Page 83 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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the Arabian Gulf. Their goal was to achieve a trade monopoly by control of both
the caravan routes and the sea routes to the East. Thus, where the Greeks and
Parthians were largely ineffective in controlling Gerrha, Ardashir I (A.D. 226-41),
established Sasanian ports of entry at key points along the Arabian Gulf coastal
zone. Charax was refounded as Astarabadh Ardashir and continued as the port of
entry for Mesopotamia as it had been during the preceding centuries. Bushire
became Rev Ardashir, and a coastal Iranian port, Kujaran Ardashir, was set up
opposite the island of Qishm. An Arabian port called Batn Ardashir occupied the
general position of Gerrha, possibly near the mouth of the intermittent river
system that drains the artesian overflows and surface runoff from the Hofuf Oasis.
No recognizable reference to Bahrain is given in this context until a later date.
A first hint of difficulties among the Arabian coastal communities came
during the reign of Shapur II (A.D. 306-80), when the Arab tribes of al-Hajar
Tt
crossed the gulf to raid the coast of Fars. Noldecke (1879) recorded that these
groups were driven to desperation by drought and hunger. The Arab attacks were
driven back by Shapur n, who retaliated by invading the Arabian coastal provinces.
After creating havoc along the coast, his forces continued inland to raid as far as
Yathrib (Mecca). It was during this episode of military activities in Arabia that the
Bahrain Islands may have been included as a vassal state. Belgrave (1975), quoting
unrecorded sources, considers Bahrain to have been captured by Persia during the
fourth century A.D. Taylor (1856), however, drawing upon information from local
histories compiled in the early nineteenth century, claimed that the island of
Bahrain or Awal was in Arab hands in A.D. 420 and was independent until A.D.
615, when Sasanian Persia gained control and appointed a governor. According to
Taylor, it remained in Sasanian hands until the coming of Islam (Stiffe 1901). Fifth-
century Sasanian influence on Bahrain (Awal) and the coast of Arabia can also be
inferred from descriptions of the Nestorian Christian Church in the gulf. Bushire
became the seat of the Metropolitan of the Nestorian church beginning in the fifth
century. Nestorians were active in Sasanian Persia, the gulf, and India during this
period (Vine 1937). Nestorian bishoprics were established throughout the Arabian
Gulf region and India. Bishoprics were recorded for Bahrain, Darin (Tarut), and