Page 96 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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Apart from a stabilizing effect on the gulf region, the British brought
with them a new and potent force for change. Khuri (1980:21) points out that the
old mercantile system that had dominated the spice and pearl trade for centuries
was replaced by a form of industrial capitalism dependent upon markets and a
ready supply of raw materials. The British East India Company was the driving
force behind the changes that occurred.
TTius, from the mid-nineteenth century, Bahrain was transformed from a
tribal trading center into the modern state. The transition, related temporally
with the Industrial Revolution in the West, has resulted in a mixture of tribal and
governmental social institutions which form the structure of the modern state.
The past century of al-Khalifah rule has subsequently provided an overall stability
which has placed the state in a favored position in the gulf.
The history of the Islamic era in Bahrain shows the long-term transition to
the modern state. As an aid to interpretation, Figure 9 compares graphically the
patterns of regional interaction and political control in the gulf region, India, and
China. The dominant episodes of Islamic Bahrain can be quickly seen in relation to
the surrounding world of trade. Major periods of continuous political control and
by inference political continuity, are evident. The modern al-Khalifah state shows
in clear contrast to the anarchic period that preceded it. The interval of Safavid
control is also plainly differentiated from the troubled Portuguese years. The
Uyunid and Salgharid periods of control show as coherent units with relatively few
changes in political orientation.
By far the most continuous periods of rule are ascribed to the Abbasid and
Carmathian intervals, but these may be deceptive with so few detailed historical
data upon which to build an interpretation. With awareness of these faults,
however, the patterns represent the era in a way that makes the dynamic Islamic
political history of Bahrain more distinct.