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194 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

13 Aerial view of Manama from the port in the early 1950s with Bab al-
Bahrayn and the Customs Square at the centre. The marshland and the
barasti settlements to the south of the city are visible in the background

Arabisation of urban culture. The ‘Arab’ character of its wooden panels,
balustrades and doors undermined the cosmopolitan influences which
5
had characterised Manama’s residential architecture before oil. As the
harbour continued to be the political and economic hub of the city, Bab al-
Bahrayn provided continuity with the urban layout of the nineteenth
century. Only following the announcement of British withdrawal from
the Gulf in 1968, the government redesigned the waterfront. The port was
transferred to the south of the city in Mina’ Salman and the government

5
‘Annual Report for the Year 1368’ in The Bahrain Government Annual Reports, 1924–1970,
vol. IV, pp. 44–5.