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:''This article is about the historical region of Bahrain. For the present-day state of Bahrain, see: Bahrain.''
'Bahrain' ( '') is a historical region in eastern Arabia that was known as the 'Province of Bahrain' ( '') 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). The name means "two seas" in Arabic.

Contents

History

Population

See also

History

Until Bahrain embraced Islam in AD 629, it was a center for Nestorian Christianity. Among its inhabitants, the major tribe was the Abdul Qais.
In the early 7th century, Bahrain was one of the first places in Arabia to become Islamic, despite its great distance from Muhammad's base in Medina.
In 899 the Qarmatians, a millenarian Ismaili sect, 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 sacked Mecca and Medina in 930, carrying off the sacred Black Stone to Qatif where it was held for ransom. They were defeated in 976 by the Abbasids.
The name "Bahrain" referred to the eastern mainland Arabia until the 16th century. The Arab inhabitants of the province, descendants of the Abdul Qais, 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 the modern country of Bahrain.

Population

The people of eastern Arabia are still sometimes called Baharnas and their language is Baharna Arabic. The Baharnas were traditionally settled (nonnomadic). They inhabited oases and coastal areas.

See also

★ Al-Hasa

★ Qatif

★ History of Bahrain