Brief History of Bahrain
Bahrain’s history goes back to the roots of human civilization. The main island is thought to have broken away from the Arabian mainland sometime around 6000 BC and has almost certainly been inhabited since prehistoric times. The archipelago first emerged into world history in the 3rd millennium BC as the seat of the Dilmun trading empire. Dilmun, a Bronze Age culture that lasted some 2000 years, benefited from the islands’ strategic position along the trade routes linking Mesopotamia with the Indus Valley. In the midst of a region rapidly becoming arid, Dilmun’s lush spring-fed greenery gave it the image of a holy island in the mythology of Sumeria, one of the world’s earliest civilisations, which flourished in what is today southern Iraq. Dilmun had a similar cachet with the Babylonians, whose Epic of Gilgamesh mentions the islands as a paradise where heroes enjoy eternal life. Some scholars have suggested that Bahrain may be the site of the biblical Garden of Eden.
It was a long ride, but Dilmun eventually declined and was absorbed by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The Greeks arrived around 300 BC, giving the islands the name Tylos. Bahrain remained a Hellenistic culture for some 600 years. After experimenting with Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Manicheism, in the 7th century many of the islands’ inhabitants accepted the personal invitation of the prophet Mohammed to convert to Islam.
After a series of Islamic rulers, Bahrain was conquered by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The Portuguese used the islands as a pearling port and military garrison. In 1602, the Portuguese governor made the fatal mistake of executing the brother of one of the island’s wealthiest traders. The trader, Rukn El-Din, proceeded to lead an uprising that soon drove the Europeans from Bahrain. The islands then became part of the Persian empire, but that association was cut short by the arrival of the Al-Khalifa clan, Bahrain’s current ruling family.
In the 1830s, Bahrain signed the first of many treaties with Britain, who offered Bahrain naval protection from Ottoman Turkey in exchange for unfettered access to the Gulf. This arrangement kept the British out of Bahrain’s internal affairs until a series of internecine battles prompted the British to install their own choice for emir in 1869. Although oil was discovered in the area in 1902, large-scale drilling and processing didn’t happen until the 1930s, right about the time the world pearl market was collapsing. Oil money brought improved education and health care to Bahrain. It also brought the British closer: the main British naval base in the region was moved to Bahrain in 1935, and the senior British official in the Middle East followed suit in 1946.
Another mark of British influence was the long tenure of Charles Belgrave, who arrived in Bahrain in 1926 as adviser to the emir and stayed for over 30 years. Belgrave helped create the country’s educational system and oversaw much of Bahrain’s infrastructural development. When Emir Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa ascended the throne in 1942, he capitalised on Bahrain’s superior level of development to take advantage of the oil boom happening in Saudi Arabia and other neighbouring countries, making Bahrain the Gulf’s main entrep?. The waves of Arab nationalism that swept through the region in the 1950s led to increasing anti-British sentiment in Bahrain. Rioting flared during the Suez crisis of 1956, bringing British troops. Britain announced its intention to leave the Gulf 15 years later, prompting Bahrain to proclaim its independence on 14 August 1971.
