Page 62 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

42 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

urban history – as remarked by Kirti Chaudhuri – is not only a history of
objects but also of meaning, 68 then the cosmopolitan character of
Manama was antithetical to the exclusive religious and tribal ideals
which had shaped the civic and political cultures of Bilad al-Qadim and
Muharraq. As a hybrid ‘frontier’ society under tribal government,
Manama played an increasingly critical role in redefining trajectories of
state building in the second half of the nineteenth century. These develop-
ments were rooted in the history of the penetration of the British Empire
in the Persian Gulf and can be related to, and contrasted with, the devel-
opment of other regional ports.

68
Chaudhuri, Asia before Europe, p. 338.