Page 111 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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Here again, the archeological record of this period is relatively limited.
Although it may be mixed with materials of late Sasanian age, the settlement
pattern shows occupation of only the northern third of the island. This array of

settlement is similar to that of the first millennium B.C. In both cases the
southernmost evidence for settlement is found near the village of Ali, 10 km from
the north coast. The concentration of settlement, however, seems to have been in
the northwest corner of the island. Bahrain served as a customs station for the
Carmathian state during this time and acted as an entrepot servicing the Arabian
mainland. The growth of the contemporary port of Siraf on the Persian shore of
the gulf may have had a competitive impact on Bahrain. As far as land use is
concerned, Bahrain continued date cultivation along with various vegetable crops,
if reuse of this same area of historic gardens is any indication. The lack of Abbasid
archeological sites possibly signifies a relative difference in importance between
Bahrain and the center of Carmathian power in al-Hasa. In the mid-eleventh
century ibn Hawkal described the Carmathian state as financed largely by the
extraction of tribute, with income from fruit and grain sales being secondary. TTiis
emphasis suggests that the Hofuf Oasis was the agricultural center of the state,
allowing Bahrain a secondary agricultural role. Bahrain's role as a specialized
customs station may also have downplayed agricultural development.
During the medieval period Bahrain experienced a resurgence in the
extent of land area occupied by settlements. Figure 13 shows the increase in
archeological site evidence in comparison with Early Islamic sites. TYie western
coastal plain was resettled and settlements reoccupied the southernmost ’Ubaid and
Barbar n site areas, ca. 30 km south of the north coast. Additional sites, still
farther to the south, appear to have been military or other special purpose sites.
TTiis expansion in settlement took place between the mid-eleventh and early
sixteenth centuries, and coincided with Uyunid, Salgharid, and Hormuzi control of
the island. During the latter two intervals of political control certain economic
changes can be noted. For example, Bahrain became an integral part of a maritime
trade network tributary to Fars. TTie significance of this change for land use
interpretations is still uncertain, but we know that Abulfeda (A.D. 1274-1331)