| Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 al-Madhkur's realm | Sheikhdom of Zubarah
Supported by: | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Nasr Al-Madhkur | Abdullah I Al-Sabah [3] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy [ citation needed ] | Unknown [ citation needed ] | ||||||
| History of Bahrain |
|---|
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 Bahrainportal |
The Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain led to the end of Persian rule in Bahrain and the annexation of Bahrain by the Arabs.
After the fall of the Safavid dynasty, Bahrain went through a period of anarchy, dismay, and self-rule in villages which made the country vulnerable to foreign invasions. Utub forces often attacked the island during this phase, which made the spiritual leader of Bahrain, Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdullah Al Majed, use the Huwala to combat the Utubs' attacks. These attacks continued throughout the early 18th century until the Utubs launched a full-scale invasion of the island and established a government loyal to the Sultan of Muscat. [4] The Utubs were defeated and expelled by the Huwala forces loyal to Bahrain's spiritual leader who established a government headed by Sheikh Jabara Al-Holi (also known as Jubayr al-Holi). The Persian Afsharids led by former Safavid general Nader Shah invaded the island in 1737 and deposed Sheikh Jabara. Persian rule continued for 46 more years, with brief interruptions, until the Utubs finally took over the island in 1783. [5]
Sayid Majed ibn Sayid Ahmad Al-Jidhafsi was Bahrain's vice governor and the headman of Jidhafs who often clashed with his political nemesis, Ahmad ibn Muhammad Al-Biladi, the headman of the semi-autonomous village of Bilad Al-Qadeem. This rivalry reached its climax when an argument between the Al Khalifas who came to the island of Sitra to buy some supplies and a merchant escalated into a shoot out which resulted in the deaths of numerous Al Khalifas. Those who remained went back to Zubarah and informed their clan about the incident which caused outrage between the Utubs, causing them to send a naval fleet to Sitra with the intention of avenging their kins' deaths. After a disproportionate number of Sitra inhabitants were killed as a result of the rampage, the Utubs returned to Zubarah. [6] [7]
After news of the incident reached Bahrain's governor, Nasr Al-Madhkoor, he ordered a naval attack on Zubarah and sent numerous warships filled with well-equipped soldiers to fulfill this mission. However, the Utubs' spies infiltrated Al-Madhkoor's inner circle and as a result the Utubs crushed Al-Madhkoor's navy after plans of the attack reached them which resulted in a decisive Utub victory. Al-Madhkoor then headed to Iran to ask the troubled government, which was already suffering from its own internal issues, for help which did not arrive because of that country's bad conditions. Subsequently, Sayid Majed Al-Jidhafsi, who was substituting for Al-Madhkoor, personally asked the Al Khalifas and their allies to invade the Bahrain archipelago and promised them material aid and victory, should they do so. This action proved to have a lasting effect on the county and a civil war between the loyalist forces led by Sayid Majid Al-Jidhafsi and Madan Al-Jidhafsi, the Iranian governor's vizier and the rebels led by Ahmad Al-Biladi ensued as a result. The loyalists ultimately won the civil war. [8]
However, by this time, the Al Khalifas and other Utubs had just entered the country, killed the vizier and successfully captured the islands of Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur. The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain ever since. The invasion was led by Ahmed bin Muhammad Al Khalifa, leading to him being named Ahmed Al Fateh ("Ahmed the Conqueror").
The Al Khalifa were supported by a naval fleet from Kuwait and several Bedouin clans based in Zubara in its invasion of Bahrain. These clans included the, Al-Fadhil, Al-Buainain, Al-Romaihi, Al-Kuwari, Al-Noaimi, Al-Bin Ali, Al-Jalahma, Al-Musalem, Al-Mannai, and other families and tribes who later settled in the island. [9]
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Bahrain was a central location of the ancient Dilmun civilization. Bahrain's strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from mostly the Persians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Portuguese, the Arabs, and the British.
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Al Jalahma is an Arab clan, based primarily in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf. They are derived from the `Anizzah tribe of Northern Central Arabia. They were one of the four Utub clans who founded the modern state of Kuwait in 1716, along with Al Bin Ali, Al Sabah and Al Khalifa.
Al Bin Ali is a Sunni Arab sub-tribal confederation based in the Arab states, especially in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
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The Bani Utbah is an Arab tribal confederation in the Arabian Peninsula. The confederation is thought to have been formed when a group of clans from Najd migrated to Eastern Arabia in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Most of the Utub clans and families, such as the Al-Sabah and Al-Khalifa, trace their lineage back to Anizah tribe, with the exception of some, such as the Al Bin Ali, whose lineage goes back to the Banu Sulaym tribe. The Al Bin Ali along with the current ruling families of Bahrain and Kuwait were the rulers of the federation. The name of the confederation is found in the form Attoobee or Uttoobee in English sources up to the late 19th century.
Sheikh Nasr Al-Madhkur was the 18th-century Arab governor from a Huwala clan under Karim Khan Zand of the Zand dynasty of what was described by a contemporary account as an "independent state" in Bushehr and Bahrain. The account by German geographer Carsten Niebuhr who visited the region at the time describes Sheikh Nasr as "the sole Monarch of the Isle of Bahrain”. A “mutashayi’”, Sheikh Nasr lost Bahrain - which was inhabited by his Shi’a compatriots - in 1783 after his defeat by the Bani Utbah tribal alliance at Zubarah in 1782.
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Sayyid Shubar ibn Ali ibn Mish'al al-Sitri al-Bahrani al-Ghurayfi was a Bahraini cleric and rebel leader who attempted to overthrow Sheikh Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa, Hakim of Bahrain in 1895.
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Sheikh Ahmed bin Saleh bin Taan bin Nasser bin Ali al-Sattari al-Bahrani al-Qatifi was a Bahraini cleric, jurist, and Shia Muslim authority, who was among the most influential Twelver Shiites of the early modern Gulf. Many Shiites in Bahrain and Qatif followed his fatwas, but he is also known for his compilations on fiqh, hadith, history, and poetry.
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