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Iran's claim to sovereignty over Bahrain1

Diplomatic history of the Anglo-Iranian controversy
Bahrain’s early history is obscure. According to classical historians,
in about 1900 b.c. Arabs from the Yemen settled there.2 Before the
rise of Islam in the seventh century Persians as well as other nations
seem to have dominated the island on account of its pearl-fisheries.
Between the seventh and eleventh centuries it formed part of the
Islamic Empire, under Arab governors who were subject to the
authority of the Caliph. After the downfall of the Abbasid Caliphate
in the eleventh century, Bahrain, on account of its nearness to the
eastern Arabian coast, came to be governed by various independent
Arab dynasties until the beginning of the sixteenth century, when it
was occupied by the Portuguese. The Portuguese governed the island
from 1522 to 1602, being finally expelled from the Arabian Gulf
in 1622. In 1602, the Persians conquered the island and it remained
under their domination until 1783. But even during these years the
Persian occupation was not uninterrupted, for on many occasions the
islands were wrested from the Persians by Arab Shaikhs, who occupied
Bahrain for short periods. In 1718 and 1720, Bahrain was held by the
Sultan of Muscat. Persia’s final loss of Bahrain was in 1783 when it
was conquered by the strong rUtubi rulers of Zubarah, from the
Qatar coast.3 The sovereignty of the present dynasty of Al-Khalifah
(descendants of the 'Utubi tribe) over Bahrain remains undisturbed
until the present day.
The controversy between Persia and Britain over the sovereignty of
Bahrain can be traced back to 1820, when Britain concluded the
Treaty of Peace with the Ruler of Bahrain and with other Rulers of
the Gulf States.
Although Persia had lost Bahrain to Al-Khalifah in 1783, she re­
newed her efforts to regain control of the islands. Owing to her mili­
tary weakness she adopted the policy of encouraging the Sultan of
1 ‘Iran’ and ‘Persia’ arc synonyms referring to the same country. The former has
in modern time been the official name of the country. In this chapter the name
‘Persia’ will be used because it is the name which is more frequently used in
documents relating to this dispute.
2 Bombay Selections, pp. 1-40; Oestrup J., Al-‘Bahrain’, Encyclopaedia of Islam,
vol. 1 (1913) pp. 584-5.
3 Ibid,; Al-Nabhani Tarikh al-Bahrain (Cairo, 1924) pp. 11-50, 78-140; F.O.
60/118 (1845), Chronological table of events connected with Bahrain, etc., op. cit.
These records show that the occupation of Bahrain by the Portuguese took place
between 1522 and 1602, and not between 1507 and 1622,as stated by Oestrup,op.cit.
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