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Bahrain
 
[Old Bahrain flag, to 1820]
                    1783 - 1820 (to 1910 de facto) 

[Bahrain 1820-1932]
                          1820 - 1932 

[Bahrain 1932 - 1972]
                      1932 - 19 Aug 1972
 
[Bahrain 1972 - 2002]
               19 Aug 1972  - 14 Feb 2002
 
[Bahrain]
                   Adopted 14 Feb 2002


Map of Bahrain
Hear National Anthem
"Bahrainona"
(Our Bahrain)
Text of National Anthem
Adopted 1971/Lyrics 2002
Constitution
(14 Feb 2002)
-----------------------
1973 Constitution
(26 May 1973 - 14 Feb 2002)
Capital: Manama
(Zubarah 1783-1870)
Currency: Bahraini Dinar
(BHD) 
National Holiday: 16 Dec (1971)
National Day
Population: 708,573 (2007)
note: includes 235,108 non-nationals
GDP: $17.7 billion (2006)
Exports: $12.6 billion (2006)
Imports: $9.03 billion (2006)
Ethnic Groups: Bahraini Arab 63.9%, Indian and Pakistani 14.8%,
Iranian 13%, Filipino 4.5%, European 2.1%, other 1.7% (2000)
Total Armed Forces: 10,200 (2003)
U.S. Troops 4,500 (2004)
Merchant marine: 8 ships (2006)
Religions: Muslim 82.4% (of which Shi'a 41%, Sunni 41%),
Christian 10.5%, Hindu 6.3%, other 0.8% (2000)
International Organizations/Treaties: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, BTWC, CTBT, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA (applicant), IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISESCO, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, KP, MIGA, NAM, NPT, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCLOS, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFCC, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Bahrain Index
Chronology

Jul 1521 - 1602            Portuguese occupation.
1602                       Annexed to Persia.
1783                       Al Khalifah lineage conquers and settles Bahrain.
1783 - 12 Sep 1868         Al Khalifah dynasty rules both Bahrain and Qatar.
1800 - 1801                Occupied by Muscat and Oman.
1801 - 1813                Vassal of Diriyah (see Saudi Arabia).
 5 Feb 1820                Informal protection treaty with Britain.
31 May 1861                British protected state.
 2 Dec 1880 - 15 Aug 1971  British protectorate.
29 Jul 1913                Ottomans recognizes British administration.
1961                       Autonomy
16 Aug 1971                State of Bahrain
14 Feb 2002                Kingdom of Bahrain.

British Persian
Gulf Residency
(1822-1971)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Portuguese Commanders
(subordinated to the captains-major in Hormuz)

1521 - 15..                Antonio Correia
15.. - 1602                ....
Persian governors
1602 -  3 Jun 1613         Allah-Verdi Khan Shirazi           (d. 1613)

1613 - 1633                Imam Qoli Khan Shirazi             (d. 1633)
1633 - 16..                Davud Khan Shirazi
16.. - 1737                ....
1737 - 1757?               
Muhammad Taqi Khan Shirazi
1757 - 1783                Sheikh Nasr Khan Bushehri
Rulers (Hakim)
¹
1783 - 18 Jul 1795         Sheikh Ahmad ibn Muhammad          (d. 1795)
                             Al Khalifah 
1796 - Apr 1843            Sheikh Abdullah ibn Ahmad          (b. 17.. - d. 1849)
                             Al Khalifah 
                            (detained in Diriyah 1801-1810)
                           - jointly with the following three -
1796 - 1825                Sheikh Sulman ibn Ahmad            (b. 17.. - d. 1825)
                             Al Khalifah 
                            (detained in Diriyah 1801-1810)
1825 - 31 May 1834         Sheikh Khalifah ibn Sulman         (d. 1834)
                             Al Khalifah 
31 May 1834 - Jun 1842     Sheikh Muhammad ibn Khalifah       (b. 1813 - d. 1890)
                             Al Khalifah (1st time) 
Apr 1843 -  6 Sep 1868     Sheikh Muhammad ibn Khalifah       (s.a.)
                             Al Khalifah (2nd time) 
 6 Sep 1868 - 28 Sep 1869  Sheikh Ali ibn Khalifah            (b. 1814 - d. 1869)
                             Al Khalifah 
Sep 1869 -  1 Dec 1869     Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdullah       (b. 1817 - d. 1877)
                             Al Khalifah 
Dec 1869 -  9 Dec 1932     Sheikh `Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifah    (b. 1848 - d. 1932)
                           - jointly with following -
Dec 1869 - Oct 1888        Sheikh Ahmad ibn Ali Al Khalifah   (b. 1850 - d. 1888)
                           - jointly with preceding -
 9 Dec 1932 - 24 Feb 1942  Sheikh Hamad ibn `Isa Al Khalifah  (b. 1872 - d. 1942)
24 Feb 1942 -  2 Nov 1961  Sheikh Sulman ibn Hamad            (b. 1895 - d. 1961)
                             Al Khalifah 
 2 Nov 1961 - 16 Aug 1971  Sheikh `Isa ibn Sulman             (b. 1933 - d. 1999)
                             Al Khalifah 
Emirs¹
16 Aug 1971 -  6 Mar 1999  Sheikh `Isa ibn Sulman             (s.a.)
                             Al Khalifah 
 6 Mar 1999 - 14 Feb 2002  Sheikh Hamad ibn `Isa Al Khalifah  (b. 1950)
King¹
14 Feb 2002 -              Sheikh Hamad ibn `Isa Al Khalifah  (s.a.)

President of the State Council
19 Jan 1970 - 16 Aug 1971  Sheikh Khalifah ibn Sulman         (b. 1936)            Non-party
                             Al Khalifah 
Prime minister
16 Aug 1971 -              Sheikh Khalifah ibn Sulman         (s.a.)               Non-party
                             Al Khalifah 
 

British Native Agents
c.1816 - 1819              Sadah Anandadas 
1820 - 182.                Thompson
1822 - 1834                the Chief British Political Residents
                           of the Gulf (see below)
1829                       Aziz (?)
1829                       Parran
1829 - 1830                Chanda
1830 - 1834                .... [name unknown]
1834 - 1841                Haji Mirza Muhammad `Ali Safar     (b. 1778 - d. 1845)
1841 - 1852                Haji Jasira
1852 - 1862                ....
1862 - 1864                Haji Ibrahim ibn Rajab             (c. 1820/30 - d. ....)
1864 - 1872                ....
1872 - 10 Jul 1884         Haji `Abd al-Nabi Khan Safar       (b. c.1803 - d. 1884)
1884 - 1891                Haji Mirza Ahmad Khan Safar        (b. c.1820/30 - d. 1891) 
Nov 1891 - Mar 1892        Munshis (acting)
Mar 1892 - Nov 1893        Haji Muhammad Amin
Nov 1893 - Feb 1900        Aga Muhammad Rahim Safar           (b. c.1830 - d. 1900)
Assistant Political Agent
Feb 1900 - Oct 1904        John Calcott Gaskin 
Political Agents
Oct 1904 - 1909            Francis Beville Prideaux           (b. 1871 - d. 1938)
1909 - 1910                Charles Fraser Mackenzie           (b. 1880 - d. 1965)
1910 - 1911                Stuart George Knox                 (b. 1869 - d. 1956)
1911 - 1912                David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer   (b. 1876 - d. 1962)
1912 - 1914                Arthur Prescott Trevor             (b. 1872 - d. 1930)
1914 - 1916                Terence Humphrey Keyes             (b. 1877 - d. 1939)
1916                       Hugh Stewart                       (b. 1872 - d. 1931)
1916                       J.M. Da Costa (acting)
1916                       Trenchard Craven William Fowle     (b. 1884 - d. 1940)
                             (acting)
1916 - 1918                Percy Gordon Loch (1st time)       (b. 1887 - d. 1963)
1918                       George Alexander Gavin Mungavin
                             (acting)
1918 - 1919                Norman Napier Bray                 (b. 1885 - d. 1962)
1919                       Sayid Siddiq Hassan (1st time)
                             (acting)
1919 - 1920                Harold Richard Patrick Dickson     (b. 1881 - d. 1959)
1920 - 1921                Sayid Siddiq Hassan (2nd time)
                             (acting)
1921 - 1926                Clive Kirkpatrick Daly             (b. 1878 - d. 1966)
1926 - 1929                Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett      (b. 1884 - d. 1933)
1929 - 1932                Charles Geoffrey Prior             (b. 1896 - d. 1972)
1932 - 1937                Percy Gordon Loch (2nd time)       (s.a.)
1937                       Tom Hickinbotham (1st time)        (b. 1903 - d. 1983)
1937 - 1940                Hugh Weightman                     (b. 1898 - d. 1949)
1940 - 1942                Reginald George Evelyn William     (b. 1899)
                             Alban 
1942 - 1943                Edward Birkbeck Wakefield          (b. 1903 - d. 1969)
                             (1st time) 
1943                       Michael Gray Dixon (acting)        (b. 1910)
1943 - 1945                Tom Hickinbotham (2nd time)        (s.a.)
1945                       Cornelius James Pelly (1st time)   (b. 1908 - d. 1985)
1945 - 1947                Edward Birkbeck Wakefield          (s.a.)
                             (2nd time) 
1947 - 1951                Cornelius James Pelly (2nd time)   (s.a.)
1951 - 1952                William Scott Laver                (b. 1909 - d. 1988)
1952 - 1955                John William Wall                  (b. 1910 - d. 1989)
1955 - 1959                Charles Alexander Gault            (b. 1908 - d. 1996)
1959 - 1962                Edward Parr Wiltshire              (b. 1910 - d. 2004)
1962 - 1965                John Peter Tripp                   (b. 1927 - d. 1986)
1965 - 1969                Anthony Derrick Parsons            (b. 1922 - d. 1996)
1969 - 1971                Alexander John Sterling            (b. 1926)

 ¹The style of the ruler:
(a) to 16 Aug 1971: Hakim al-Bahrayn ("Ruler of Babrain");
(b) 16 Aug 1971 - 14 Feb 2002: Amir ad-Dawlat al-Bahrayn (Amir of the State of Bahrain);
(c) from 14 Feb 2002: Malik Mamlakat al-Bahrayn ("King of the Kingdom of Bahrain").

Party abbreviations: (political parties illegal; from 2005 political associations legalized): JMDT = Jamia al-Minbar ad-Dimoqrati at-Taqadummi (Progressive Democratic Tribune - Bahrain, secluar, leftist); JWWI = Jam'iyat al-Wifaq al-Watany al-Islamiyah (Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, Shia Islamist); Waad = Wa'ad (Promise, named National Democratic Action Society to 2005, Maoist, socialist and Arab nationalist orientation)

Territorial Disputes: None; On 16 Mar 2001, the World Court granted to Bahrain sovereignty on the Hawar Islands and Qitat Jaradah shallows, and to Qatar sovereignty on Zubara and the shallows surrounding the islet of Fasht-el-Dibal.



British Residency of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf
[Flag of the United Kingdom]
                  2 Jul 1763 - 2 Dec 1971
NoteDuring this period the "Persian Gulf" was referred to as "Arabian Gulf" or simply
the "Gulf" by the British to distance themselves from the term "Persian"
which was viewed as implying Persian sovereignty over the gulf.

 2 Jul 1763 - 1948         British Residency established at Bushire (Bushehr) in Persia
                             by the British East India Company (see under Iran).
 8 Jan 1820 - 15 Mar 1820  Treaty with the "Trucial Coast States" and Bahrain,
                             abolishing slave trade and forbidding piracy.
1822                       Persian Gulf Residency established by Britain.
1822 - 1873                Subordinated to the governor of Bombay.
1835                       Treaty with the Trucial States, installing a truce of six months 
                             a year, during the pearling season.
1843                       Treaty renews the treaty of 1835 for ten years.
1853                       Treaty with Trucial States, renewing the treaty of 1835 for 
                             an unlimited period.
 9 Dec 1856 - 1857         British occupy Bushire, Persia.
1873 - 1946                Subordinated to British India (from 1946 to resident in Bahrain).
31 May 1861                Protectorate treaty with Bahrain (completed by treaties of 
                             2 Dec 1880 and 1892).
19 Mar 1891                Protectorate treaty with Oman.
 8 Mar 1892                Protectorate of the Trucial States (or Trucial Oman).
23 Nov 1899                Protectorate treaty with Kuwait (completed 3 Nov 1914).
 8 Aug 1915 - 16 Oct 1915  British occupy Bushire.
 3 Nov 1916                Protectorate treaty with Qatar.
16 Dec 1971                End of British protectorate presence in the Gulf.
 

Chief political residents of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf
(for Bahrain, Bushire, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial States)
1822 - 1823                John Mcleod                            (d. 1851)
1823 - 1827                Ephraim Gerrish Stannus                (b. 1784 - d. 1850) 
1827 - 1831                David Wilson
1831 - 1835                David Alexander Blane 
1835 - 1838                James Morrison                         (b. 1790 - d. 1857)
1838 - 1852                Samuel Hennell
1852 - 1856                Arnold Burrowes Kemball                (b. 1820 - d. 1908)
1856 - 1862                James Felix Jones                      (b. 1813 - d. 1878)
1862                       Herbert Frederick Disbrowe (acting)    (b. 1826 - d. 19..)
1862 - 1872                Lewis Pelly                            (b. 1825 - d. 1892)
1872 - 1891                Edward Charles Ross                    (b. 1836 - d. 1913)
1891 - 1893                Adelbert Cecil Talbot                  (b. 1845 - d. 1920)
1893                       Stuart Hill Godfrey (acting)           (b. 1861 - d. 1941)
1893                       James Hayes Sadler (1st time)(acting)  (b. 1851 - d. 1922)
1893                       James Adair Crawford (acting)          (b. 1857 - d. 1936)
1893 - 1894                James Hayes Sadler (2nd time)(acting)  (s.a.)
1894 - 1897                Frederick Alexander Wilson             (b. 1842 - d. 1899)
1897 - 1900                Malcolm John Meade                     (b. 1854 - d. 1933)
1900 - 1904                Charles Arnold Kemball (acting)        (b. 1860 - d. 1943)
1904 - 1920                Percy Zachariah Cox                    (b. 1864 - d. 1937)
                             (from 1911, Sir Percy Zachariah Cox) 
- Acting for Cox -
1913 - 1914                John Gordon Lorimer                    (b. 1870 - d. 1914)
1914                       Richard Lockinton Birdwood             (b. 1879 - d. 1914)
1914                       Stuart George Knox (1st time)          (b. 1869 - d. 1956)
1915                       Stuart George Knox (2nd time)          (s.a.)
1915 - 1917                Arthur Prescott Trevor (1st time)      (b. 1872 - d. 1930)
1917 - 1919                John Hugo Bill                         (b. 18.. - d. 1919)
1919                       Cecil Hamilton Gabriel                 (b. 1879 - d. 1947)
1919 - 1920                Arthur Prescott Trevor (2nd time)      (s.a.)
Chief Political Residents
1920                       Arnold Talbot Wilson (acting)          (b. 1884 - d. 1940)
1920 - 1924                Arthur Prescott Trevor                 (s.a.)
1924 - 1927                Francis Beville Prideaux               (b. 1871 - d. 1938)
1927 - 1928                Lionel Berkeley Holt Haworth           (b. 1873 - d. 1951)
1928 - 1929                Frederick William Johnston             (b. 1872 - d. 1947)
1929                       Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett (acting) (b. 1884 - d. 1932)
1929 - 1932                Hugh Vincent Biscoe                    (b. 1881 - d. 1932)
1932 - 1939                Trenchard Craven William Fowle         (b. 1884 - d. 1940)
1939 - 1946                Charles Geoffrey Prior                 (b. 1896 - d. 1972)
1946 - 1953                William Rupert Hay                     (b. 1893 - d. 1962)
                             (from 1952, Sir William Rupert Hay) 
22 Oct 1953 - 1958         Bernard Alexander Brocas Burrows       (b. 1910 - d. 2002)
                             (from 1955, Sir Bernard Alexander Brocas Burrows) 
1958 - 1961                Sir George Humphrey Middleton          (b. 1910 - d. 1998)
1961 - 1966                Sir William Henry Tucker Luce          (b. 1907 - d. 1977)
1966 - 1970                Sir Robert Stewart Crawford            (b. 1913 - d. 2002)
1970 - 15 Aug 1971         Sir Geoffrey Arthur                    (b. 1920 - d. 1984)



©2000  Ben Cahoon