Bahrain (historical region)

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This article is about the historical region of Bahrain. For the present-day state of Bahrain, see: Bahrain.

Bahrain (Arabic: البحرين‎ al-Baḥrayn) is a historical region in eastern Arabia that was known as the Province of Bahrain (Arabic: إقليم البحرين,‎ Iqlīm al-Baḥrayn) until the 16th century. It stretched from Basra south along the Persian Gulf coast and included the regions of Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, Qatar, and the Awal islands (present-day Bahrain).

[edit] History

Until Bahrain embraced Islam in AD 629, it was a center for Nestorian Christainity.

In the early 7th century, Bahrain was one of the first places in Arabia to become Islamic, despite its far distance from Prophet Muhammad in Medina.

In 899, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, seized hold of 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 widespread disruption throughout the Islamic world and, in 930, sacked Mecca and Medina, bringing the sacred Black Stone back to Qatif where it was held to ransom. They were defeated in 976 by the Abbasids.

Until 16th century, Bahrain referred to a larger region of eastern mainland Arabia and the Arab inhabitants of the province, descendants of the Arab tribe Banī ˤAbdu l-Qays, were called Baharna after it.

In 1521, the Portuguese Empire conquered the Awal islands and the name "Bahrain" came to apply specifically to this area, i.e. the area that is modern Bahrain.

[edit] Population

The people of eastern Arabia are still sometimes called Baharnas and their language is Baharna Arabic. The Baharnas were traditionally settled oasis and coastal dwellers in contrast to the nomadic Bedouins of the interior. And, historical Bahrain characterise by its large Shi'ite Muslim population.