Bahrain (Arabic: البحرين‎ al-Baḥrayn) is a historical region in eastern Arabia that was known as the Province of Bahrain (Arabic: إقليم البحرين,‎ Iqlīm al-Baḥrayn) unitl 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). Arabic ( or just ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... Arabic ( or just ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ... Location of Basra Basra (Arabic: ‎ ; BGN: Al BaÅŸrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of 2,600,000 (2003). ... It has been suggested that Persian Gulf States be merged into this article or section. ... Ash Sharqiyah, known as Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, and has borders with Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. ... Qatif (Arabic: القطيف al-QaTiif) is a historic coastal city and oasis located on the western shore of the Arabian/Persian Gulf in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, some 13km north of the port city of Dammam and southwest of major oil port Ras Tanura. ...

[edit] History

Until Bahrain embraced Islam in AD 629, it was a center for Nestorian Christainity. Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter. ... The term Nestorianism is eponymous, even though the person who lent his name to it always denied the associated belief. ...

In the early 7th century, Bahrain was one of the first places in Arabia to become Islamic, despite its far distance from Prophet Muhammad in Medina. The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... In religion, a prophet is a person who has directly encountered God, of whose intentions he can then speak as if he were a formal representative of God. ... For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). ... Medina (Arabic: ‎ IPA: or المدينة IPA: ; also transliterated into English as Madinah) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. ...

In 899, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, 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, in 930, sacked Mecca and Medina, bringing the sacred Black Stone back to Qatif where it was held to ransom. They were defeated in 976 by the Abbasids. Millenarianism (sometimes spelled millenarism or millennarism) is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society after which all things will be changed in a positive (or sometimes negative or ambiguous) direction. ... The Ismāʿīlī (Urdu: اسماعیلی Ismāʿīlī, Arabic: الإسماعيليون al-Ismāʿīliyyūn; Persian: اسماعیلیان Esmāʿīliyān) branch of Islam is the second largest part of the Shīa community, after the Twelvers (Ithnāʿashariyya). ... The Qarmatians (from Arabic qaramita قرامطة, also spelled Carmathians, Qarmathians, Karmathians etc. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... Medina (Arabic: ‎ IPA: or المدينة IPA: ; also transliterated into English as Madinah) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. ... The Black Stone This article is about the Islamic holy relic. ... Qatif (Arabic: القطيف al-QaTiif) is a historic coastal city and oasis located on the western shore of the Arabian/Persian Gulf in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, some 13km north of the port city of Dammam and southwest of major oil port Ras Tanura. ... Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire. ...

Until 16th century, Bahrain referred to a larger region of eastern mainland Arabia and the Arab inhabitants of the province, descendants of the Arab tribe Banī ˤAbdu l-Qays, were called Baharna after it. The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... The Baharna (Arabic: ‎ } are the indigenous inhabitants of the villages and some of the coastal shores of the archipelago of Bahrain and the cities of Qatif and Al-Hasa on the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia (see historical region of Bahrain). ...

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 modern Bahrain. Maximum extent of Portuguese colonial possessions in the 16th century. ...

[edit] Population

The people of eastern Arabia are still sometimes called Baharnas and their language is Baharna Arabic. The Baharnas were traditionally settled oasis and coastal dwellers in contrast to the nomadic Bedouins of the interior. And, today, historical Bahrain also differs from much of Arabia with its large Shi'ite Muslim population. The Baharna (Arabic: ‎ } are the indigenous inhabitants of the villages and some of the coastal shores of the archipelago of Bahrain and the cities of Qatif and Al-Hasa on the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia (see historical region of Bahrain). ... Baharna Arabic is a dialect of the Arabic language spoken by the Baharna Shia of Bahrain and the Saudi Eastern Province, and also in Oman. ... Oasis in the Libyan part of the Sahara In geography, an oasis (plural: oases) is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Bedouin man resting on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic (‎), a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic pastoralist groups, who are found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via... Shia Islam ( Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite or Shiite) is the second largest Islamic denomination; some 20-25% of all Muslims are said to follow a Shia tradition. ...

[edit] See also

• Al-Hasa
• Qatif
• History of Bahrain