Page 56 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

Although the average rainfall is only 2lA in. there is extensive
cultivation at the northern end of the island where there are abundant
supplies of fresh water from natural springs sustained by underground
sources from Central Arabia or under the Gulf from the Persian
mountains. Indeed, there arc sea areas off-shore where fresh water
wells up from the underwater springs and fishermen can replenish
their supplies of drinking water from the sea! The island is generally
low-lying except where Jcbcl Dukhan, situated in the middle of the
area bordered by the eroded cap rock, rises to 440 feet above sea level.
The Portuguese remained in occupation until the Persians seized
the islands in 1602 and ruled them for over 100 years; but, in 1717,
they, in turn, were ousted by Omani tribes. The Persians subsequently
regained mastery later in the 18th century, but Arab ownership was
settled in 1783 when the Utub Arabs and their principal family, the
A1 Khalifa, occupied Bahrain with the assistance of the A1 Sabah of
Kuwait. The Houses of A1 Khalifa and A1 Sabah both descend from
the Anaza, a tribe of ancient lineage dating back to pre-Islamic times.
They jointly migrated from Central Arabia and settled in Kuwait in the
late 17th century. In 1766 they parted company and the A1 Khalifa
moved to Qatar whence, 17 years later, they occupied Bahrain.
The history of Bahrain, passed down verbally through the
generations, includes the particular sentence “SARA AHMAD FI
AWAL KHALIFA” — which means “Ahmad became the Ruler of
Awal” (Awal was the old name for Bahrain).
Each of the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet has a numerical
value, ranging from 1 to 1,000; and the use of such sentences, with
the numerical values of the letters adding up to a specific number,
was a popular means of recording historical dates.

In this particular case, the sum of the numerical values of the
letters in the sentence is 1,197. The Hijra year 1197 (A.D. 1782-83)
was thus recorded as the year in which Ahmad, the founder of the
present ruling family of Bahrain, captured the island from the Persians.

During the early part of the 19th century, Bahrain was involved
in the unsettled state of the Gulf; but, in February 1820 it was
admitted to the General Treaty and in 1861 the Ruler subscribed to
the Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity, previously signed by the Trucial
States, and Bahrain came under British protection which continued to

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