View source for Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain

{{infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain
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| date              = 23 July 1783{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
| place             = [[Bahrain]]
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| territory         = 
| result            = [[Utub]] victory
* Al Khalifa annexes Bahrain into its sheikhdom
| status            = 
| combatant1        = {{flagicon image|Zand_Dynasty_flag.svg}} [[Zand dynasty|al-Madhkur's realm]]
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Bahrain|old}} Sheikhdom of [[Zubarah]]<br/>[[File:Flag of Kuwait Al-Sulami 1746-1871.svg|23px|border]] [[Sheikhdom of Kuwait]]

*[[Utub]]s and other allied tribes of Zubarah
'''Supported by:'''<br>
[[Al-Dhafeer]]
| combatant3        = 
| commander1        = {{flagicon image|Zand_Dynasty_flag.svg}} [[Nasr Al-Madhkur]]<br>{{flagicon image|Zand_Dynasty_flag.svg}} Madan Al-Jidhafsi{{KIA}}<ref>انوار البدرين للشيخ علي بن حسن البلادي البحراني مات في الحرب</ref><br/>{{flagicon image|Zand_Dynasty_flag.svg}} Sayed Majed Al-Jidhafsi{{MIA}}<ref>عقد اللآل في تاريخ أوال</ref>
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Bahrain|old}} [[Ahmed bin Muhammad Al Khalifa|Ahmad Al Khalifa]]<br/>[[File:Flag of Kuwait Al-Sulami 1746-1871.svg|23px|border]] [[Abdullah I Al-Sabah]]<ref>[http://www.neelwafurat.com/locate.aspx?mode=1&search=author1&entry=%CC%E1%C7%E1%20%CE%C7%E1%CF%20%C7%E1%E5%C7%D1%E6%E4%20%C7%E1%C3%E4 Al-Haroon, Jalal ibn Khalid (2010). History of the Huwala and Utubs] p 147-150</ref>
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| casualties1       = Heavy{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}
| casualties2       = Unknown{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}
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}}
{{History of Bahrain}}
The '''Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain''' led to the end of Persian rule in Bahrain and the annexation of Bahrain by the Arabs.

==Background==
After the fall of the Safavid dynasty, Bahrain went through a period of anarchy, dismay, and self-rule in villages which made the country vulnerable to foreign invasions. Utub forces often attacked the island during this phase, which made the spiritual leader of Bahrain, Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdullah Al Majed, use the [[Huwala]] to combat the Utubs' attacks. These attacks continued throughout the early 18th century until the Utubs launched a full-scale invasion of the island and established a government loyal to the Imam of [[Oman]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jasblog.com/wp/?p=4452|title=ســنــوات الــجــريــش|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213012018/http://www.jasblog.com/wp/?p=4452|archive-date=13 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The Utubs were defeated and expelled by the Huwala forces loyal to Bahrain's spiritual leader who established a government headed by Sheikh Jabara Al-Holi (also known as Jubayr al-Holi). The Persian Afsharids led by former Safavid general [[Nader Shah]] invaded the island in 1737 and deposed Sheikh Jabara. Persian rule continued for 46 more years, with brief interruptions, until the Utubs finally took over the island in 1783.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jasblog.com/wp/?p=2900|title=ســنــوات الــجــريــش|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322180751/http://www.jasblog.com/wp/?p=2900|archive-date=22 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Civil war and invasion==
Sayid Majed ibn Sayid Ahmad Al-Jidhafsi was Bahrain's [[Lieutenant governor|vice governor]] and the headman of [[Jidhafs]] who often clashed with his political nemesis, Ahmad ibn Muhammad Al-Biladi, the headman of the semi-autonomous village of Bilad Al-Qadeem. This rivalry reached its climax when an argument between the [[Al Khalifa]]s who came to the island of [[Sitra]] to buy some supplies and a merchant escalated into a shoot out which resulted in the deaths of numerous Al Khalifas. Those who remained went back to Zubarah and informed their clan about the incident which caused outrage between the Utubs, causing them to send a naval fleet to Sitra with the intention of avenging their kins' deaths. After a disproportionate number of Sitra inhabitants were killed as a result of the rampage, the Utubs returned to Zubarah.<ref>منتظم الدرين في أعيان الأحساء والقطيف والبحرين</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Al Tajir |first=Mohammed Ali |year=1994 |orig-year=<!--Unknown, but author died in 1967 and the book doesn't expand beyond the 1920s-->|editor1-last=Bashmi |editor1-first=Ibrahim |script-title=ar:عقد اللآل في تاريخ أوال |trans-title=The string of pearls in the history of Awal |language=ar |publisher=[[Al Ayam (Bahrain)|Al Ayam Foundation for Press, Printing and Publishing]]}}</ref>

After news of the incident reached Bahrain's governor, Nasr Al-Madhkoor, he ordered a naval attack on Zubarah and sent numerous warships filled with well-equipped soldiers to fulfill this mission. However, the Utubs' spies infiltrated Al-Madhkoor's inner circle and as a result the Utubs crushed Al-Madhkoor's navy after plans of the attack reached them which resulted in a decisive Utub victory. Al-Madhkoor then headed to Iran to ask the troubled government, which was already suffering from its own internal issues, for help which did not arrive because of that country's bad conditions. Subsequently, Sayid Majed Al-Jidhafsi, who was substituting for Al-Madhkoor, personally asked the Al Khalifas and their allies to invade the Bahrain archipelago and promised them material aid and victory, should they do so. This action proved to have a lasting effect on the county and a civil war between the loyalist forces led by Sayid Majid Al-Jidhafsi and Madan Al-Jidhafsi, the Iranian governor's vizier and the rebels led by Ahmad Al-Biladi ensued as a result. The loyalists ultimately won the civil war.<ref>ممن ترجم له كذلك، العلامة أحمد بن زين الدين الأحسائي في كتابه (جوامع الكلم) وقد ترجم له أيضا الشيخ علي بن الشيخ حسن البلادي البحراني (1274هـ - 1340هـ) في كتابه (أنوار البدرين).</ref>

However, by this time, the Al Khalifas and other Utubs had just entered the country, killed the vizier and successfully captured the islands of Bahrain from [[Nasr Al-Madhkur]]. The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain ever since. The invasion was led by [[Ahmed bin Muhammad Al Khalifa]], leading to him being named Ahmed Al Fateh ("Ahmed the Conqueror").

The Al Khalifa were supported by a naval fleet from [[Kuwait]] and several [[Bedouin]] clans based in Zubara in its invasion of Bahrain.  These clans included the, Al-Fadhil, Al-Buainain, Al-Romaihi, Al-Kuwari, Al-Noaimi, Al-Bin Ali, Al-Jalahma, Al-Musalem, Al-Mannai, and other families and tribes who later settled in the island.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Background Notes: Mideast, March, 2011|year=2011|publisher=US State Department|isbn=978-1-59243-126-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLRoWtwJnZQC}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of Bahrain (1783–1971)]]
* [[Qatari–Bahraini War]]
* [[Abdullah I Al-Sabah]]
* [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]]
* [[Bani Utbah]]
* [[List of Sunni Muslim dynasties]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Bahrain topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1782-83 unrest in Bahrain}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1783]]
[[Category:Military history of Bahrain]]
[[Category:Battles involving Kuwait]]
[[Category:Invasions of Bahrain]]
[[Category:1783 in Bahrain|Al Khalifa invasion]]
[[Category:Military history of the Zand dynasty]]
[[Category:1780s in Iran]]