Bellin|Bellin]] map
| subdivision_type   = [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Countries]]
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Bahrain}}<br />{{flag|Iraq}}<br />{{flag|Kuwait}}<br />{{flag|Oman}}<br />{{flag|Qatar}}<br />{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}<br />{{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
}}

'''Eastern Arabia''', also known as '''Greater Bahrain''' ({{Langx|ar|ٱلْبَحْرَيْن|Al-Baḥrayn}}), is a [[historical region]] encompassing the eastern part of the [[Arabian Peninsula]] stretching from [[Basra]] to [[Khasab]]<ref name="maj" /> along the coast of the [[Persian Gulf]]. It includes parts of modern-day [[Bahrain]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]] ([[Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia|Eastern Province]]), and the [[United Arab Emirates]]. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as "'''Bahrain'''" for a millennium.<ref name="maj" />

Until very recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from the [[Shatt al-Arab]] to the [[Hajar Mountains|mountains of Oman]], was a place where people moved around, settled and married unconcerned by national borders.<ref name="maj">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR16|title=Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary|work=Clive Holes|year=2001|pages=XIX|isbn=9004107630|last1=Holes|first1=Clive|publisher=BRILL }}</ref> The people of Eastern Arabia shared a [[seamanship|culture based on the sea]], as [[sailor|seafaring peoples]].<ref name="maj"/>

Nowadays, Eastern Arabia is a part of the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]].<ref name="ara">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_FtAAAAMAAJ|title=History of eastern Arabia, 1750-1800: the rise and development of Bahrain and Kuwait|work=Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima|year=1965|last1=Abu-Hakima|first1=Ahmad Mustafa|publisher=Khayats |isbn=9780866854733 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F1pjGwAACAAJ|title=Labor, Nationalism and Imperialism in Eastern Arabia: Britain, the Shaikhs and the Gulf Oil Workers in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, 1932-1956|work=Hassan Mohammed Abdulla Saleh
|year=1991|last1=Saleh|first1=Hassan Mohammad Abdulla}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=May 2021}}<ref name="east">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dEC9AAAAIAAJ|title=Eastern Arabia Historic Photographs: Kuwait, 1900-1936|work=Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima|year=1986|isbn=9780903696005|last1=Abu-Hakima|first1=Ahmad Mustafa|publisher=Hurtwood Press }}</ref>{{Page needed|date=May 2021}} The modern-day states of [[Bahrain]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]] are the most commonly listed [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf Arab states]].<ref name="ara"/><ref name="states">{{cite web|url=http://ncusar.org/publications/Publications/1980-04-28-Eastern-Arabian-States.pdf|title=Eastern Arabian States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman|work=David E. Long, Bernard Reich|year=1980}}</ref> Most of [[Saudi Arabia]] is not geographically a part of Eastern Arabia.

==Etymology==
In Arabic, ''Baḥrayn'' is the [[dual form]] of ''baḥr'' ({{langx|ar|بَحْر|lit=sea}}), so ''al-Baḥrayn'' means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute.<ref name="EoI"/> The term appears five times in the [[Quran|Qur'an]], but does not refer to the [[Bahrain Island|modern island]]{{mdash}}originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”{{mdash}}but rather to the oases of [[al-Qatif]] and [[Hadjar]] (modern Al-Aḥsā).<ref name="EoI">''Encyclopedia of Islam,'' Vol. I. “Bahrayn”, p. 941. E.J. Brill (Leiden), 1960.</ref> It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the [[archipelago]] in the [[Gulf of Bahrain]], but it was probably after the 15th century. Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are instead generally taken to be the bay east and west of the coast,<ref>{{cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1JIPAN-eJ4C&pg=PA45 |title=Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites |year=2006 |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated |isbn=978-0-7864-2248-7}}</ref> the seas north and south of the island, or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground.<ref name="Faroughy">Faroughy, Abbas. ''The Bahrein Islands (750–1951): A Contribution to the Study of Power Politics in the Persian Gulf.'' Verry, Fisher & Co. (New York), 1951.</ref> In addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity.

An alternate theory offered by al-Hasa was that the two seas were the [[Great Green Ocean]] and a peaceful lake on the mainland;{{which|date=September 2011}} still another provided by [[Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari|al-Jawahari]] is that the more formal name ''Bahri'' (lit. “belonging to the sea”) would have been misunderstood and so was opted against.<ref name="Faroughy"/>

The term "Gulf Arab" or "[[Culture of Eastern Arabia|Khaleeji]]" refers, geographically, to inhabitants of eastern Arabia. However, today the term is often applied to the inhabitants of the [[Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC countries]] in the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Al-Misned |first1=Lulwa |title=Understanding the Evolution of the Khaleeji Identity |journal=Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum |date=2016 |page=34 |url=https://www.oxgaps.org/files/commentary_al-misned.pdf |access-date=9 April 2021}}</ref> "Khaleeji" has evolved into a socio-political regional identity that distinguished the GCC inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula from the wider [[Arab world]] building on the perceived cultural homogeneity within the Gulf states and their shared history.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abdulla |first1=Gaith |title=Khaleeji Identity in Contemporary Gulf Politics |journal=Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum |date=2016 |pages=2–5 |url=https://www.oxgaps.org/files/analysis_abdulla.pdf |access-date=9 April 2021}}</ref>

== Culture ==
[[File:Jalibut in the Persian Gulf.jpg|thumb|A [[dhow]], a common item depicting the culture of seafaring in Eastern Arabia. It is displayed in the [[coat of arms]] of Kuwait and Qatar.]]

{{Main article|Culture of Eastern Arabia|Eastern Arabian cuisine}}
The inhabitants of Eastern Arabia's Gulf coast share similar cultures and music styles, such as [[fijiri]], [[sawt (music)|sawt]] and [[liwa (music)|liwa]]. The most noticeable cultural trait of Eastern Arabia's Gulf Arabs is their orientation and focus towards the sea.<ref name="an">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hsU798UPaeYC&pg=PA67|title=Iranians in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates|work=Eric Andrew McCoy|pages=67–68|isbn=9780549935070}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Sea|Maritime]]-focused life in the small Gulf Arab states has resulted in a sea-oriented society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in [[Marine Industries|marine industries]].<ref name="an"/>

The Arabs of Eastern Arabia speak a dialect known as [[Gulf Arabic]]. Approximately 2 million Saudis (out of a population of 34 million) speak Gulf Arabic.<ref name=ksa>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&pg=RA3-PA38 |title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Volume 1 |work= William Frawley |date= 2003 |pages=38|isbn=9780195139778 |last1=Frawley |first1=William |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA }}</ref><ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/country/sa/languages Languages of Saudi Arabia] ''[[Ethnologue]]''</ref>

=== Mass media and entertainment ===

Khaleeji entertainment is popular throughout the [[Arab world]]. Although performed in the [[Gulf Arabic]] dialect, its influence reaches as far as [[Tunisia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Mansfield |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uzy_AAAAIAAJ|title=Kuwait: vanguard of the Gulf |publisher=Hutchinson |date=1990 |page=113 |isbn=9780091736040 |quote=Some Kuwaiti soap operas have become extremely popular and, although they are usually performed in the Kuwaiti dialect, they have been shown with success as far away as Tunisia.}}</ref> [[Culture of Kuwait|Kuwaiti]] popular culture, in the form of poetry, film, theater, and soap operas, is exported to neighbouring states.<ref>{{cite book|author=Clive Holes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8E0Rr1xY4TQC&pg=PA75|title=Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties|date=2004|page=75|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-58901-022-2}}</ref> The Arab world's three largest broadcast networks ([[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera Network]], [[Al Arabiya]], and [[Middle East Broadcasting Center|MBC Group]]) are all located in Eastern Arabia as well.<ref name="gnprivchange">{{cite news |author=Habib Toumi |date=13 July 2011 |title=Al Jazeera turning into private media organisation |newspaper=[[Gulf News]] |url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/al-jazeera-turning-into-private-media-organisation-1.837871 |access-date=8 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/en/about_aa_tv.html|title=About Al Arabiya TV|work=Al Arabiya|access-date=4 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210085600/http://www.alarabiya.net/en/about_aa_tv.html|archive-date=10 February 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
[[Islam]] is dominant in Eastern Arabia. The main sects are [[Sunni Islam]], [[Ibadi Islam]] (dominant in Oman); and [[Shia Islam]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Al-Rumaihi |first=Mohammed Ghanim |date=1973 |title=Social and political change in Bahrain since the First World War |url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7942/1/7942_4940.PDF?+UkUDh:CyT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220817145042/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/16669322.pdf |archive-date=17 August 2022 |publisher=[[Durham University]] |pages=46–47}}</ref>

==History==
[[Pre-Islamic Arabia|Before the 7th century]] [[Common Era|CE]], the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of [[Arab Christians|partially Christianized Arabs]], Arab [[Zoroastrians]], [[Mizrahi Jews|Jews]]<ref name="orig">{{cite web|url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7942/1/7942_4940.PDF?+UkUDh:CyT|title=Social and political change in Bahrain since the First World War|pages=46–47|work=[[Durham University]]|year=1973}}</ref> and [[Aramaic]]-speaking agriculturalists.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR24|title=Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary|work=Clive Holes|year=2001|pages=XXIV-XXVI|isbn=9004107630|quote=Thus the elements in the pre-Islamic ethno-linguistic situation in eastern Arabia appear to have been a mixed tribal population of partially Christianised Arabs of diverse origins who probably spoke different old Arabian vernaculars; a mobile Persian-speaking population, possibly of traders and administrators, with strong links to Persia, which they maintained close contact; a sedentary, non-tribal community of Aramaic-speaking agriculturalists; a Persian clergy, who we know for certain, used Syriac as a language of liturgy and writing more generally, probably alongside Persian as a spoken language.|last1=Holes|first1=Clive|publisher=BRILL }}</ref><ref name="om">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8glrgh87kEC&pg=PA305|title=Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Language And Literature|work=J R Smart|year=2013|page=305|isbn=9780700704118|last1=Smart |first1=J. R. |publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&pg=PA98|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 5|work= M. Th. Houtsma|page=98|year=1993|isbn=9004097910|last1=Houtsma|first1=M. Th|publisher=BRILL }}</ref> Some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] and [[Syriac language|Syriac]] features.<ref name="per">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR29|title=Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary|work=Clive Holes|year=2001|pages=XXIX-XXX|isbn=9004107630|last1=Holes|first1=Clive|publisher=BRILL }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_uhvUA428fcC&pg=PA269|title=Non-Arabic Semitic elements in the Arabic dialects of Eastern Arabia|work=Clive Holes|pages=270–279|year=2002|isbn=9783447044912|last1=Jastrow|first1=Otto|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag }}</ref> The sedentary people of ancient Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, while Syriac functioned as a [[liturgical language]].<ref name="om"/>

===Dilmun===
{{Main|Dilmun}}

The Kingdom of Dilmun first appears in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] [[cuneiform]] [[clay tablet]]s dated to the end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess [[Inanna]], in the city of [[Uruk]]. The demonym "Dilmun" is used to describe a type of axe and the ethnicity of an official in these tablets.<ref name="Crawford">''Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours'' by [[Harriet E. W. Crawford]], page 5</ref>

Dilmun was also mentioned in two letters, recovered from [[Nippur]], which were dated to the reign of [[Burna-Buriash II]] (c. 1370 BC), a king of the [[Kassites|Kassite]] dynasty of [[Babylon]]. These letters were from a provincial official located in Dilmun, [[Ilī-ippašra]], to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. These letters hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and [[Babylon]].<ref name="t">{{cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Harriet E. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6KeP3v79MQC&pg=PA216 |title=Traces of Paradise: The Archaeology of Bahrain, 2500 BC to 300 AD |last2=Rice |first2=Michael |work=Harriet Crawford, Michael Rice |year=2000 |isbn=9781860647420 |pages=217|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun, with the exception of [[Assyria]]n inscriptions dated to 1250 BC which proclaimed the Assyrian king to be "King of Dilmun and [[Meluhha]]". Assyrian inscriptions at this time also recorded tribute from Dilmun. There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first millennium BC indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun; one of the sites discovered in Bahrain indicates that [[Sennacherib]], king of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked the northeastern Persian Gulf and captured Bahrain.<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh">{{cite book|title=Security and Territoriality in the Persian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography|last=Mojtahed-Zadeh |first=Pirouz |year=1999 |publisher=Curzon |location=Richmond, Surrey |isbn=0700710981}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2017}}

The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the [[Neo-Babylon]]ian dynasty. Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by the king of Babylon. The name "Dilmun" fell from use after the collapse of Neo-Babylon in 538 BC. It is not certain what happened to the civilization itself; discoveries of ruins under the Persian Gulf may be of Dilmun.{{sfn|Larsen|1983|p=50-51}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.com/2010/12/09/ancient_dilmun_garden_eden_gulf_lost_civilisation/|title=Lost ancient civilisation's ruins lie beneath Gulf, says boffin|first=Lewis|last=Page|website=www.theregister.com}}</ref>

==== Trade ====
There is both literary and archaeological evidence of extensive trade between [[Ancient Mesopotamia]] and the [[Indus Valley civilization]] (which most scholars identify with [[Meluhha]]). Impressions of clay seals from the Indus Valley city of [[Harappa]] were evidently used to seal bundles of merchandise, as clay seal impressions with cord or sack marks on the reverse side testify. A number of these Indus Valley seals have turned up at [[Ur]] and other Mesopotamian sites.

The “Arabian Gulf” types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun appear at [[Lothal]] in [[Gujarat]], India, as well as in Mesopotamia. These seals support the other evidence of Dilmun being an influential trading center. What the commerce consisted of is less known; timber and precious woods, [[ivory]], [[lapis lazuli]], [[gold]], luxury goods such as [[carnelian]] and glazed stone beads, [[pearl]]s from the Persian Gulf, and shell and bone inlays were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for [[silver]], [[tin]], woolen textiles, olive oil and grains. [[Copper]] ingots from Oman and [[bitumen]], which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic fowl, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were in fact identical to those used by the Indus, and were not used in Southern Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and archaeological finds. Literary references to trade with Meluhha date from the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] period (c. 2300 BC), but the trade probably started in the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic Period]] (c. 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, but by the Isin-Larsa Period (c. 1900 BC), Dilmun monopolized the trade. The [[Bahrain National Museum]] assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted from c. 2200 BC to 1600 BC.

==== Mythology ====
In the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], [[Gilgamesh]] had to pass through Mount [[Mashu]] to reach Dilmun. Mount Mashu (Jabal Shams, Oman/UAE) is usually identified with the whole of the parallel [[Mount Lebanon|Lebanon]] and [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains|Anti-Lebanon]] ranges, with the narrow [[Beqaa Valley|gap between these mountains]] constituting the tunnel.<ref name="UnwinUnwin1996">{{cite book|author1=P. T. H. Unwin|author2=Tim Unwin|title=Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6XRp6gY8ucC&pg=PA80|access-date=31 May 2011|date=18 June 1996|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-14416-2|pages=80–}}</ref>

Dilmun, sometimes described as “the place where the sun rises” and “the Land of the Living”, is the scene of some versions of the [[Eridu Genesis]], and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, [[Utnapishtim]] ([[Ziusudra]]), was taken by the gods to live forever. [[Thorkild Jacobsen]]'s translation of the [[Eridu Genesis]] calls it ''"''Mount Dilmun''"'' and a “faraway, half-mythical place”.<ref name="Jacobsen1997">{{cite book|author=Thorkild Jacobsen|title=The Harps that once--: Sumerian poetry in translation, p. 150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-BI0h41yCEC|access-date=2 July 2011|date=23 September 1997|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-07278-5}}</ref>

Dilmun is also described in the [[Epic poetry|epic]] story of [[Enki]] and [[Ninhursag]] as the site at which the [[Creation myth|Creation]] occurred. Enki says to Ninhursag: 
<blockquote>For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench the thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives.<ref>"[[Enki and Ninhursag]]"</ref></blockquote>
[[Ninlil]], the Sumerian goddess of air and southerly winds, had her home in Dilmun.

However, in the early epic ''[[Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta]]'', the main events, which center on [[Enmerkar]]'s construction of the [[ziggurat]]s in [[Uruk]] and [[Eridu]], are described as taking place in a world "before Dilmun had yet been settled".

===Gerrha===
{{Main|Gerrha}}
[[Image:Asia 001ad.jpg|thumb|300px|Gerrha and its neighbors in 1 AD.]]Gerrha was an ancient city of Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the [[Persian Gulf]]. More accurately, the ancient city of Gerrha has been determined to have existed near or under the present fort of [[Uqair]], {{convert|50|mi|km|order=flip}} northeast of Al-Aḥsā in the [[Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia|Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia]]. This site was first proposed by [[R E Cheesman]] in 1924.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Gerrha and Uqair are archaeological sites on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, only {{convert|60|mile|km|abbr=off|order=flip|sigfig=1}} from the ancient burial grounds of [[Dilmun]] on the island of Bahrain.<ref>Potts (1990), p. 56.</ref><ref>Bibby, pp. 317-318.</ref>

Gerrha was described by [[Strabo]]<ref>Strabon, Geography, i6. 4. 19-20</ref> as inhabited by [[Chaldea]]n exiles from [[Babylon]], who built their houses of salt and repaired them by the application of salt water. [[Pliny the Elder]] (''Natural History'', 6.32) says it was {{convert|5|mi|km|0|order=flip}} in circumference with towers built of square blocks of salt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pliny the Elder, the Natural History |url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-eng1:6.32 |website=Perseus Project}}</ref>

Gerrha was destroyed by the [[Qarmatians]] at the end of the 9th century, and all 300,000 inhabitants were killed.<ref>{{ cite book |last=Yaqut|title=Mujam Buldan|year=1959|publisher=E.J. Brill |isbn=9004082689 |quote= Hagar is the name of Bahrain and its capital Hagar destroyed by Qarmatians}}</ref> It was {{convert|2|mi|km|0|order=flip}} from the Persian Gulf near current day [[Hofuf]]. The researcher Abdulkhaliq Al Janbi argued in his book<ref>Gerrha, The Ancient City Of International Trade {{lang|ar|جره مدينة التجارة العالمية القديمة}}</ref> that Gerrha was most likely the ancient city of Hajar, located in modern-day [[Al-Ahsa Governorate|Al-Ahsa]], Saudi Arabia. Al Janbi's theory is the most widely accepted one by modern scholars, although there are some difficulties with this argument given that Al Ahsa is {{convert|60|km|mile|abbr=on}} inland and thus less likely to be the starting point for a trader's route, making the location within the archipelago of islands comprising the modern [[Bahrain|Kingdom of Bahrain]], particularly the main island of Bahrain itself, another possibility.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larsen |first1=Curtis E. |title=Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarcheology of an Ancient Society |date=1983 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=0-226-46906-9}}</ref>

===Tylos===
The island of Bahrain was referred to by the ancient Greeks as "Tylos" ({{langx|grc|Τύλος}}) and was known for its pearls.<ref name="Larsen">Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarcheology of an Ancient Society By Curtis E. Larsen p. 13</ref> From the 6th to 3rd century BC Bahrain was part of the [[Achaemenid dynasty|Achaemenid]] [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]].<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh"/>{{rp|119}} The Greek admiral [[Nearchus]] is believed to have been the first of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander's]] commanders to visit the island, and he found a verdant land that was part of a wide trading network. He recorded: “In the island of Tylos, situated in the Persian Gulf, are large plantations of cotton trees, from which are manufactured clothes called ''sindones'', of different degrees of value, some being costly, others less expensive. The use of these is mostly confined to India, but extends also to Arabia.”<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heeren |first=Arnold Hermann Ludwig |title=Historical Researches Into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Principal Nations of Antiquity |year=1854 |pages=38}}</ref> The Greek historian, [[Theophrastus]], states that much of the archipelago was covered in these cotton trees and noted that textiles were a major industry. According to him, Tylos was also famous for exporting engraved walking canes popular in [[Babylon]].<ref>Arnold Heeren, ibid, p441</ref>

It is not known whether Bahrain was part of the [[Seleucid Empire]], although the archaeological site at [[Qalat Al Bahrain]] has been proposed as a Seleucid base in the Persian Gulf.<ref>Classical Greece: Ancient histories and modern archaeologies, Ian Morris, Routledge, p184</ref> Alexander had planned to settle the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf with Greek colonists, and although it is not clear that this happened on the scale he envisaged, Tylos was very much part of the Hellenised world: the language of the upper classes was [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] (although [[Aramaic]] was in everyday use), while [[Zeus]] was worshipped in the form of the Arabian sun-god [[Shams (deity)|Shams]].<ref>Phillip Ward, Bahrain: A Travel Guide, Oleander Press p68</ref> Tylos even became the site of Greek athletic contests.<ref>W. B. Fisher et al. The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press 1968 p40</ref>

The name Tylos is thought to be a Hellenisation of the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] "Tilmun" (from Dilmun).<ref>Jean Francois Salles in Traces of Paradise: The Archaeology of Bahrain, 2500BC-300AD in Michael Rice, Harriet Crawford Ed, IB Tauris, 2002 p132</ref> The term "Tylos" was commonly used for the archipelago; [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'' when the inhabitants are referred to as "Thilouanoi" ("inhabitants of Tylos").<ref name="Jean Francois Salles p132">Jean Francois Salles p132</ref> Some place names in Bahrain go back to the Tylos era; for instance, the residential suburb of Arad, located in [[Muharraq]], is believed to originate from "Arados", the ancient Greek name for the [[Muharraq Island|island of Muharraq]].<ref>Curtis E. Larsen. ''Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarchaeology of an Ancient Society'' University Of Chicago Press, 1984 p13</ref>

The Greek historians Herodotus and [[Strabo]] both believed the Phoenicians originated from Bahrain.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ju. B. Tsirkin|title=Canaan. Phoenicia. Sidon.|url=http://www.aulaorientalis.org/AuOr%20escaneado/AuOr%2019-2001/2/7.pdf|page=274|access-date=2014-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010135456/http://www.aulaorientalis.org/AuOr%20escaneado/AuOr%2019-2001/2/7.pdf|archive-date=2017-10-10|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=R. A. Donkin|title=Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-fishing : Origins to the Age of Discoveries, Volume 224 |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leHFqMQ9mw8C&pg=PA48|page=48|publisher=American Philosophical Society |isbn=9780871692245 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Rice|title=Bahrain Through The Ages - Archa |year=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hmbc9evgB0C&pg=PA401|pages=401–402|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780710301123 }}</ref> This theory was accepted by the 19th-century German classicist [[Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren|Arnold Heeren]] who said that: "In the Greek geographers, for instance, we read of two islands, named Tyrus or [[Tylos]], and [[Arad, Bahrain]], which boasted that they were the mother country of the Phoenicians, and exhibited relics of Phoenician temples."<ref>Arnold Heeren, p441</ref> The people of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] in particular have long maintained [[Persian Gulf]] origins, and the similarity in the words "Tylos" and "Tyre" has been commented upon.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf | publisher=Routledge | author=Rice, Michael | year=1994 | page=20 | isbn=978-0-415-03268-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf | publisher=Routledge | author=Rice, Michael | year=1994 | page=21 | isbn=978-0-415-03268-1}}</ref>
[[File:AssyrianWarship.jpg|thumb|Phoenicians men their ships in service to [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] king [[Sennacherib]], during his war against the [[Chaldea]]ns in the [[Persian Gulf]], c. 700 BC]]

[[Herodotus]]'s account (written c. 430 BC) refers to Phoenicians inhabiting the shores of the Persian Gulf:

{{blockquote|According to the [[Persian people|Persians]], who are best informed in history, the [[Phoenicia]]ns began the quarrel. These people, who had formerly dwelt in the far east and then to the shores of the [[Erythraean Sea]], having migrated to the Mediterranean and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the wares of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Assyrian Empire|Assyria]]...|[[Herodotus]]|title=[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]}}

With the waning of [[Seleucid]] Greek power, Tylos was incorporated into [[Characene]], the state founded by [[Hyspaosines]] in 127 BC in modern-day Kuwait . A building inscription found in Bahrain indicates that Hyspoasines occupied the islands.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

===Parthian and Sasanian periods===
From the 3rd century BC to arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Eastern Arabia was controlled by two other Iranian dynasties: the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] and the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanians]].{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

By about 250 BC, the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]] lost their territories to the Parthians, an Iranian tribe from [[Central Asia]]. The Parthian Empire 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 on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf.<ref name="Federal Research Division page 7">Bahrain By Federal Research Division, page 7</ref>

In the 3rd century AD, the Sasanians succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later.<ref name="Federal Research Division page 7"/> [[Ardashir I|Ardashir]], the first ruler of the Sasanian dynasty, conquered Bahrain and northern Oman, and appointed his son, [[Shapur I]], as the governor of eastern Arabia, the province of [[Mazun (Sasanian province)|Mazun]]. Shapur constructed a new city there and named it "Batan Ardashir" after his father.<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh"/>{{page needed|date=May 2017}} Mazun stretched from Oman in the south to the Shatt al-Arab in the north, and included the archipelago of Bahrain; thus it is roughly coterminous with the modern definition of Eastern Arabia.<ref name="jamsheed">Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in ... By Jamsheed K. Choksy, 1997, page 75</ref> It was subdivided into the three districts of Haggar ([[Hofuf]], Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir ([[Qatif|Al-Qatif]], Saudi Arabia), and [[Mishmahig]] ([[Muharraq]], Bahrain),<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh"/>{{page needed|date=May 2017}} which included the Bahrain archipelago.<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh"/>{{page needed|date=May 2017}}<ref name="jamsheed"/>

===Beth Qatraye===
The Christian name used for the region encompassing north-eastern Arabia was Beth Qatraye, which translates to "region of the [[Qatar]]is" in [[Syriac language|Syriac]]. It included [[Bahrain Island|Bahrain]], [[Tarout Island|Tarout]], [[Khatt|Al-Khatt]], [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Aḥsā]], and Qatar.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kozah|first1=Mario|last2=Abu-Husayn|first2=Abdulrahim|author2link=Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn|last3=Al-Murikhi|first3=Saif Shaheen|title=The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|year=2014|page=24|isbn=978-1463203559}}</ref>

By the 5th century, Beth Qatraye was a major center for [[Nestorian Christianity]], which had come to dominate the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.<ref name="brookes"/><ref>Curtis E. Larsen. Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarchaeology of an Ancient Society University Of Chicago Press, 1984.</ref> Within the Byzantine Empire, Nestorians were persecuted as heretics, but as eastern Arabia was far enough from the empire's borders that Nestorianism flourished. Several notable Nestorian writers originated from Beth Qatraye, including [[Isaac of Nineveh]], [[Dadisho Qatraya]], [[Gabriel of Qatar]] and Ahob of Qatar.<ref name="brookes"/><ref>Kozah, Abu-Husayn, Abdulrahim. p. 1.</ref> Christianity declined with the arrival of Islam in Eastern Arabia in 628.<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Allen James Fromherz |last= Fromherz|first= Allen|date= 13 April 2012|title= Qatar: A Modern History|publisher= Georgetown University Press|pages=43|isbn= 978-1-58901-910-2}}<!--|access-date= 7 December 2014--></ref> By 676, the bishops of Beth Qatraye had stopped attending synods; although Christianity persisted in the region until the late 9th century.<ref name="brookes"/>

The [[Dioceses of the Church of the East to 1318|dioceses]] of Beth Qatraye did not form an [[ecclesiastical province]], except for a short period during the mid-to-late 7th century.<ref name="brookes">{{cite web|url=http://heritage.brookes.ac.uk/downloads/abu-dhabi-collections.pdf|title=Christianity in the Gulf during the first centuries of Islam|publisher=Oxford Brookes University|access-date=27 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528032636/http://heritage.brookes.ac.uk/downloads/abu-dhabi-collections.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> They were instead subject to the [[Fars (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)|Metropolitanate of Fars]].

===Post-6th century===
[[File:Muhammad Bahrain letter facsimile.png|thumb|[[Facsimile]] of a letter sent by [[Muhammad]] to [[Munzir ibn-Sawa al-Tamimi]], governor of Bahrain in AD&nbsp;628]]

{{blockquote|[[Jebel Hafeet|Hafit]] {[[Tuwwam]]} abounds in [[date palm|palm]] trees; it lies in the direction of Hajar {[[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Aḥsā]]}, and the mosque is in the [[souq|markets]] ... [[Dibba]] and [[Julfar]], both in the direction of [[Hajar Mountains|the Hajar]], are close to the sea ... Tuwwam has been dominated by a branch of the [[Quraysh]] ...|[[Al-Maqdisi|Al-Muqaddasi]], 985 [[Common Era|CE]]<ref name="Morton2016">{{cite book |last1=Morton |first1=Michael Quentin |title=Keepers of the Golden Shore: A History of the United Arab Emirates |publisher=[[Reaktion Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-7802-3580-6 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-oxfDQAAQBAJ&q=tuwwam |date=15 April 2016 |access-date=8 November 2016}}</ref>|title=The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions}}

From the time when Islam emerged in the 7th century until the early 16th century, the term ''Bahrain'' referred to the wider historical region of eastern Arabia stretching from [[Bubiyan Island]] to the [[Strait of Hormuz]] along the coast of the [[Persian Gulf]]. Eastern Arabians were amongst the first to embrace Islam during the time of the [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Prophet]] [[Muhammad]], who ruled eastern Arabia through one of his representatives, [[Al-Ala'a Al-Hadhrami]]. Eastern Arabia embraced Islam in 628 (the seventh year of ''[[Hijrah]]''; i.e. 7 [[Hijri year|AH]]). During the time of [[Umar]] I, a [[Sahaba|companion]] of Muhammad, [[Abu Hurairah]] was the governor of eastern Arabia. Umar I also appointed [[Uthman ibn Abi al-As]], another companion of Muhammad, as governor of the area. [[Al Khamis Mosque]], built during the reign of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliph [[Umar II]], was one of the earliest [[mosque]]s built in eastern Arabia.

The expansion of Islam did not affect eastern Arabia's reliance on trade, and its prosperity continued to be dependent on markets in India and Mesopotamia. After [[Baghdad]] emerged as the seat of the [[caliph]] in 750 following the [[Abbasid Revolution]], eastern Arabia greatly benefited from the city's increased demand for foreign goods, especially from China and South Asia.

Eastern Arabia, and Bahrain more specifically, became a principal centre of knowledge for hundreds of years stretching from the early days of Islam in the 6th century to the 18th century. Philosophers of eastern Arabia were highly esteemed, such as the 13th-century mystic, Sheikh [[Maitham Al Bahrani]] (d. 1299). The mosque of Sheikh Maitham and his tomb can be visited in the outskirts of [[Manama]], near the district of [[Mahooz]].

====Qarmatian Kingdom====
{{Main|Qarmatians}}At the end of the 3rd [[Islamic calendar|Hijri]] century, [[Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi]] led the [[Qarmatians#The Qarmatian Revolution|Qarmatian Revolution]], a rebellion by a [[messiah|messianic]] [[Ismaili]] sect originating in [[Kufa]] in present-day Iraq. Al-Jannabi took over the city of [[Hajr]], Bahrain's capital at that time, and Al-Aḥsā, which he made the capital of his republic. Once in control of the state, he sought to create a [[utopian]] society.

The Qarmatians' goal was to build a society based on reason and equality. The state was governed by a council of six with a chief who was ''[[primus inter pares]]''.<ref>John Joseph Saunders, ''A History of Medieval Islam'', Routledge 1978 p130</ref> All property within the community was distributed evenly among all initiates. The Qarmatians were organized as an [[esoteric]] society but not as a secret one; their activities were public and openly propagated, but new members had to undergo an initiation ceremony involving seven stages.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}[[File:Eastern & Central Arabia 9th–10th Centuries.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map of eastern and central Arabia in the 9th–10th centuries]]

For much of the 10th century the Qarmatians were the most powerful force in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, controlling the coast of Oman, and collecting tribute from the [[Abbasid]] caliph in Baghdad and from the rival Ismaili [[Fatimid]] caliph in [[Cairo]], whom they did not recognize. The land they ruled over was extremely wealthy, with a huge slave-based economy. According to academic Yitzhak Nakash:

{{Blockquote|text=The Qarmatian state had vast fruit and grain estates both on the islands and in Hasa and Qatif. Nasiri Khusru, who visited Hasa in 1051, recounted that these estates were cultivated by some thirty thousand Ethiopian slaves. He mentions that the people of Hasa were exempt from taxes. Those impoverished or in debt could obtain a loan until they put their affairs in order. No interest was taken on loans, and token lead money was used for all local transactions.<ref>Yitzhak Nakash, Reaching for Power: The Shi'a in the Modern Arab World, Princeton 2007</ref>|author=Yitzhak Nakash|title=Reaching for Power: The Shi'a in the Modern Arab World}}

The Qarmatians were defeated in battle in 976 by the [[Abbasids]], which precipitated the decline of the Qarmatian state. Around 1058, a revolt on the island of Bahrain led by two Shi'a members of the Abd al-Qays tribe, [[Abu al-Bahlul al-Awwam|Abul-Bahlul al-'Awwam]] and Abu'l-Walid Muslim,<ref name="Farhad Daftary 1990, p221">Farhad Daftary, ''The Ismāı̄lı̄s: Their History and Doctrines'', Cambridge University Press 1990, p221</ref> heralded the collapse of Qarmatian power and eventually the ascendancy to power of the [[Uyunid dynasty|Uyunids]], an Arab dynasty belonging to the [[Abdul Qays]] tribe.<ref name="Clifford Bosworth 2004, p95">Clifford Bosworth, ''The New Islamic Dynasties: A Genealogical and Chronological Manual'', Edinburgh University Press, 2004, p95</ref>

====Uyunid dynasty====
The [[Uyunid dynasty|Uyunids]] ({{langx|ar|ٱلْعُيُوْنِيُّوْن|Al-ʿUyūniyyūn}}), were an [[Arab]] dynasty that ruled eastern Arabia for 163 years, from the 11th to the 13th centuries.<ref>''A Thirteenth Century Poet from Bahrain'', Safa Khulusi, '''Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies''', 92.</ref> They were the remnants of Bani [[Abdul Qays]] tribe and seized the country from the [[Qarmatians]] with the military assistance of [[Great Seljuq Empire]] in 1077-1078 AD.<ref>C.E. Bosworth, ''The New Islamic Dynasties'', (Columbia University Press, 1996), 94-95.</ref> The Uyunids then fell to the [[Usfurids]] of [[Banu Uqayl]] in 651 AH (1253 AD).

====Usfurid dynasty====
The [[Usfurids]] were an Arab dynasty that gained control of eastern Arabia in 1253. They were a branch of the [[Banu Uqayl]] tribe of the [[Banu Amir]] group, and are named after the dynasty's founder, Usfur ibn Rashid. They were initially allies of the [[Qarmatians]] and their successors, the [[Uyunid dynasty|Uyunids]], but eventually overthrew the latter and seized power themselves.<ref>Joseph Meri, ''Medieval Islamic Civilization'', Taylor and Francis, 2006, p95</ref> The Usfurids' takeover came after Uyunid power had been weakened by invasion in 1235 by the [[Salghurids|Salghurid]] [[Atabeg]] of Fars (at that time vassals of the [[Anushtegin dynasty|Anushteginids]]).

The Usfurids had an uneasy relationship with the main regional power at the time, [[Ormus|Hormuz]], which took control of Bahrain (the island) and [[Qatif]] in 1320. However, the Hormuzi rulers did not seem to have firm control of the islands, and during the 14th century Bahrain was disputed as numerous neighbours sought tribute from the wealth accumulated from its pearl fisheries.

====Jarwanid dynasty====
The [[Jarwanid dynasty]] was a [[Shia|Shi'ite]] dynasty that ruled eastern Arabia in the 14th century. It was founded by Jerwan I bin Nasser and was based in [[Qatif]]. The dynasty was a vassal of the [[Kingdom of Ormus]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ntarP5hrza0C&q=jarwanid&pg=PA35 |title=Sacred space and holy war: the politics, culture and history of Shi'ite Islam |author=Juan Ricardo Cole |date=28 June 2002 |page=35|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781860647369 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.uv.es/EBRIT/macro/macro_5000_24_15.html |title=Arabia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222053120/http://www.uv.es/EBRIT/macro/macro_5000_24_15.html |archive-date=2012-02-22}}</ref>

The Jarwanids belonged to the clan of [[Bani Malik (tribe)|Bani Malik]]. It is disputed whether they belonged to the [[Banu Uqayl]]—the tribe of their predecessors the Usfurids and their successors the Jabrids—or to the [[Banu Abdul Qays]], to whom the [[Uyunids|Uyunid]] dynasty (1076–1235) belonged.<ref>Abdulkhaliq Al-Janbi, an online article on the history of eastern Arabia (Arabic)<br />[http://www.rasid.com/print.php?id=6965 عبدالخالق الجنبي، جروان الأحساء غير جروان القطيف] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220080501/http://www.rasid.com/print.php?id=6965 |date=2012-02-20 }}</ref> The Jarwanids came to power some time in the 14th century, after expelling the forces of Sa'eed ibn Mughamis, the chief of the [[Muntafiq]] tribe based in the [[Iraq]]i city of [[Basrah]].

Contemporary sources such as [[Ibn Battuta]]<ref>[[Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani]], al-Durar al-Kamina fi A'yan al-mi'a al-Thamina []</ref> describe the Jarwanids as being "extreme [[Rafidha|Rāfiḍah]]," a term for Shi'ites who rejected the first three [[Rashidun Caliphs|Caliphs]], while [[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani|Ibn Hajar]], a 15th-century [[Sunni]] scholar from [[Egypt]], describes them as being "remnants of the [[Qarmatians]]." Historian [[Juan Cole]] concludes from this that they were [[Isma'ilis]].<ref name="a">{{cite journal|jstor=163353|title=Rival Empires of Trade and Imami Shiism in Eastern Arabia, 1300-1800|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=19|issue=2|pages=177–203|last1=Cole|first1=Juan R. I.|year=1987|doi=10.1017/S0020743800031834|s2cid=162702326 }}</ref> However, the [[Twelver Shi'ite]] sect was promoted under their rule, and Twelver scholars held the judgeships and other important positions, including the chief of the ''[[hisbah|hisba]]''.<ref name="a"/> Also, unlike under the [[Qarmatians]], Islamic prayers were held in the mosques under Jarwanid rule, and prayer was called under the Shi'ite formula.<ref name="a"/><ref>'Ali b. Hasan al-Bahrni, ''Anwar al-badrayn fi tarajim 'ulama' al-Qatif wa'l-Ahsa' wa'l-Bahrayn'' [http://alhawzaonline.com/almaktaba-almakroaa/book/238-aqa'ed/0041-Anwar%20al-%20badrin/14.htm#02 online version]<br />أنوار البدرين في تراجم علماء القطيف والإحساء والبحرين، الشيخ علي بن الشيخ حسن البلادي البحراني</ref> According to Al-Humaydan, who specialized in the history of eastern Arabia, the Jarwanids were Twelvers, and the term "Qarmatian" was simply used as a derogatory [[epithet]] for "Shi'ite."<ref>Abdullatif Al-Humaydan, "The Usfurid Dynasty and its Political Role in the History of Eastern Arabia", ''Journal of the College of Literature'', [[University of Basrah]], Volume 15, 1979 (Arabic)<br />{{lang|ar|عبداللطيف بن ناصر الحميدان، "إمارة العصفوريين ودورها السياسي في تاريخ شرق الجزيرة العربية"، مجلة كلية الآداب، جامعة البصرة، 1975}}
</ref><ref>Al-Wasit Online Newspaper, Issue 2379, March 12, 2009, citing Al-Humaydan [http://www.alwasatnews.com/2379/news/read/41571/1.html]<br />{{lang|ar|الشيعة المتصوفون وقيادة في مسجد الخميس، حسين محمد حسين}}</ref>

==== Jabrids ====
The [[Jabrids]] were a dynasty that dominated eastern Arabia in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were descendants of the [[Uqayl|Banu Uqayl]], a branch of the [[Bani 'Amir|Banu Amir]], like the earlier Usfurids.<ref>Curtis E. Larsen. ''Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarchaeology of an Ancient Society'' University Of Chicago Press, 1984 pp66-8</ref>

Their most prominent ruler was [[Ajwad ibn Zamil]], who died in 1507. He was described by his contemporaries as having been "of [[Najd]]i origin." Ajwad's elder brother had earlier established the dynasty in the early 15th century by deposing and killing the last Jarwanid ruler in Qatif. At their height, the Jabrids controlled the entire Arabian coast on the Persian Gulf, including the islands of Bahrain, and regularly led expeditions into central Arabia and Oman. One contemporary scholar described Ajwad ibn Zamil as "the king of al-Ahsa and Qatif and the leader of the people of Najd." Following his death, his kingdom was divided among some of his descendants, with [[Migrin ibn Zamil]] (possibly his grandson) inheriting Al-Aḥsā, Qatif, and Bahrain. Migrin fell in battle in Bahrain in a failed attempt to repel an invasion of Bahrain by the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] in 1521.

The Jabrid kingdom collapsed soon afterwards after an invasion of Al-Aḥsā by the [[Muntafiq]] tribe of [[Basrah|Basra]], and later by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. However, one branch of the Jabrids remained active in Oman for another three centuries. It is unknown what became of the non-Omani Jabrids. Some believe they are identical with the [[Jubur]] section of the [[Bani Khalid]] confederation, who eventually took control of the region after the Jabrids.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

==== Bani Khalid ====
The main branches of the Bani Khalid are the Humaid, the Jubur, the Du'um, the Janah, the Grusha, the Musallam, the 'Amayer, the Subaih and the Mahashir.<ref name="Al-Jassir">Al-Jassir</ref> The chieftainship of the Bani Khalid has traditionally been held by the Humaid clan. The Bani Khalid dominated the deserts surrounding [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Aḥsā]] and [[Qatif|Al-Qatif]] oases during the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref>Mandaville, p. 503</ref> Under Barrak ibn Ghurayr of the Humaid, the Bani Khalid were able to expel Ottoman forces from the cities and towns in 1670 and proclaim their rule over the region.<ref>Fattah, p. 83</ref><ref name="Ibn Agil, p. 78">Ibn Agil, p. 78</ref> Ibn Ghurayr made his capital in [[Al-Mubarraz]], where remnants of his castle stand today. According to Arabian folklore, one chief of the Bani Khalid attempted to protect the prized desert [[bustard]] (''[[Arabian bustard|habari]]'') from extinction by prohibiting the [[bedouin]] in his realm from poaching the bird's eggs, earning the tribe the appellation of "protectors of the eggs of the habari", an allusion to the chief's absolute supremacy over his realm.<ref>[http://www.bnykhaled.com/arabic/ شبكة قبيلة بني خالد<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104121040/http://www.bnykhaled.com/arabic/ |date=2006-11-04 }}</ref> The first chieftain of the “Khawalid” was Haddori.{{clarify|date=February 2013}}

Like a vast majority of their subject people, in time the Khalidis adopted Shi'ite Islam (if they were not already so at the time of their ascendency). This led to a lasting animosity between them and the staunchly anti-Shi'ite [[Wahhabis]] and the House of [[Saud]] from the mid-18th century to the present. The Bani Khalid maintained ties with members of their tribe who had settled in [[Najd]] during their earlier migration eastwards, and also cultivated clients among the rulers of the Najdi towns, such as Al Mu'ammar of [[Al-Uyayna]]. When the emir of Uyayna adopted the ideas of [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]], the Khalidi chief ordered him to cease support for Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and expel him from his town. The emir agreed, and Ibn Abd al-Wahhab moved to neighboring [[Dir'iyyah]], where he joined forces with the [[Al Saud]]. The Bani Khalid remained staunch enemies of the Saudis and their allies and attempted to invade Najd and Diriyyah in an effort to stop Saudi expansion. Their efforts failed, however, and after conquering Najd, the Saudis invaded the Bani Khalid domain in Al-Aḥsā and deposed Al-'Ura'yir in 1793.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Mu'inuddin Ahmad |last2=Jones |first2=Harford |date=March 1968 |title=A Diplomat's Report on Wahhabism of Arabia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20832903 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=33–46 |jstor=20832903 |issn=0578-8072}}</ref>

When the [[Egyptians]] under the [[Muhammad Ali dynasty]] invaded Arabia and deposed [[Abdullah bin Saud Al Saud]] in 1818, they reoccupied Al-Aḥsā and Al-Qatif and reinstated members of Al 'Uray'ir as governors of the region on their behalf. The Bani Khalid were no longer the potent military force they once were at this time, and tribes such as the [['Ajman (tribe)|Ajman]], the [[Dawasir]], the [[Subay']], and [[Mutayr]] began encroaching on Bani Khalid's desert territories. They were also beset by internal quarrels over leadership. Though the Bani Khalid were able to forge an alliance with the [['Anizzah]] tribe in this period, they were eventually defeated by an alliance of several tribes along with [[Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud (1755–1834)|Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud]], who had re-established Saudi rule in [[Riyadh]] in 1823. Battles against a Mutayri–'Ajmani alliance in 1823<ref>Meglio</ref> and another battle with the [[Subay']] and the Saudis in 1830 brought the rule of the Bani Khalid to a close. The Ottomans appointed a governor from Bani Khalid over Al-Aḥsā once more in 1874, but his rule also was short-lived.<ref>Al-Rasheed, p. 36</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Achaemenid Arabia]]
* ''[[Qanat|Falaj]]''
* [[Musandam Peninsula]]
* ''[[Ras al Hadd]]''
** ''[[Ras al-Jinz]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{coord missing|Saudi Arabia}}

{{Regions of the Arabian Peninsula}}
{{Regions of the world}}

[[Category:Eastern Arabia| ]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]
[[Category:Geographical regions of the Arabian Peninsula]]