Middle East and North Africa

Bahrain
Last reviewed: 17 November 2008

Country information

See entire profile

HISTORY

Bahrain is an Arabic word meaning "Two Seas". Archaeological evidence indicates that Bahrain was inhabited at least 50,000 years ago. Originally seat of the Dilmun civilisation, Bahrain had connections with Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, then in around 600BC became part of the Babylonian Empire.

By 650AD, the Arabian Peninsula, including Bahrain, came under the rule of the followers of the prophet Mohammed. The Al-Khalifa family took Bahrain from Persia in 1783 and by the end of the century had moved their capital to Bahrain from Qatar. In 1820, Bahrain became a British protectorate, along with several other Gulf States.

Bahrain was the first Gulf country to discover petroleum in 1932. Oil provided the Ruling Family with an independent source of income, with which they developed a modern state administration, and Bahrain became strategically and commercially more important. The UK’s naval forces in the Persian Gulf established their base port at Al Jufayr in Bahrain.

On 14 August 1971, following Britain's decision to withdraw its armed forces from East of Suez, Bahrain announced its Independence from the UK. In 1973, a National Constitution was introduced, together with a democratic National Assembly; the Amir dissolved the Assembly in 1975 after it refused to pass a proposed State Security Law.

In the mid-1990s, Bahrain suffered a spate of anti-government disturbances stemming principally from the disaffection of the Shia majority. The situation calmed during the summer of 1995, but in early 1996 a number of hotels and restaurants were bombed (7 people died in one of the restaurants). As a result of the disturbances, over 1,000 people were held in detention without trial (since released - see below). There have been few major disturbances since then, and recent political reforms have widened the opportunity for all sectors to participate in political life (see below). Nevertheless, demonstrations which turn into low-intensity riots are still common.

BBC News Timeline: Bahrain