BAHRAIN SINCE THE PROPHET'S TIME TO THE ABBASID PERIOD HAYA AL - NAIMI THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES IN FULFILMENT OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. 1998 LIST OF CONTENTS Declaration List of Contents ii Acknowledgements v Abstract vi Map vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Preamble 1 1.2 The Problem of the Research 3 1.3 Evaluation of Sources 4 1.4 Methodology and Structure of Thesis 10 CHAPTER TWO: DELIMITING BAHRAIN 2.1 Delimiting Bahrain 14 2.2 The Towns of Bahrain 25 2.3 The Bahrain Villages 43 2.4 The Important towns of Bahrain 47 CHAPTER THREE: BAHRAIN DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE PROPHET 3 Deputation Al Ala Bin Al Hadrami to Bahrain 50 .1 of 3 Deputation Abdul Qais to Madian. 54 .2 of 3 The Second Delegation 59 .3 3.4 Bahrain's Administration 60 3 Islamic Administration in the first year of Hijra 65 .5 3 Bahrain Participates in the wars against the Apostates 69 .6 3. 7 The system of rule and Administration 74 3. 8 Al Imam in Bahrain 80 3. 9 The Distinguished Companion Al Ala Al Hadhrami 82 3. 10 Tribute to be Paid by Bahrain 84 3. 11 Defence and War systems 84 3. 12 The Judicial System 88 3. 13 The Police 90 3. 14 Invasion of Fars from Bahrain 91 3. 15 300 Horsemen participated in the Battle of Basra 93 and Siffin. 3. 16 The Personality of the Governor of Bahrain during 94 Omar Ibn Al Khattab the Tenure of . 3. 17 The Kharijites 95 3. 18 The Zenj Movement 117 3. 19 The Carmathians 122 11 CHAPTER FOUR: INDIVUDUALS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO BAHRAIN CULTURAL LIFE. 4.1 Cultural life 142 4.2 Did Uthman Bin Affan send one of the Copies 150 of the Holy Qur'an to Bahrain. 4.3 Deputation of Abd Al Qais to the Prophet (PBUH) 151 4.4 The Second Deputation 158 4.5 Intellectual life 158 4.6 The People of Bahrain and the Group of Apostates 160 CHAPTER FIVE: SOURCE OF BAHRAIN ECONOMIC LIFE 5.1 The Migration of Arab tribes to Bahrain 165 5.2 Non-Arab elements in the population of Bahrain 165 5.3 Religious life in Bahrain before Islam 168 5.4 The Azd Tribe 174 5.5 AbdAl Qais 174 5.6 Bakr Bin Wayil 176 5.7 Tamim 177 5.8. Mawali 178 5.9 Slaves 184 5.10 Caravans of Family Provisions 186 5.11 The Routes 187 5.12 The Means of Transporting Goods 188 5.13 The Markets 188 5.14 Organization of the Markets 190 5.15 Supervision of Markets 191 5.16 Trade 194 5.17 Commercial transactions 197 198 5.18 Money exchange 5.19 Measurement of distances, Areas and weights 199 5.20 Trade Centres in Bahrain 229 231 5.21 Bahrain Region as a Transit Point 5.22 Taxes 232 233 5.23 Tribute to be paid by Bahrain 234 5.24 Industries and Craft 5.25 The Labour Class and the Craftsmen 242 243 5.26 Crafts and Vocations 245 5.27 Colouring and Dyeing 5.28 Ironsmithry 245 5.29 Mining 247 5.30 Goldsmithry 248 111 5.31 Tannery 248 5.32 Carpentry 249 5.33 Other crafts 250 5.34 Buildings 256 5.35 Trade and Seafaring 258 5.36 Workers and Craftsmen 263 5.37 Units of Linear Measurement 265 5.38 Fishing 266 5.39 Pearl Fishing 267 5.40 Diving 268 5.41 Pearl Banks 269 5.42 How is the Pearl Formed 271 5.43 Opening the Oyster Shell and its examination 272 5.44 Kinds of Pearls 272 5.45 The Weight of Pearls 273 5.46 Tax on Pearls 275 5.47 Pearl Markets 276 5.48 Organization of Diving 277 5.49 Dangers of the sea 281 5.50 Pearl Diving Equipment 282 5.51 The Divers' Guide 283 5.52 Kinds of Pearls according to the jewellers and 283 their Prices 5.53 Pastures 286 5.54 Conclusion 288 Appendix I: Letters by the Prophet to People of Bahrain 289 Appendix II : Deputations to the Prophet 298 Appendix III : Eminent Personalities 301 Appendix IV : Bahrain Towns 306 Appendix V: Governors Of Bahrain 307 Bibliography 310 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express thanks to my parents and family as well as my supervisor Dr Mashuq Ibn Ally for his invaluable I . assistanceand encouragement. also gratefully acknowledgethe staff of the British Records Office in London as well as the Indian Office in London. My profound thanks to the staff of the Bahrain Historical Museum for their co-operation and assistance. V ABSTRACT This study deals with the history of the territory of Bahrain from the advent of Islam to the end of the First Abbasid period. The study has been divided into five sections: first section deals with the framework of the research; the second, naming of the territory of Bahrain geographically; third section, Bahrain during the life time of the Prophet; fourth section, Cultural Life; five section, Source of Economic Life in Bahrain. Appendices include the letters written by the Holy Prophet to Bahrain, the names of the Governors of Bahrain of the First Century of Hijra, followed by a bibliography. vi L F- E r7 -FPS' ' : 2? Pv. GLOSSARY OF TERMS Hajj -.Pilgrimage to Makkah Islam : Submission to the will of Allah Jami'Masjid : Congregational prayer mosque Jizya : Protection money paid by non-Muslims living in a Muslim States Khutba : Friday prayer sermon Masjid : Muslim place of prayer Muslim : Believer in Islam Salat : Five daily prayer Saum : Fasting during month of Rammadan Umra : Visitation to ka'ba and Prophets Mosque Zakat : Obligatory payment by the rich to the poor LIST OF TRANSLITERATION OF ARABIC CHARACTERS b t t dh th a J gh h f kh q d k d 1 r m Z n S W sh Y S h dh VOWELS aui CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. Preamble This study bearson the history of the territory of Bahrain spanningthe years from the advent of Islam to the Abbasid period. Historically Bahrain representedthe territory extending and including what are known today as Kuwait, Al Hasa, Qatar and the present day islands of Bahrain known in the past as Awal. The status of Bahrain is rated high among the States of the region since ancient times. It attracted the attention of covetous eyes for its pearl-rich waters and its vital location straddling the important trade routes of the old world. The Islamic historical heritage is considered one of the important pillars of the Arab-Islamic civilisation. Hence, in the course of this study, it is possible to have a comprehensive understanding of the various facets of the Arab-Islamic civilisation prevailing in all Arab countries. There is paucity of scientific studies on Islamic civilisation and hence it opens up a virgin field for study and research. There is an acute need for undertaking fresh studies on the early Arab-Islamic heritage in the different countries of the Arab world, particularly in the region of the Gulf and the Arabian peninsula because of their distance from the capital of the Caliphate in Madina. 1 I studied the social phenomena in this territory, its local markets, its town planning, the important tribes which were there, and the various creeds and religions which prevailed there. I then studied the cultural aspect of this society its poets and literateurs, the message of their poetry and the impact of this culture on the society of the Bahrain territory. A major difficulty faced by the researcher was the very few archaeological treasures investigated so far in Bahrain. What the historians of this region wrote about in this region were nothing more than passing references to them, incidental to the discussion of other topics. I therefore had no other option but to gather together all these small pieces of scientific information scattered indiscriminately in various heritage books despite their scarcity and despite their being very old publications. I resorted to a field study in Bahrain to obtain the greatest possible historical information and relied on the Bahrain National Museum and the Historical Documents Centre. historians The other difficulty was the ambiguity of the texts quoted by the and the interspersed historical passagesin other texts. The extraction of historical It information from these varied sources proved to be a time consuming process. in had to be presented in a coordinated and easily understandable manner the thesis if the reader was to benefit. locations of I also had some difficulty in specifying the exact geographical importance they accorded certain places, their description and their and whether 2 with the current day concepts. While it is conceded that some of the Arabic source material is not very accurate in this context, there has been no serious effort to compile a comprehensive historical atlas of these places. Therefore this research must be seen as seminal from which further research can be undertaken. 1.2. The Problem of the Research. The problem was to deducehistorical facts behind the political, social and cultural circumstances of Bahrain since the Prophet's (PBUH) times to the Abbasid period, a matter which rendered the study painstaking to an extent. One had to highlight the role of Bahrain in political, social and cultural fields at that early period in the history of Islam. The available historical sources concentrated on the political and social eventsof thesetwo reigns as seenfrom the capitals of the Caliphates; Madina and Damascus. They did not particularly view the events directly from the perspective of Bahrain.