Page 23 - Begrave Thesis_Neat

In order to understand the nature of Bahrain’s political scene in the mid-

twentieth century, it is imperative to provide a brief overview of Bahrain, its social

composition, British-Bahraini relations, British representation in the region, how

the position of the Adviser developed as occupied by Belgrave, and the rise of

regional nationalist elements that provided the perfect environment for the rise of

the nationalist movement of the 1950s.

The archipelago consisting of the islands of the modern Kingdom of Bahrain

lies in the heart of the Arabian Gulf. Bahrain consists of thirty-three islands. The
9
main and largest island in the archipelago is named as Bahrain and is home to the

country’s capital city of Manama. The islands’ geographically neighbours are Saudi

Arabia to the West and Qatar to the Southeast.

The country is home to a diverse population of Arabs (Muslim Sunnis),

Baharna (Arab Muslim Shi’ites), Hawala (Arab Sunnis who were in constant

migration and travel between the two sides of the Arabian Gulf shores) and Persians

(majority of whom are Shi’ites). Bahrain is also home to a minority of Jews and

Christians. Sunni-Shi’ite relations, marked by occasional tensions between the two

sides, are a significant feature of the era in Bahrain’s political scene of the period

under study in the thesis.
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The ruling family in Bahrain is the Al-Khalifas who originated from the Nejd

in the Arabian Peninsula and were among a group of Sunni families known as the

9 Throughout the current thesis, ‘Arabian Gulf’ is adopted in reference to the Persian Gulf.
10 The closest census conducted in relation to the time period of the thesis was in 1950. According to
the census the population of Bahrain including foreigners was 109,650. The census did not assess
the Sunni to Shi’ite ratio. See ‘Government of Bahrain: Annual Report for Year 1369 (October 1949-
October 1950)’, in The Bahrain Government Annual Reports 1924-1956, vol. IV 1947-1952, ed. R.L.
Jarman, (Buckinghamshire: 1986), 1-77 (6).

© Hamad E. Abdulla 2