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120-479: The origins and history of this dynasty are obscure. They may have been of either Omani or Bahraini origin, and they were possibly related to Ahmad ibn Hilal , a previous governor of Oman on behalf of the Abbasid Caliphate . In any event, by about 929, the coastal regions of Oman were under the control of Yūsuf ibn Wajīh ( Arabic : يُوْسُف ابْن وَجِيْه ), the first member of the dynasty. According to

240-485: A utopian society. The Qarmatians' goal was to build a society based on reason and equality. The state was governed by a council of six with a chief who was primus inter pares . All property within the community was distributed evenly among all initiates. The Qarmatians were organized as an esoteric society but not as a secret one; their activities were public and openly propagated, but new members had to undergo an initiation ceremony involving seven stages. For much of

360-761: A basically Akhbari Shia Basrans. The shortness of the Zand rule rendered this untenable. In 1911, the Encyclopaedia Britannica reported "about 4000 Jews and perhaps 6000 Christians" living in Basra Vilayet, but no Turks other than Ottoman officials. In 1884 the Ottomans responded to local pressure from the Shi'as of the south by detaching the southern districts of the Baghdad vilayet and creating

480-541: A city with five districts, and appointed Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as its first governor. The city was built in a circular plan according to the Partho-Sasanian architecture . Abu Musa led the conquest of Khuzestan from 639 to 642, and was ordered by Umar to aid Uthman ibn Abi al-As , then fighting Iran from a new, more easterly miṣr at Tawwaj . In 650, the Rashidun Caliph Uthman reorganised

600-561: A further 40,000 with no known grave are commemorated at Basra Memorial . Both sites are suffering from neglect with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission having withdrawn from the country in 2007. During World War II (1939–1945), Basra was an important port through which flowed much of the equipment and supplies sent to the Soviet Union by other Allies of World War II . The population of Basra

720-494: A long time, a flourishing commercial and cultural center. It was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1668. It was fought over by Turks and Persians and was the scene of repeated attempts at resistance. From 1697 to 1701, Basra was once again under Safavid control . The Zand dynasty under Karim Khan Zand briefly occupied Basra after a long siege in 1775–9. The Zands attempted at introducing Usuli form of Shiism on

840-563: A mixture of force and diplomacy against both the Ibadis and Qarmatians. Wajihid policy in its relations with the neighboring powers was opportunistic, and they recognized the suzerainty of both the Qarmatians and Abbasids at different times during their rule. Suhar during Wajihid rule was an extremely prosperous town and, along with Siraf , was one of the main seaports of the Gulf of Oman and

960-570: A new vilayet of Basra . During World War I , British forces captured Basra from the Ottomans, occupying the city on 22 November 1914. British officials and engineers (including Sir George Buchanan ) subsequently modernized Basra's harbor, which due to the increased commercial activity in the area became one of the most important ports in the Persian Gulf, developing new mercantile links with India and East Asia . The graves of around 5,000 men from WW1 both are at Basra War Cemetery and

1080-488: A new city there and named it "Batan Ardashir" after his father. Mazun stretched from Oman in the south to the Shatt al-Arab in the north, and included the archipelago of Bahrain; thus it is roughly coterminous with the modern definition of Eastern Arabia. It was subdivided into the three districts of Haggar ( Hofuf , Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir ( Al-Qatif , Saudi Arabia), and Mishmahig ( Muharraq , Bahrain), which included

1200-460: A port and airport. In recent years, the city has attracted a large number of investments, increasing its prosperity. The city has had many names throughout history, Basrah being the most common. In Arabic, the word baṣrah means "the overwatcher", which may have been an allusion to the city's origin as an Arab military base against the Sassanids . Others have argued that the name is derived from

1320-793: A provincial official located in Dilmun, Ilī-ippašra , to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are Akkadian . These letters hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon . Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun, with the exception of Assyrian inscriptions dated to 1250 BC which proclaimed the Assyrian king to be "King of Dilmun and Meluhha ". Assyrian inscriptions at this time also recorded tribute from Dilmun. There are other Assyrian inscriptions during

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1440-553: A reaction to Husayn ibn Ali 's popularity as the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . 'Ubayd Allah took over the control of Kufa . Husayn sent his cousin as an ambassador to the people of Kufa, but ʿUbaydullah executed Husayn cousin Muslim ibn Aqil amid fears of an uprising. ʿUbayd Allah amassed an army of thousands of soldiers and fought Husayn's army of approximately 70 in a place called Karbala near Kufa. ʿUbayd Allah's army

1560-482: A regular pattern of two-meter-high ridges in straight lines, separated by old canal beds. The ridges are extremely saline, with salt deposits up to 20 centimeters thick, and are completely barren. The former canal beds are less salty and can support a small population of salt-resistant plants. Contemporary authors recorded how the Zanj slaves were put to work clearing the fields of salty topsoil and putting them into piles;

1680-437: A slope for the water flow to carry salt deposits away. This required the clearing of salty topsoil by the Zanj slaves in order to keep the fields from becoming too saline to grow crops. After Basra was sacked in by Zanj rebels in the late 800s and then by the Qarmatians in the early 900s, there was no financial incentive to invest in restoring the irrigation system, and the infrastructure was almost completely abandoned. Finally, in

1800-550: A vast agricultural infrastructure in the Basra region. These investments were made with the expectation of a profitable return, indicating the value of the Basra food market. Although African Zanj slaves from the Indian Ocean slave trade were put to work on these construction projects, most of the labor was done by free men working for wages. Governors sometimes directly supervised these projects, but usually they simply assigned

1920-456: Is 60 km (37 miles) inland and thus less likely to be the starting point for a trader's route, making the location within the archipelago of islands comprising the modern Kingdom of Bahrain , particularly the main island of Bahrain itself, another possibility. Various other identifications of the site have been attempted, with Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville choosing Qatif and Carsten Niebuhr preferring Kuwait. The island of Bahrain

2040-679: Is a port city in southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate , as well as the third largest city in Iraq overall, behind only Baghdad and Mosul . Located near the Iran–Iraq border at the north-easternmost extent of the Arabian Peninsula , the city is situated along the banks of the Shatt al-Arab that empties into the Persian Gulf . Basra is consistently one of

2160-489: Is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain , Iraq , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia ( Eastern Province ), and the United Arab Emirates . The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as " Bahrain " for a millennium. Until very recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from the Shatt al-Arab to the mountains of Oman ,

2280-453: Is consistently one of the hottest cities on the planet, with temperatures regularly exceeding 50 °C (122 °F) in July and August. In winter Basra experiences mild and somewhat moist conditions with average high temperatures around 20 °C (68 °F). On some winter nights, minimum temperatures are below 0 °C (32 °F). High humidity – sometimes exceeding 90% – is common due to

2400-584: Is dedicated to John the Baptist , the chief prophet in Mandaeism , who also reverred by the Jews, Christians and Muslims. The city was also home to one of the oldest Jewish communities . During the 1930s, the Jews constituted 9.8% of the total population. However, most of them fled after a series of persecution, which began in 1941 and lasted till 1951. Between 1968 and 2003 , fewer than 300 Jews remained in

2520-460: Is known as the "Cradle of Islamic Culture". The Sunni Muslim population is small and dropping in their percentage as more Iraqi Shias move into Basra for various job or welfare opportunities. The satellite town of Az Zubayr in the direction of Kuwait was a Sunni majority town, but the burgeoning population of Basra has spilled over into Zubair, turning it into an extension of Basra with a slight Shia majority as well. Assyrians were recorded in

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2640-558: Is not geographically a part of Eastern Arabia. In Arabic, Baḥrayn is the dual form of baḥr ( Arabic : بَحْر , lit.   'sea'), so al-Baḥrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. The term appears five times in the Qur'an , but does not refer to the modern island —originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”—but rather to

2760-410: Is penetrated by a complex network of canals and streams, vital for irrigation and other agricultural use. These canals were once used to transport goods and people throughout the city, but during the last two decades, pollution and a continuous drop in water levels have made river navigation impossible in the canals. Basra is roughly 110 km (68 mi) from the Persian Gulf. The city is located along

2880-597: Is the meeting place of the two seas, the salt and the fresh." Ibn Battuta also noted that Basra consisted of three-quarters: the Hudayl quarter, the Banu Haram quarter, and the Iranian quarter ( mahallat al-Ajam ). Fred Donner adds: "If the first two reveal that Basra was still predominantly an Arab town, the existence of an Iranian quarter clearly reveals the legacy of long centuries of intimate contact between Basra and

3000-420: Is their orientation and focus towards the sea. Maritime -focused life in the small Gulf Arab states has resulted in a sea-oriented society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries . The Arabs of Eastern Arabia speak a dialect known as Gulf Arabic . Approximately 2 million Saudis (out of a population of 34 million) speak Gulf Arabic. Khaleeji entertainment is popular throughout

3120-577: Is usually identified with the whole of the parallel Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel. Dilmun, sometimes described as “the place where the sun rises” and “the Land of the Living”, is the scene of some versions of the Eridu Genesis , and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Utnapishtim ( Ziusudra ), was taken by

3240-765: The Akkadian period (c. 2300 BC), but the trade probably started in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, but by the Isin-Larsa Period (c. 1900 BC), Dilmun monopolized the trade. The Bahrain National Museum assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted from c. 2200 BC to 1600 BC. In the Epic of Gilgamesh , Gilgamesh had to pass through Mount Mashu to reach Dilmun. Mount Mashu

3360-740: The Arab world . Although performed in the Gulf Arabic dialect, its influence reaches as far as Tunisia . Kuwaiti popular culture, in the form of poetry, film, theater, and soap operas, is exported to neighbouring states. The Arab world's three largest broadcast networks ( Al Jazeera Network , Al Arabiya , and MBC Group ) are all located in Eastern Arabia as well. Islam is dominant in Eastern Arabia. The main sects are Sunni Islam , Ibadi Islam (dominant in Oman); and Shia Islam . Before

3480-659: The Aramaic word basratha , meaning "place of huts, settlement". The city was founded at the beginning of the Islamic era in 636 and began as a garrison encampment for Arab tribesmen constituting the armies of the Rashidun Caliph Umar . A tell a few kilometers south of the present city still marks the original site which was a military site. While defeating the forces of the Sassanid Empire there,

3600-666: The Mongol Dominions map (1300–1405) shows Basra as being under Mongol control. In 1290 fighting erupted at the Persian Gulf port of Basra among the Genoese , between the Guelph and the Ghibelline factions. Ibn Battuta visited Basra in the 14th century, noting it "was renowned throughout the whole world, spacious in area and elegant in its courts, remarkable for its numerous fruit-gardens and its choice fruits, since it

3720-543: The Persian Gulf . Its development during the tenth century turned it into a major center of international commerce and the chief city of Oman. The Wajihids were able to take control of the Suhari trade and they actively worked to maintain the town's economic status. The Wajihids were chiefly known in the medieval sources for their two attacks on Basra . The first campaign occurred in 943, in response to excessive Basran customs dues on Omani shipping. The Wajihid military moved up

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3840-439: The Shatt al-Arab waterway, 55 kilometers (34 mi) from the Persian Gulf and 545 kilometers (339 mi) from Baghdad , Iraq's capital and largest city. Basra has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ), like the rest of the surrounding region, though it receives slightly more precipitation than inland locations due to its location near the coast. During the summer months, from June to August, Basra

3960-677: The Tigris River and took possession of al-Ubullah , but the expedition failed when the Baridi rulers of Basra managed to destroy much of the Wajihid fleet. The second campaign, of 951-2, saw the Wajihids and their Qarmatian allies again advancing against Basra, which was now controlled by the Buyid amir Mu'izz al-Daula . The latter's vizier Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Muhallabi went to defend

4080-689: The UAE city of Al Ain ), before moving to Sohar. The Bani Sama also referred to themselves as the "Wajihid Dynasty", and assumed leadership over the region. The Wajihids did not enjoy undisputed control of Oman. In the mountainous interior of the country, the Ibadi imams centered at Nizwa opposed Wajihid rule and were intent on maintaining their independent status. In addition, the neighboring Qarmatians of al-Hasa sought to gain possession of Suhar, and Qarmatian raids into Oman were common during this period. The Wajihids were able to neutralize these threats by using

4200-574: The Virgin Mary in the church was brought from India in 1882. One of the largest communities of pre-Islamic Mandaeans live in the city, whose headquarters was in the area formerly called Suk esh-Sheikh. Basra is home to second highest concentration of the Mandaean community, after Baghdad. As of recent estimates 350 Mandaean families are found in the city. Dair al-Yahya is one of the most important Mandaean temples, located in Basra. The temple

4320-679: The World War I , the British forces captured Basra and incorporated it into the Mandate for Mesopotamia , and subsequently Mandatory Iraq , and later the independent Kingdom of Iraq in 1932. It became an important industrial center in the Persian Gulf. During the Iran–Iraq War , Basra was heavily shelled and besieged by the Iranian forces. The city suffered heavy damage during the Gulf War. It

4440-615: The 10th century the Qarmatians were the most powerful force in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, controlling the coast of Oman, and collecting tribute from the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad and from the rival Ismaili Fatimid caliph in Cairo , whom they did not recognize. The land they ruled over was extremely wealthy, with a huge slave-based economy. According to academic Yitzhak Nakash: The Qarmatian state had vast fruit and grain estates both on

4560-525: The 2003 invasion. Workers in Basra's oil industry have been involved in extensive organization and labour conflict. They held a two-day strike in August 2003, and formed the nucleus of the independent General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE) in June 2004. The union held a one-day strike in July 2005, and publicly opposes plans for privatizing the industry. In March through to May 2003, the outskirts of Basra were

4680-566: The 7th century CE , the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of partially Christianized Arabs , Arab Zoroastrians , Jews and Aramaic -speaking agriculturalists. Some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit Akkadian , Aramaic and Syriac features. The sedentary people of ancient Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, while Syriac functioned as a liturgical language . The Kingdom of Dilmun first appears in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to

4800-604: The Arabian Peninsula, only 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the ancient burial grounds of Dilmun on the island of Bahrain. Prior to Gerrha, the area belonged to the Dilmuni civilization. Gerrha itself was the center of an Arab kingdom from approximately 650 BC to circa 300 AD. The kingdom was attacked by Antiochus III the Great in 205-204 BC, though it seems to have survived. It is unknown exactly when Gerrha fell, but

4920-524: The Arabs, there is also a community of Afro-Iraqi peoples, known as Zanj . The Zanj are an African Muslim ethnic group living in Iraq and are a mix of African peoples taken from the coast of the area of modern-day Kenya as slaves in the 900s. They now number around 200,000 in Iraq . Basra is a major Shia city, with the old Akhbari Shiism progressively being overwhelmed by the Usuli Shiism. It

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5040-569: The Bahrain archipelago. The Christian name used for the region encompassing north-eastern Arabia was Beth Qatraye, which translates to "region of the Qataris " in Syriac . It included Bahrain , Tarout , Al-Khatt , Al-Aḥsā , and Qatar. By the 5th century, Beth Qatraye was a major center for Nestorian Christianity , which had come to dominate the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. Within

5160-728: The Basra state treasury. A 1200 map "on the eve of the Mongol invasions" shows the Abbasid Caliphate as ruling lower Iraq and, presumably, Basra. The Assassin Rashid-ad-Din-Sinan was born in Basra on or between 1131 and 1135. In 1258, the Mongols under Hulegu Khan sacked Baghdad and ended Abbasid rule. By some accounts, Basra capitulated to the Mongols to avoid a massacre. The Mamluk Bahri dynasty map (1250–1382) shows Basra as being under their area of control, and

5280-550: The Byzantine Empire, Nestorians were persecuted as heretics, but as eastern Arabia was far enough from the empire's borders that Nestorianism flourished. Several notable Nestorian writers originated from Beth Qatraye, including Isaac of Nineveh , Dadisho Qatraya , Gabriel of Qatar and Ahob of Qatar. Christianity declined with the arrival of Islam in Eastern Arabia in 628. By 676, the bishops of Beth Qatraye had stopped attending synods; although Christianity persisted in

5400-549: The Indus Valley city of Harappa were evidently used to seal bundles of merchandise, as clay seal impressions with cord or sack marks on the reverse side testify. A number of these Indus Valley seals have turned up at Ur and other Mesopotamian sites. The “Arabian Gulf” types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun appear at Lothal in Gujarat , India, as well as in Mesopotamia. These seals support

5520-617: The Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were in fact identical to those used by the Indus, and were not used in Southern Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and archaeological finds. Literary references to trade with Meluhha date from

5640-414: The Iranian Buyid dynasty ruled Baghdad and most of Iraq. Abu al Qasim al-Baridis, who still controlled Basra and Wasit , were defeated and their lands taken by the Buyids in 947. Adud al-Dawla and his sons Diya' al-Dawla and Samsam al-Dawla were the Buyid rulers of Basra during the 970s, 980s and 990s. Sanad al-Dawla al-Habashi ( c.  921 –977), the brother of the Emir of Iraq Izz al-Dawla ,

5760-454: The Iranian plateau." The Arab Al-Mughamis tribe established control over Basra in the early fifteenth century, however, they quickly fell under influence of the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu , successively. The Al-Mughamis' control of Basra had become nominal by 1436; de facto control of Basra from 1436 to 1508 was in the hands of the Moshasha . In the latter year, during the reign of King ( Shah ) Ismail I ( r.   1501–1524),

5880-451: The Iraqi government who violently put down the rebellion, with much death and destruction inflicted on Basra. As part of the Iraqi no-fly zones conflict , United States Air Force fighter jets carried out two airstrikes against Basra on 25 January 1999. The airstrikes resulted in missiles landing in the al-Jumhuriya neighborhood of Basra, killed 11 Iraqi civilians and wounding 59. General Anthony Zinni , then commander of U.S. forces in

6000-399: The Magnificent as his suzerain who in turn confirmed him as governor of Basra. The Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire exercised a great deal of independence, and they even often raised their own troops. Though Basra had submitted to the Ottomans, the Ottoman hold over Basra was tenuous at the time. This changed a decade later; in 1546, following a tribal struggle involving the Moshasha and

6120-418: The Mediterranean and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the wares of Egypt and Assyria ... With the waning of Seleucid Greek power, Tylos was incorporated into Characene , the state founded by Hyspaosines in 127 BC in modern-day Kuwait . A building inscription found in Bahrain indicates that Hyspoasines occupied

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6240-417: The Muslim commander Utbah ibn Ghazwan erected his camp on the site of an old Persian military settlement called Vaheštābād Ardašīr , which was destroyed by the Arabs. While the name Al-Basrah in Arabic can mean "the overwatch", other sources claim that the name actually originates from the Persian word Bas-rāh or Bassorāh, meaning "where many ways come together". In 639, Umar established this encampment as

6360-525: The Ottoman census as early as 1911, and a small number of them live in Basra. However, a significant number of the modern community are refugees fleeing persecution from ISIS in the Nineveh Plains , Mosul, and northern Iraq . But ever since the victory of Iraq against the ISIS in 2017 , many Christians have returned to their homeland in the Nineveh plains. In 2018 there are about a few thousand Christians in Basra. The Armenian Church in Basra, dates from 1736 but has been rebuilt three times. The portrait of

6480-441: The Persian Gulf trade route, the Parthians established garrisons on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. In the 3rd century AD, the Sasanians succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later. Ardashir , the first ruler of the Sasanian dynasty, conquered Bahrain and northern Oman, and appointed his son, Shapur I , as the governor of eastern Arabia, the province of Mazun . Shapur constructed

6600-457: The Persian Gulf, acknowledged that it was possible that "a missile may have been errant." While such casualty numbers pale in comparison to later events, the bombing occurred one day after Arab foreign ministers, meeting in Egypt, refused to condemn four days of air strikes against Iraq in December 1998. This was described by Iraqi information minister Human Abdel-Khaliq as giving U.S.-led forces "an Arab green card" to continue their involvement in

6720-438: The Persian Gulf, are large plantations of cotton trees, from which are manufactured clothes called sindones , of different degrees of value, some being costly, others less expensive. The use of these is mostly confined to India, but extends also to Arabia.” The Greek historian, Theophrastus , states that much of the archipelago was covered in these cotton trees and noted that textiles were a major industry. According to him, Tylos

6840-405: The Persian frontier, installed ʿAbdullah ibn Amir as Basra's governor, and put the military's southern wing under Basra's control. Ibn Amir led his forces to their final victory over Yazdegerd III , the Sassanid King of Kings . In 656, Uthman was murdered and Ali was appointed Caliph. Ali first installed Uthman ibn Hanif as Basra's governor, who was followed by ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbas. These men held

6960-445: The Phoenicians originated from Bahrain. This theory was accepted by the 19th-century German classicist Arnold Heeren who said that: "In the Greek geographers, for instance, we read of two islands, named Tyrus or Tylos , and Arad, Bahrain , which boasted that they were the mother country of the Phoenicians, and exhibited relics of Phoenician temples." The people of Tyre in particular have long maintained Persian Gulf origins, and

7080-405: The Portuguese acted as military protectors of Basra, and in 1624 the Portuguese assisted the Ottoman Pasha of Basra in repelling a Persian invasion. The Portuguese were granted a share of the customs revenue and freedom from tolls. From about 1625 until 1668, Basra and the Delta marshlands were in the hands of local chieftains independent of the Ottoman administration at Baghdad. Basra was, for

7200-431: The archaeologist Timothy Power, the origins of the Wajihids can be found in an account by the tenth-century chronicler al-Tabari . The latter source reported that in 893 or 894 during the Abbasid era, there was a dispute about who should rule Oman among the local factions. A faction that approached the Abbasids was the Bani Sama, who were based in Al-Buraimi or Tawam (which includes the modern Omani town of Al-Buraimi and

7320-520: The area before Basra was founded. Indeed, in an anecdote related by al-Baladhuri , al-Ahnaf ibn Qays pleaded to the caliph Umar that, whereas other Muslim settlers were established in well-watered areas with extensive farmland, the people of Basra had only "reedy salt marsh which never dries up and where pasture never grows, bounded on the east by brackish water and on the west by waterless desert. We have no cultivation or stock farming to provide us with our livelihood or food, which comes to us as through

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7440-417: The area was under Sassanid Persian control after 300 AD. Gerrha was described by Strabo as inhabited by Chaldean exiles from Babylon , who built their houses of salt and repaired them by the application of salt water. Pliny the Elder ( Natural History , 6.32) says it was 8 kilometres (5 mi) in circumference with towers built of square blocks of salt. Gerrha was destroyed by the Qarmatians at

7560-437: The area. Al Khamis Mosque , built during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Umar II , was one of the earliest mosques built in eastern Arabia. The expansion of Islam did not affect eastern Arabia's reliance on trade, and its prosperity continued to be dependent on markets in India and Mesopotamia. After Baghdad emerged as the seat of the caliph in 750 following the Abbasid Revolution , eastern Arabia greatly benefited from

7680-584: The arrival of the Buyids and the establishment of a Buyid province in Oman . The exact chronology of the Wajihid dynasty is difficult to determine. Coins that they minted during their reign are important in creating a ruler list. Based on available numismatic data, the Wajihids ruled as follows: Abdulrahman al-Salimi, in attempting to reconcile the numismatic data with information provided by written sources, came up with an alternative chronology: Bahrain (historical region) Eastern Arabia ( Arabic : ٱلْبَحْرَيْن , romanized :  Al-Baḥrayn ),

7800-427: The city during the height of summer in 2018. Some protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in the city. In 2023, the city hosted the long scheduled 25th Arabian Gulf Cup where the Iraqi team won. Basra is located in the Arabian Peninsula on the Shatt-Al-Arab waterway, downstream of which is the Persian Gulf. The Shatt-Al-Arab and Basra waterways define the eastern and western borders of Basra, respectively. The city

7920-411: The city for Ali until the latter's death in 661. Basra's infrastructure was planned. Why Basra was chosen as a site for the new city remains unclear. The original site lay 15km from the Shatt al-Arab and thus lacked access to maritime trade and, more importantly, to fresh water. Additionally, neither historical texts nor archaeological finds indicate that there was much of an agricultural hinterland in

8040-459: The city's increased demand for foreign goods, especially from China and South Asia. Eastern Arabia, and Bahrain more specifically, became a principal centre of knowledge for hundreds of years stretching from the early days of Islam in the 6th century to the 18th century. Philosophers of eastern Arabia were highly esteemed, such as the 13th-century mystic, Sheikh Maitham Al Bahrani (d. 1299). The mosque of Sheikh Maitham and his tomb can be visited in

8160-412: The city, was kidnapped and killed on 2 August 2005. On 19 September 2005, two undercover British Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers were stopped by the Iraqi Police at a roadblock in Basra. The two soldiers were part of an SAS operation investigating allegations of insurgent infiltration into the Iraqi Police. When the police attempted to pull the soldiers out of their car, they opened fire on

8280-403: The city. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, most of them emigrated to abroad. The Tweig Synagogue in Basra, is currently abandoned. The Old Mosque of Basra is the first mosque in Islam outside the Arabian peninsula. Sinbad Island is located in the centre of Shatt Al-Arab, near the Miinaalmakl, and extends above the Bridge Khaled and is a tourist landmark. The Muhhmad Baquir Al-Sadr Bridge , at

8400-405: The conflict. A second revolt in 1999 led to mass executions by the Iraqi government in and around Basra. Subsequently, the Iraqi government deliberately neglected the city, and much commerce was diverted to Umm Qasr . These alleged abuses are to feature amongst the charges against the former regime to be considered by the Iraq Special Tribunal set up by the Iraq Interim Government following

8520-404: The country's economic capital. It has emerged as an important commercial and industrial center for the country, as the city is home to a large number of manufacturing industries ranging from petrochemical to water treatment . Basra is home to numerous tourist spots including mosques, palaces, churches, synagogues, parks and beaches. It has transformed itself into a modern bustling metropolis, with

8640-507: The crowd were purportedly killed. The British Ministry of Defence initially denied carrying out the operation, which was criticised by Iraqi officials, before subsequently admitting it and claiming the two soldiers would have been executed if they were not rescued. The British transferred control of Basra province to the Iraqi authorities in 2007, four-and-a-half years after the invasion. A BBC survey of local residents found that 86% thought

8760-559: The direction of the Hajar , are close to the sea ... Tuwwam has been dominated by a branch of the Quraysh ... From the time when Islam emerged in the 7th century until the early 16th century, the term Bahrain referred to the wider historical region of eastern Arabia stretching from Bubiyan Island to the Strait of Hormuz along the coast of the Persian Gulf . Eastern Arabians were amongst

8880-653: The elite Basra School of Grammar , the rival and sister school of the Kufa School of Grammar . Several outstanding intellectuals of the age were Basrans; Arab polymath Ibn al-Haytham , the Arab literary giant al-Jahiz , and the Sufi mystic Rabia Basri . The Zanj Rebellion by the agricultural slaves of the lowlands affected the area. In 871, the Zanj sacked Basra. In 923, the Qarmatians , an extremist Muslim sect, invaded and devastated Basra. From 945 to 1055,

9000-462: The end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna , in the city of Uruk . The demonym "Dilmun" is used to describe a type of axe and the ethnicity of an official in these tablets. Dilmun was also mentioned in two letters, recovered from Nippur , which were dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II (c. 1370 BC), a king of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon . These letters were from

9120-452: The end of the 9th century, and all 300,000 inhabitants were killed. It was 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the Persian Gulf near current day Hofuf . The researcher Abdulkhaliq Al Janbi argued in his book that Gerrha was most likely the ancient city of Hajar, located in modern-day Al-Ahsa , Saudi Arabia. Al Janbi's theory is the most widely accepted one by modern scholars, although there are some difficulties with this argument given that Al Ahsa

9240-727: The first Safavid ruler, Basra and the Moshasha became part of the Safavid Empire. This was the first time Basra had come under Safavid suzerainty. In 1524, following Ismail I's death, the local ruling dynasty of Basra, the Al-Mughamis, resumed effective control over the city. Twelve years later, in 1536, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555 , the Bedouin ruler of Basra, Rashid ibn Mughamis, acknowledged Suleiman

9360-463: The first millennium BC indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun; one of the sites discovered in Bahrain indicates that Sennacherib , king of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked the northeastern Persian Gulf and captured Bahrain. The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by

9480-505: The first to embrace Islam during the time of the Prophet Muhammad , who ruled eastern Arabia through one of his representatives, Al-Ala'a Al-Hadhrami . Eastern Arabia embraced Islam in 628 (the seventh year of Hijrah ; i.e. 7 AH ). During the time of Umar I, a companion of Muhammad, Abu Hurairah was the governor of eastern Arabia. Umar I also appointed Uthman ibn Abi al-As , another companion of Muhammad, as governor of

9600-474: The gods to live forever. Thorkild Jacobsen 's translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it " Mount Dilmun " and a “faraway, half-mythical place”. Dilmun is also described in the epic story of Enki and Ninhursag as the site at which the Creation occurred. Enki says to Ninhursag: For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench

9720-497: The help of Kufans who Mukhtar exiled. Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan reconquered Basra in 691, and Basra remained loyal to his governor al-Hajjaj during Ibn Ashʿath's mutiny (699–702). However, Basra did support the rebellion of Yazid ibn al-Muhallab against Yazid II during the 720s. In the late 740s, Basra fell to as-Saffah of the Abbasid Caliphate . During the time of the Abbasids, Basra became an intellectual center and home to

9840-515: The highest minimum temperatures on any given day, only outshone by Khasab , Oman and Death Valley , United States . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Basra was −4.7 °C (23.5 °F) on 22 January 1964. The city of Basra was once well known for its agriculture, but that has since altered due to rising temperatures, increased water salinity , and desertification . Basra Metropolitan Region comprises three towns—Basra city proper, Al-ʿAshar, and Al-Maʿqil—and several villages. In Basra

9960-476: The hottest cities in Iraq, with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 50 °C (122 °F). The hottest recorded temperature in Basra is 53.9°C. A major industrial center of Iraq, the majority of the city's population are Shi'ite Muslim Arabs . The city was built in 636. It played an important role as a regional hub of trade and commerce in the Islamic Golden Age . Historically, Basra is one of

10080-543: The islands and in Hasa and Qatif. Nasiri Khusru, who visited Hasa in 1051, recounted that these estates were cultivated by some thirty thousand Ethiopian slaves. He mentions that the people of Hasa were exempt from taxes. Those impoverished or in debt could obtain a loan until they put their affairs in order. No interest was taken on loans, and token lead money was used for all local transactions. Basra Basra ( Arabic : ٱلْبَصْرَة , romanized :  al-Baṣrah )

10200-662: The islands. From the 3rd century BC to arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Eastern Arabia was controlled by two other Iranian dynasties: the Parthians and the Sasanians . By about 250 BC, the Seleucids lost their territories to the Parthians, an Iranian tribe from Central Asia . The Parthian Empire brought the Persian Gulf under their control and extended their influence as far as Oman. Because they needed to control

10320-497: The king of Babylon. The name "Dilmun" fell from use after the collapse of Neo-Babylon in 538 BC. It is not certain what happened to the civilization itself; discoveries of ruins under the Persian Gulf may be of Dilmun. There is both literary and archaeological evidence of extensive trade between Ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilization (which most scholars identify with Meluhha ). Impressions of clay seals from

10440-471: The land while most of the financing was done by private investors. The result of these investments was a massive irrigation system covering some 57,000 hectares between the Shatt al-Arab and the now-dry western channel of the Tigris. This system was first reported in 962 , when just 8,000 hectares of it remained in use, for the cultivation of date palms , while the rest had become desert. This system consists of

10560-774: The late 900s, the city of Basra was entirely relocated, with the old site being abandoned and a new one developing on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab, where it has remained ever since. The Sufyanids held Basra until Yazid I 's death in 683. The Sufyanids' first governor was Umayyad ʿAbdullah, a renowned military leader, commanding fealty and financial demands from Karballah, but poor governor. In 664, Mu'awiya I replaced him with Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan , often called "ibn Abihi" ("son of his own father"), who became infamous for his draconian rules regarding public order. On Ziyad's death in 673, his son ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad became governor. In 680, Yazid I ordered ʿUbayd Allah to keep order in Kufa as

10680-607: The local ruler of Zakiya (near Basra), the Ottomans sent a force to Basra. This resulted in tighter (but still, nominal) Ottoman control over Basra. In 1523, the Portuguese under the command of António Tenreiro crossed from Aleppo to Basra. Nuno da Cunha took Basra in 1529. In 1550, the local Kingdom of Basra and tribal rulers trusted the Portuguese against the Ottomans, from then on the Portuguese threatened to invoke an invasion and conquest of Basra several times. From 1595

10800-447: The oases of al-Qatif and Hadjar (modern Al-Aḥsā). It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the archipelago in the Gulf of Bahrain , but it was probably after the 15th century. Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are instead generally taken to be the bay east and west of the coast, the seas north and south of the island, or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground. In addition to wells, there are places in

10920-558: The officers, killing two. The SAS soldiers attempted to escape before being beaten and arrested by the police, who took them to the Al Jameat Police Station. British forces subsequently identified the location of the two soldiers and carried out a rescue mission , storming the police station and transporting them to a safe location. A civilian crowd gathered around the rescue force during the incident and attacked it; three British soldiers were injured and two members of

11040-562: The other evidence of Dilmun being an influential trading center. What the commerce consisted of is less known; timber and precious woods, ivory , lapis lazuli , gold , luxury goods such as carnelian and glazed stone beads, pearls from the Persian Gulf, and shell and bone inlays were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for silver , tin , woolen textiles, olive oil and grains. Copper ingots from Oman and bitumen , which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic fowl, major products of

11160-490: The outskirts of Manama , near the district of Mahooz . At the end of the 3rd Hijri century, Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi led the Qarmatian Revolution , a rebellion by a messianic Ismaili sect originating in Kufa in present-day Iraq. Al-Jannabi took over the city of Hajr , Bahrain's capital at that time, and Al-Aḥsā, which he made the capital of his republic. Once in control of the state, he sought to create

11280-597: The ports, from which the fictional Sinbad the Sailor journeyed. During the Islamic era, the city expanded rapidly. It was occupied by the Safavid , from 1697 to 1701. Basra came under Portuguese control , from 1526 to 1668. The city remained under the administration of the Ottoman Empire, as part of Basra vilayet , which was populated mainly by Shi'ite Muslims and flourished as a commercial and trade center. During

11400-464: The presence of British forces since 2003 had had an overall negative effect on the province. Major-General Abdul Jalil Khalaf was appointed Police Chief by the central government with the task of taking on the militias. He was outspoken against the targeting of women by the militias. Talking to the BBC, he said that his determination to tackle the militia had led to almost daily assassination attempts. This

11520-409: The proximity to the marshy Persian Gulf. An all-time high temperature was recorded on 22 July 2016, when daytime readings soared to 53.9 °C (129.0 °F), which is the highest temperature that has ever been recorded in Iraq. This is one of the hottest temperatures ever measured on the planet. The following night, the night time low temperature was 38.8 °C (101.8 °F), which was one of

11640-464: The region until the late 9th century. The dioceses of Beth Qatraye did not form an ecclesiastical province , except for a short period during the mid-to-late 7th century. They were instead subject to the Metropolitanate of Fars . Hafit { Tuwwam } abounds in palm trees; it lies in the direction of Hajar { Al-Aḥsā }, and the mosque is in the markets ... Dibba and Julfar , both in

11760-409: The result was the ridges that remain today. This represents an enormous amount of work: H.S. Nelson calculated that 45 million tons of earth were moved in total, and with his extremely high estimate of one man moving two tons of soil per day, this would have taken a decade of strenuous work by 25,000 men. Ultimately, Basra's irrigation canals were unsustainable, because they were built at too little of

11880-567: The scale he envisaged, Tylos was very much part of the Hellenised world: the language of the upper classes was Greek (although Aramaic was in everyday use), while Zeus was worshipped in the form of the Arabian sun-god Shams . Tylos even became the site of Greek athletic contests. The name Tylos is thought to be a Hellenisation of the Semitic "Tilmun" (from Dilmun). The term "Tylos"

12000-624: The scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. The British forces, led by the 7th Armoured Brigade , captured the city on 6 April 2003. This city was the first stop for the United States and the United Kingdom during the invasion of Iraq . On 21 April 2004, a series of bomb blasts ripped through the city, killing 74 people. The Multi-National Division (South-East) , under British command,

12120-594: The sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity. An alternate theory offered by al-Hasa was that the two seas were the Great Green Ocean and a peaceful lake on the mainland; still another provided by al-Jawahari is that the more formal name Bahri (lit. “belonging to the sea”) would have been misunderstood and so was opted against. The term "Gulf Arab" or " Khaleeji " refers, geographically, to inhabitants of eastern Arabia. However, today

12240-657: The similarity in the words "Tylos" and "Tyre" has been commented upon. Herodotus 's account (written c. 430 BC) refers to Phoenicians inhabiting the shores of the Persian Gulf: According to the Persians , who are best informed in history, the Phoenicians began the quarrel. These people, who had formerly dwelt in the far east and then to the shores of the Erythraean Sea , having migrated to

12360-690: The term is often applied to the inhabitants of the GCC countries in the Arabian Peninsula . "Khaleeji" has evolved into a socio-political regional identity that distinguished the GCC inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula from the wider Arab world building on the perceived cultural homogeneity within the Gulf states and their shared history. The inhabitants of Eastern Arabia's Gulf coast share similar cultures and music styles, such as fijiri , sawt and liwa . The most noticeable cultural trait of Eastern Arabia's Gulf Arabs

12480-560: The thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives. Ninlil , the Sumerian goddess of air and southerly winds, had her home in Dilmun. However, in the early epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta , the main events, which center on Enmerkar 's construction of the ziggurats in Uruk and Eridu , are described as taking place in a world "before Dilmun had yet been settled". Gerrha

12600-416: The throat of an ostrich ." Nevertheless, Basra overcame these natural disadvantages and rapidly grew into the second-largest city in Iraq, if not the entire Islamic world. Its role as a military encampment meant that the soldiers had to be fed, and since those soldiers were receiving government salaries, they had money to spend. Thus, both the government and private entrepreneurs invested heavily in developing

12720-413: The town, and the Wajihids were once again defeated. Yusuf ibn Wajih was succeeded by his son Muhammad, who was in term followed by his brother 'Umar. Wajihid rule was suddenly brought to an end in around 962 when 'Umar was killed by Nafi', a longtime mawlā of the dynasty. Nafi' then attempted to rule in 'Umar's place, and for the next several years Oman entered a period of anarchy, which ended only with

12840-522: The vast majority of the population are ethnic Arabs of the Adnanite or the Qahtanite tribes. The tribes located in Basra include Bani Malik , Al-shwelat , Suwa'id , Al-bo Mohammed , Al-Badr , Al-Ubadi , Ruba'ah Sayyid tribes (descendants of Muhammad) and other Marsh Arabs tribes. There are also Feyli Kurds living in the eastern side of the city, they are mainly merchants. In addition to

12960-401: Was 101,535 in 1947, and reached 219,167 in 1957. The University of Basrah was founded in 1964. By 1977, the population had risen to a peak population of some 1.5 million. The population declined during the Iran–Iraq War , being under 900,000 in the late 1980s, possibly reaching a low point of just over 400,000 during the worst of the war. The city was repeatedly shelled by Iran and

13080-410: Was a major center for the 1991 and 1999 uprisings in Iraq . Basra was the first city to be occupied by the coalition forces, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Since the end of the war, Basra's prosperity has gathered numerous population. Today Basra's majority is of Arab Shi'ite Muslims , with Sunni Muslims , Arab Christians and Afro-Iraqis as minority. Iraq's main port city , Basra is known as

13200-460: Was a place where people moved around, settled and married unconcerned by national borders. The people of Eastern Arabia shared a culture based on the sea , as seafaring peoples . Nowadays, Eastern Arabia is a part of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf . The modern-day states of Bahrain , Iraq , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates are the most commonly listed Gulf Arab states . Most of Saudi Arabia

13320-520: Was also famous for exporting engraved walking canes popular in Babylon . It is not known whether Bahrain was part of the Seleucid Empire , although the archaeological site at Qalat Al Bahrain has been proposed as a Seleucid base in the Persian Gulf. Alexander had planned to settle the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf with Greek colonists, and although it is not clear that this happened on

13440-483: Was an ancient city of Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf . More accurately, the ancient city of Gerrha has been determined to have existed near or under the present fort of Uqair , 80 kilometres (50 mi) northeast of Al-Aḥsā in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia . This site was first proposed by R E Cheesman in 1924. Gerrha and Uqair are archaeological sites on the eastern coast of

13560-529: Was commonly used for the archipelago; Ptolemy 's Geographia when the inhabitants are referred to as "Thilouanoi" ("inhabitants of Tylos"). Some place names in Bahrain go back to the Tylos era; for instance, the residential suburb of Arad, located in Muharraq , is believed to originate from "Arados", the ancient Greek name for the island of Muharraq . The Greek historians Herodotus and Strabo both believed

13680-692: Was engaged in foreign internal defense missions in Basra Governorate and surrounding areas during this time. Political groups centered in Basra were reported to have close links with political parties already in power in the Iraqi government , despite opposition from Iraqi Sunnis and the Kurds . January 2005 elections saw several radical politicians gain office, supported by religious parties. American journalist Steven Vincent , who had been researching and reporting on corruption and militia activity in

13800-591: Was governor of Basra and built a library of 15,000 books. The Oghuz Turk Tughril Beg was the leader of the Seljuks, who expelled the Shiite Buyid dynasty. He was the first Seljuk ruler to style himself Sultan and Protector of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Great Friday Mosque was constructed in Basra. In 1122, Imad ad-Din Zengi received Basra as a fief. In 1126, Zengi suppressed a revolt and in 1129, Dabis looted

13920-504: Was referred to by the ancient Greeks as "Tylos" ( Ancient Greek : Τύλος ) and was known for its pearls. From the 6th to 3rd century BC Bahrain was part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire . The Greek admiral Nearchus is believed to have been the first of Alexander's commanders to visit the island, and he found a verdant land that was part of a wide trading network. He recorded: “In the island of Tylos, situated in

14040-491: Was scheduled to host the 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup tournament in Basra Sports City , a newly built multi-use sports complex. The tournament was shifted to Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , after concerns over preparations and security. Iraq was also due to host the 2013 tournament, but that was moved to Bahrain. At least 10 demonstrators died as they protested against the lack of clean drinking water and electrical power in

14160-704: Was taken as sign that he was serious in opposing the militias. In March 2008, the Iraqi Army launched a major offensive, code-named Charge of the White Knights ( Saulat al-Fursan ), aimed at forcing the Mahdi Army out of Basra. The assault was planned by General Mohan Furaiji and approved by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki . In April 2008, following the failure to disarm militant groups, both Major-General Abdul Jalil Khalaf and General Mohan Furaiji were removed from their positions in Basra. Basra

14280-515: Was the site of many fierce battles, such as Operation Ramadan (1982) and the Siege of Basra (1987). After the war, Saddam erected 99 memorial statues to Iraqi military officers killed during the war along the bank of the Shatt-al-Arab river, all pointing their fingers towards Iran. After the 1991 Gulf War a rebellion against Saddam erupted in Basra. The widespread revolt was against

14400-587: Was victorious; Husayn and his followers were killed and their heads were sent to Yazid as proof. Ibn al-Harith spent his year in office trying to put down Nafi' ibn al-Azraq's Kharijite uprising in Khuzestan . In 685, Ibn al-Zubayr, requiring a practical ruler, appointed Umar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar Finally, Ibn al-Zubayr appointed his own brother Mus'ab. In 686, the revolutionary al-Mukhtar led an insurrection at Kufa, and put an end to ʿUbaydullah ibn Ziyad near Mosul . In 687, Musʿab defeated al-Mukhtar with

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