Page 112 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

92 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

al-‘Utub had used the canal to capture Qal‘ah al-Diwan, the inland fort

which was the headquarters of the Persian administration. In the Al

Khalifah era Mush bir fell into disrepair following the general decline of

Bahrain’s old canal system, although in 1904 Lorimer noted the remnants

of a lush date grove in the heart of the al-Hammam district. 44

Given the absence of cartographic and documentary evidence the tran-

sition from agricultural hamlets to urban quarters is not easy to detect.

The boundaries between the town and its cultivated hinterland (al-

mazra‘ah) were blurred as agricultural allotments (al-daliyyah) and

empty land surrounded by fences (al-hawtat) still dotted the urban land-

scape in the early twentieth century. The gradual expansion of the harbour

economy, overcrowding and declining water supplies inexorably under-

mined agricultural pursuits over the years with a proliferation of huts,

shelters, masonry houses, walled structures and family warehouses used

for the storage of food and goods. The constitution of popular neighbour-

hoods replicated the compound organisation of the villages. Their growth

by accretion through immigration and the diversification of the economic

activities of their residents paralleled and complemented the expansion of

the harbour and commercial districts, rather than developing ex novo as

their direct appendix.

Descriptions of Farij Bu Sirrah transmitted by generations of former
residents illust rate the ways in which village activities combined with the

maritime economy of the town. As part of the old agricultural belt sur-

rounding the harbour, this district was often associated with the coastal

village of al-Na‘im and often referred to as Bu Sirrah al-Na‘im (Bu Sirrah

of Na‘im). In the early twentieth century its population included a major-

ity of Shi‘is of mixed background, status and wealth. Influential Baharna

families of rural origin like the Ibn Sallums and al-Habishis owned agri-
cultural land outside Manama and employed villagers or immigrants from
al-Ahsa’ to cultivate their properties. The al-Shabibs, al-Marhums and
Sayfs were involved in pearling and in ship building. Persian immigrants
like the Bushehris capitalised on their overseas connections and traded

in general foodstuffs. Baharna, Persian, Omani and Hasawi residents

worked as carpenters, builders, porters and pearl cleaners. While the
wealthy owned the few houses built of mud, gypsum and stone con-
structed around a central courtyard, the majority of the population lived
in barastis which clustered in garden plots intersected by a rudimentary
road system. Less is known about the early history of the large district
of al-Mukharaqah which, with al-Hammam, was the stronghold of
44
Tajir, ‘Aqd al-lal, pp. 103–5; Lorimer, Gazetteer, vol. II, p. 1159.