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Utobs. The Al-Khalifas conquered Bahrain, which was then governed by Nasir Al-

Mathkoor, in 1783 under the command of Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa,

known by all in Bahrain as Ahmed Al-Fateh (the Conqueror).
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Britain’s incursion into the Arabian Gulf came through its establishment of a

residency for its East India Company in 1763 for the purpose of trade. The

harassment of British ships in the Gulf’s waters encouraged it to impose its

authority on the region by the use of force and through a series of treaties with the

Arab sheikhdoms. From 1820 to 1971 Bahrain was bound by treaties with Britain,
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the first, signed in 1820, was known as the General Treaty and was also signed by

various sheikhdoms in the region. It included, inter alia, the outlaw of piracy, the

establishment of peaceful relations between the sheikhdoms and the British

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Government, and the registration of ships. The second treaty was signed in 1861
and was made directly between the Ruler of Bahrain and the British Government. It

called on Bahrain to abstain ‘from the prosecution of war, piracy, and slavery by sea’

and was tied to a British offer to protect the islands from external aggression. The

treaty also granted the special treatment of British subjects, trade, and it specified

tax duties. A new agreement, which restricted Bahrain’s foreign relations, was
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11 M. Gazal, Tarikh Al-Utob Al-Khalifa fi Al-Bahrain min 1700 ila 1970 [The History of Al-Utobs Al-
Khalifas in Bahrain from 1700 to 1970] (Manama: 1991), 80; J.B. Kelly, Britain and the Persian Gulf
1795-1880, (New York: 1991), 26-27; and ‘Introducation’, in Ruling Families of Arabia: Bahrain: The
Ruling Family of Al-Khalifah, ed. A.D.L. Rush, (London: 1991), xv-xvi.
12 W.R. Hay, The Persian Gulf (Washington: 1959), 11-12; and P. Risso, ‘Cross-Cultural Perceptions of
Piracy: Maritime Violence in the Western Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf Region during a Long
Eighteenth Century’, Journal of World History, 12.2, 293-319 (314-15).
13 India Office Records (IOR)/L/PS/20/C158D, General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian
Gulf-1820, 23 February 1820.
14 IOR/L/PS/20/C158D, Terms of a Friendly Convention Entered into between Shaikh Mohamed bin
Khalifah, Independents Ruler of Bahrain, on the Part of Himself and Successors, and Captain Felix
Jones, Her Majesty’s Indian Navy, Political Resident of Her Britannic Majesty in the Gulf of Persia, on
the Part of the British Government, 1861.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 3