Omegle chat med fremmede!

[CypheroN]

Stranger: are you from houston tx ?

You: no

Stranger: suck ass !!!

[Danielzu]

Stranger: I was locked for 24 years in a cellar in austria

You: so u have met my uncle?

[CypheroN]

Snakka en stund med en finsk jente nå, 19 (sier hun i hvert fall) og fikk msn'en woho. håper det er sant da.

[Sameboe]

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You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

Stranger: I am God. Confide in me your secrets.

You: hi

You: If your God, then who I'm I?

Stranger: Clearly, you're not God.

You: I'am the real God, and hates copycats like you!

Stranger: D:

Stranger: IMPOSTERRRRR~

Stranger: YOU'RE GOING TO HELL. AND CHILLING WITH SATAN.

Stranger: BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT COOL ENOUGH TO CHILL WITH ME IN HEAVEN.

You: No, you are satan

Stranger: D:

Stranger: You're satan!

You: Who gave you the privelige of internett Satan!

Stranger: WHO GAVE YOU THE PRIVILEGE OF INTERNET GOD?

You: Me ;D

Stranger: YOU SUCK. D:

You: You suck Satan, go and play with the bad guys in Hell!

Stranger: NO WAY. BECAUSE I'M GOD. I PLAY WITH THE COOL KIDS IN HEAVEN.

You: No, copycat...You are Satan!

Stranger: I'M NO COPYCAT. D:

You: Jeg kan norsk, det kan ikke du

You: And that's why I'm God

Stranger: DANISH?

You: No!

You: Norwegian

Stranger: OH. I KNEW THAT. REALLY.

You: No, you thought it was Danish...Denmark sucks!

Stranger: D:

Stranger: HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I THOUGHT?

Stranger: I THOUGHT IT WAS DANISH.

Stranger: I MEAN.

Stranger: ;AKDJFL;KAJSDF

Stranger: NORWEGIAN.

Stranger: A;SKDJF;LAKSJDF

Stranger: I JUST SCREWED MYSELF UP. D:

You: Because I'm God!

Stranger: NO. YOU'RE SATAN. YOU MADE ME SCREW UP WHAT I WAS GOING TO TYPE.

Stranger: CURSESSSS~

You: I'm God!

Stranger: LIAR.

Stranger: YOU KNOW. LIARS GET SENT TO HELL.

Stranger: BUT YOU'RE ALREADY THERE BECAUSE YOU'RE SATAN.

You: Not God!

You: I don't want to move in with you in Hell Satan!

Stranger: YOU JUST ADMITTED YOU'RE NOT GOD?!

You: No?

Stranger: Stranger: (You're) Not God!

You: Hold kjeft Satan....Gud du er dum!

Stranger: ... TOTALLY. YEAH. DUDE. YEAH.

[Jonas.]

Er skikkelig gøy å ta den klassiske:

 

Stranger: asl?

You: Excuse me?

Stranger: Age, sex, location?

You: 19, Yes please, Norway.

Stranger: ROFL!

 

HAHAHAHAHHAHA!! :D:D:D:D

 

Jævlig bra!

 

 

Edit: Har dratt den nå noen ganger, med litt vekslende tilbakemldinger, tydeligvis en del som har hørt den før

Endret 23. april 2009 av Jonas!

[CypheroN]

Stranger: http://www.sexy-lena.com/?uid=613279 rate my site plz im trying to get 1000 hits thanks lol x

Stranger: checkme site out lol x

You: hmm

You: i know that site

You: it sucks, really

You: try to get laid irl plx

Your conversational partner has disconnected.

[KKake]

Nice side. Gøy å kødde

[CypheroN]

Fant denne i Omegle-tråden:

 

Stranger: Är du norrman

You: Japp

You: Du er svensk?

Stranger: Va fan gör du uppe såhär sent?

Stranger: Ja

Stranger: haha

Stranger: Jag trodde alla norrmän somnade vid 21:30

 

lol

 

Jeg er så glad jeg fikk msnen hennes.. ellers ville jeg angret villt

Cam show ?

fikk se bilde nå

[CypheroN]

Stranger: hi

You: HELLO.

Stranger: l am brasilian

You: Cool

You: Brazil is a cool country

Stranger: no

You: No, okay.

 

LOL.

[Konnis]

You: hEy

Stranger: øhøhøhø

Stranger: Hay

You: norsk?

Stranger: Neeej (A)

You: svensk?

You: eller dansk?

You: eller... norsk?

Stranger: Jeg er somalisk

Stranger: jeg trenger green card

You: hahaha

Stranger: marry me?

You: er du fra diskusjon.no?

Stranger: HELVETE xD

You: HAHA

Stranger: Jeg heter ikke douchbag

You: hvilken bruker?

Stranger: Nononononoo

You: Konnis her ass

Stranger: :'(

You: fett dette da

You: hvor stor er sjansen liksom

You: post i tråden!

Stranger: 2/1847 pålogget?

Stranger: Skal det ^^

Endret 23. april 2009 av Konnis

[douchebag]

omgomgomgomg

 

Stranger: hEy

You: øhøhøhø

You: Hay

Stranger: norsk?

You: Neeej (A)

Stranger: svensk?

Stranger: eller dansk?

Stranger: eller... norsk?

You: Jeg er somalisk

You: jeg trenger green card

You: marry me?

Stranger: hahaha

Stranger: er du fra diskusjon.no?

You: HELVETE xD

Stranger: HAHA

You: Jeg heter ikke douchbag

Stranger: hvilken bruker?

You: Nononononoo

Stranger: Konnis her ass

You: :'(

Stranger: fett dette da

Stranger: hvor stor er sjansen liksom

Stranger: post i tråden!

You: 2/1847 pålogget?

You: Skal det ^^

[CypheroN]

Sykt!

[Batnobbit]

Merker at det er på tide med kveld.

 

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Looking for someone you can chat with. Hang on.

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaydihoooooo

Stranger: Sup fagget?

You: Dont call me a faggot, you stupid bitch

You: I fuck you up asshole

You: Want to fight?

You: Want to play a fucking game?

You: Well

Stranger: Dont call me a stupid bitch faggot.

Stranger: Yea lets play a fucking game.

You: Say hello to my little friend motherfucker

Stranger: the one where you suck my dick.

You: And i dont mean my penis

You: That one is a huge motherfucker

You: Just ask your fucking mom

You: Bitch

Stranger: Are you foriegn?

Stranger: Like, a raghead er some shit.

You: No, jesus christ I'm eleven

Stranger: HALALALALALALA ALAH FTW

Stranger: Your eleven?

You: Seven eleven

You: Poooooow

Stranger: Wow your really fucking gay.

You: Not more than your father

You: Dickwad

Stranger: I stick my dick up your mums vagina and i maek caek miz al day long.

Stranger: She like o bby gime moar caek i lub it.

Stranger: So i sey betty crocker up in ya hole.

You: Well, my mom is a slut

Stranger: And sh ebe all like smells like cookies

Stranger: And nim like your vag smell like fish bitch

You: So what the fuck did you expect?

Stranger: trout fish motherfucker

Stranger: And then shes like is et making you hungry

Stranger: and im liek

Stranger: fuck na

Stranger: that shits nasty

You: And then i was like, fuck you

You: Yeah

Stranger: ans thats why you smell like fish 94.33 percent of your life.

You: Two people can play this game

Stranger: yep me and you i have the dick and you suck it

You: Well, I'll be damned

You: That sounds like a date to me

Stranger: Okay

You: =D<3

Stranger: dont make my abnormally large peen smell like fish thou

Stranger: thats gross

Stranger: you nasty cunt

You: Hihih, oh stop it knnniiis

Stranger: ...what

Stranger: lolol you nigger

You: WHAT HE SAID!?!?!?!

You: I aint no nigger

Stranger: im black below the wasit and above my knees

Stranger: Yea you are

You: Im a white cracker

Stranger: your Jamal imanigger

Stranger: Sup jamal?

You: No, fucking douchebag

Stranger: Hows being black?

Stranger: Shitty?

Stranger: yea i know.

You: You are like, a fucking mexican cunt

Stranger: Being black sucks cock.

Stranger: You are like a black fucking nigger.

Stranger: Oh wait

Stranger: you are

Stranger: roflroflrofl your silly jamal <3 but its k i still lub you :3

You: No you became boring, you aren't just that fun

You: You failed in life

You: Deal with it

You have disconnected.

[Danielzu]

I love this site!

 

Stranger: hey

You: Hey stranger

Stranger: whats up

You: Two and a half men

Stranger: love that show

Stranger: where u from

You: that show loves you too(it's true)

[douchebag]

Jeg kom med noe automatiskegreier tenker jeg... :o

 

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You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

Stranger: Hey My Name Is Kieran, im looking for some guys 2 have some Fun With ;D - [email protected] - Add me

Your conversational partner has disconnected.

[CypheroN]

Den fikk jeg i stad og.

[Danielzu]

hihi. Dette er jo moro

 

Stranger: hey

You: Hey stranger

Stranger: whats up

You: Two and a half men

Stranger: love that show

Stranger: where u from

You: that show loves you too(it's true)

You: Europe

Stranger: haha europe

Stranger: me too

You: we are better then asia, yey us

Stranger: haha

Stranger: it's true

You: i only speak the truth

You: life is better that way

Stranger: true

You: i hate this next question but: gender?

Stranger: its a must ask question female ...U?

You: the other one

You: (no,not donkey)

Stranger: haha kk

Stranger: where in europe are u ?

You: æ

Stranger: ?

You: take one hard guess

Stranger: spain

Stranger: england

You: i used a letter who is only used in one country(allthough in variation in three more)

Not spain or UK

Stranger: germany

You: no dice

You: but it's close, go north form germany

Stranger: norway

You: pretty good guess.

Stranger: is it right no

You: You should be proud!

You: ohC

You: ofC*

Stranger: i did'nt google it at ALL!

haha

You: and i'm guessing by ur spelling(wich is exelent) ur English.. Welsh perhaps?

You: U cheat

Stranger: ha irish

You: damn

Stranger: good guess though

You: so close,

Stranger: extermly

You: I worked with an irish-man last year

Stranger: your english is brilliant

Stranger: cool

You: good guy, from Cork i belive

Stranger: snap!

You: U a ''corkyian''?

Stranger: i was born there

You: i think this is faith

[Joakim Skurk]

Hah. Rakk ikke skrive noe.

 

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

Stranger: asl

Stranger: now

Stranger: bitch

Stranger: hi!

Stranger: how are you!?

Stranger: Im fine

Stranger: thanks for asking

Stranger: cool

Stranger: oooh, i know hahah

Stranger: Na-ah

Stranger: she didnt say that to you!

Stranger: ur a lyer

Stranger: aah, bff i love how we always talk!

Your conversational partner has disconnected.

[Danielzu]

You: ho

Stranger: yo

Stranger: camila?

You: Arne?

Your conversational partner has disconnected.

[Obi von Knobi]

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You: hey

Stranger: hey

You: did you know that:

 

You: The Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين‎, transliteration: Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn, literally: Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway, which officially opened on 25 November 1986. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.Contents [hide]

1 History

1.1 Pre-Islamic

1.2 Islamic conversion

1.3 Origin of the Bani Utbah Tribe

1.4 1783: rising power of Bani Utbah

2 Al Khalifa ascendancy to Bahrain and their treaties with the British

2.1 Discovery of petroleum

3 Politics

4 Governorates

5 Economy

6 Geography

7 Climate

7.1 Climate charts

8 Religion and demographics

9 Culture

9.1 Language and religion

9.2 Formula One and other motorsports events

9.3 Holidays

10 Military

11 Education

12 Tourism

13 Gallery

14 See also

15 External links

16 References

 

 

History

Main article: History of Bahrain

 

Pre-Islamic

 

Asia in 600 AD, showing the Sassanid Empire before the Arab conquest.

 

Bahrain is the Arabic term for "two seas", referring to the freshwater springs that are found within the salty seas surrounding it. Bahrain has been inhabited since ancient times. Its strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and the Arabs, under whom the island became Islamic. Bahrain may have been associated with Dilmun which is mentioned by Mesopotamian civilizations.[6] During its history it was called by different names such as Awal, then Mishmahig, when it was a part of the Persian Empire. From the 3rd to 6th century BC, Bahrain was included in Persian Empire by Achaemenians, an Iranian dynasty.[7] From the 3rd century BC to the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Bahrain was controlled by two other Iranian dynasties of Parthians and Sassanids. By about 250 BC, the Parthian dynasty brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman. Because they needed to control the Persian Gulf trade route, the Parthians established garrisons in the southern coast of Persian Gulf.[8] In the 3rd century AD, the Sasanids succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later. Ardashir, the first ruler of the Iranian Sassanian Dynasty marched forward on Oman and Bahrain, and defeated Sanatruq.[9] At this time, Bahrain incorporated the southern Sassanid province covering the Persian Gulf's southern shore plus the archipelago of Bahrain.[10] The southern province of the Sassanid empire was subdivided into the three districts of Haggar (now al-Hafuf province, Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir (now al-Qatif province, Saudi Arabia), and Msihmahig (Which in Middle-Persian/Pahlavi means "ewe-fish").[11] Until Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD, it was a center of Nestorian Christianity.[12] Early Islamic sources describe it as being inhabited by members of the Abdul Qays, Tamim, and Bakr tribes, worshiping the idol Awal.

 

Islamic conversion

 

In 899 AD, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, seized the country and sought to create a utopian society based on reason and the distribution of all property evenly among the initiates. The Qarmatians caused disruption throughout the Islamic world; they collected tribute from the caliph in Baghdad, and in 930 AD sacked Mecca and Medina, bringing the sacred Black Stone back to their base in Ahsa, in medieval Bahrain where it was held to ransom. According to the historian Al-Juwayni, the Stone was returned twenty-two years later, in 951, under mysterious circumstances; wrapped in a sack, it was thrown into the Friday Mosque of Kufa accompanied by a note saying "By command we took it, and by command we have brought it back." The Black Stone's abduction and removal caused further damage, breaking the stone into seven pieces.[13][14][15]

 

The Qarmatians were defeated in 976 AD by the Abbasids.[16] The final end of the Qarmatians came at the hand of the Arab Uyunid dynasty of al-Hasa, who took over the entire Bahrain region in 1076.[17] They controlled the Bahrain islands until 1235, when the islands were briefly occupied by the ruler of Fars. In 1253, the bedouin Usfurids brought down the Uyunid dynasty and gained control over eastern Arabia, including the islands of Bahrain. In 1330, the islands became tributary to the rulers of Hormuz,[18] though locally the islands were controlled by the Shi'ite Jarwanid dynasty of Qatif.[19] Until the late Middle Ages, "Bahrain" referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain that included Ahsa, Qatif (both now within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia) and the Awal Islands (now the Bahrain Islands). The region stretched from Basrah to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn "Bahrayn Province". The exact date at which the term "Bahrain" began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown.[20] In the mid-15th century, the islands came under the rule of the Jabrids, a bedouin dynasty that was also based in al-Ahsa and ruled most of eastern Arabia. The Portuguese invaded Bahrain in 1521 in alliance with Hormuz, seizing it from the Jabrid ruler Migrin ibn Zamil, who was killed in battle. Portuguese rule lasted for nearly 80 years, during which they depended mostly on Sunni Persian governors.[21] The Portuguese were expelled from the islands in 1602 by Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, who instituted Shi'ism as the official religion in Bahrain.[22] The Iranian rulers retained sovereignty over the islands, with some interruptions, for nearly two centuries. For most of that period, they resorted to governing Bahrain indirectly, either through Hormuz or through local Sunni Arab clans, such as the Huwala.[21][23][24] During this period, the islands suffered two serious invasions by the Ibadhis of Oman in 1717 and 1738.[25][26] In 1753, the Huwala clan of Al Madhkur invaded Bahrain on behalf of the Iranians, restoring direct Iranian rule.[27]

 

Origin of the Bani Utbah Tribe

 

This article is part of the series on:

 

History of Bahrain

Ancient Bahrain

Dilmun

Tylos and Mishmahig

Awal

 

Historical region

Islam in Bahrain

Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami

 

 

 

Qarmatians

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portuguese occupation

Muqrin ibn Zamil

Antonio Correia

 

 

 

Safavid hegemony (1602-1717)

 

1717 Oman invasion of Bahrain

Al Khalifa and

the British Protectorate

1783 Al Khalifa invasion of Bahrain

Perpetual Truce of Peace

and Friendship (1861)

First Oil Well (1932)

 

20th Century Bahrain

National Union Committee

March 1965 Intifada

1981 coup d'état attempt

Uprising 1994-2000

 

2000s in Bahrain

Topical

Military history of Bahrain

Timeline of Bahrain history

 

 

The Al Bin Ali Tribe are the original descendants of Bani Utbah tribe being that they are the only tribe to carry the last name Al-Utbi in their Ownership's documents of Palm gardens in Bahrain as early as the year 1699 - 1111 Hijri[28]. They are specifically descendants of their great grand father Ali Al-Utbi who is a descendant of their great grand father Utbah hence the name Bani Utbah which means sons of Utbah. Utbah is the great grandfather of the Bani Utbah which is a section of Khafaf from Bani Sulaim bin Mansoor from Mudhar from Adnan. The plural word for Al-Utbi is Utub and the name of the tribe is Bani Utbah.

 

In 1783, Nasr Al-Madhkur lost the islands of Bahrain to Bani Utbah tribe whom which Shaikh Isa Bin Tarif, Chief of Al Bin Ali belongs to. Shaikh Isa Bin Tarif was a desecendant of the original uttoobee conquereres of Bahrain[29] This took place after the defeat of Nasr Al-Madhkur to the Bani Utbah in the battle of Zubarah that took place in the year 1782 between the Al Bin Ali from the Bani Utbah Tribe and the Army of Nasr Al-Madhkur Ruler of Bahrain and Bushire. Zubarah was originally the center of power of the Bani Utbah in which the Al Bin Ali Tribe in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and U.A.E derives from. The Al Bin Ali were the Arabs that were occupying Zubarah[30], they were the original dominant group of Zubara[31].

 

The Islands of Bahrain were not new to the Bani Utbah, they were always connected to this island, whether by settling in it during summer season or by purchasing date palm gardens. The Al Bin Ali were a politically important group that moved backwards and forwards between Qatar and Bahrain[32]. The Bani Utbah had been present in the banks of Bahrain in the seventeenth century[33]. During that time, they started purchasing date palm gardens in Bahrain. One of the documents which belongs to Shaikh Salama Bin Saif Al Utbi, one of the Shaikh's of the Al Bin Ali, backs this statement about the presence of the Bani Utbah in Bahrain in the seventeenth century. It states that Mariam Bint Ahmed Al Sindi, a shia women has sold a Palm Garden in the Island Of Sitra at Bahrain to Shaikh Salama Bin Saif Al Utbi dating to the year 1699 - 1111 Hijri before the arrival of Al-Khalifa to Bahrain by more than 90 years.[34].

 

1783: rising power of Bani Utbah

 

After the Bani Utbah gained power in 1783, the Al Bin Ali had a practically independent status in Bahrain as a self governed tribe. They carried a flag with four red stripes with three white stripes called the Al-Sulami flag[35] as they call it in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Eastern province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.It was raised on their ships during wartime and in the pearl season and on special occasions such as weddings and during Eid and in the “ Ardha of war ”[36]. Al Bin Ali were known for their courage, persistence, and abundant wealth[37]. Later, different Arab families and tribes mostly from Qatar moved to Bahrain to settle there since the Persians have been expelled from the Island . These families and tribes were Al Khalifa, Al-Ma'awdah, Al-Fadhil, Al-Mannai, Al-Noaimi, Al-Sulaiti, Al-Sadah, Al-Thawadi, and other families and tribes. Most of these tribes settled in Muharraq, the capital of Bahrain and the center of power at that time since the Al Bin Ali lived there. There is still a neighborhood in Muharraq city named Al Bin Ali. It is the oldest and biggest neighborhood in Muharraq, members of this tribe lived in this area for more than three centuries.

 

Al Khalifa ascendancy to Bahrain and their treaties with the British

 

Fourteen years later after gaining power of Bani Utbah, the Al Khalifa family moved to Bahrain in 1797 as settlers in Jaww, and later moved to Riffa. They were originally from Kuwait but had left it in 1766. According to a tradition preserved by the Al-Sabah family, the reason why the ancestors of their section and those of the Al-Khalifa section came to Kuwait was that they had been expelled by the Turks from Umm Qasr upon Khor Zubair, an earlier seat from which they had been accustomed to prey as brigands upon the caravans of Basra and as pirates upon the shipping of the Shatt Al Arab.[38]

 

In the early nineteenth centuriy, Bahrain was invaded by both the Omanis and the Al Sauds, and in 1802 it was governed by a twelve year old child, when the Omani ruler Sayyid Sultan installed his son, Salim, as Governor in the Arad Fort.[39]

 

In 1820, the Al Khalifa rule to Bahrain became active, but it was buttressed when it entered into a treaty relationship with Britain, which was by then the dominant military power in the Persian Gulf. This treaty granted the Al Khalifa the title of Rulers of Bahrain. It was the first of several treaties including the 1861 Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship, which was further revised in 1892 and 1951. In the 19th century, the Al-Khalifas controlled the main archipelago of Bahrain, the Hawar Islands and the section of the Qatar peninsula around Zubarah called the Zubarah Bloc. The Al Bin Ali played a part in helping the Al Khalifa to retain possession of their new territory in the early days.[40] Between 1869 and 1872 Midhat Pasha brought the islands nominally under the authority of the Ottoman Empire with coordination with the British and Ottoman ships starting appearing in the area.

 

This treaty was similar to those entered into by the British Government with the other Persian Gulf principalities. It specified that the ruler could not dispose of any of his territory except to the United Kingdom and could not enter into relationships with any foreign government without British consent. In return the British promised to protect Bahrain from all aggression by sea and to lend support in case of land attack. More importantly the British promised to support the rule of the Al Khalifa in Bahrain, securing its unstable position as rulers of the country. According to SOAS academic, Nelida Fuccaro:“ From this perspective state building under the Al Khalifa shayks should not be considered exclusively as the result of Britain’s informal empire in the Persian Gulf. In fact, it was a long process of strategic negotiation with different sections of the local population in order to establish a pre-eminence of their particularly artistic Sunni/Bedouin tradition of family rule.[41] ”

 

 

Peace and trade brought a new prosperity. Bahrain was no longer dependent upon pearling, and by the mid-19th century it became the pre-eminent trading centre in the Persian Gulf, overtaking rivals Basra, Kuwait, and finally in the 1870s, Muscat.[42] At the same time, Bahrain’s socio-economic development began to diverge from the rest of the Persian Gulf: it transformed itself from a tribal trading centre in to a modern state.[43] This process was spurred by the attraction of large numbers of Persian, Huwala, and Indian merchant families who set up businesses on the island, making it the hub of a web of trade routes across the Persian Gulf, Persia and the Indian sub-continent. A contemporary account of Manama in 1862 found:“ Mixed with the indigenous population [of Manamah] are numerous strangers and settlers, some of whom have been established here for many generations back, attracted from other lands by the profits of either commerce or the pearl fishery, and still retaining more or less the physiognomy and garb of their native countries. Thus the gay-coloured dress of the southern Persian, the saffron-stained vest of Oman, the white robe of Nejed, and the striped gown of Bagdad, are often to be seen mingling with the light garments of Bahreyn, its blue and red turban, its white silk-fringed cloth worn Banian fashion round the waist, and its frock-like overall; while a small but unmistakable colony of Indians, merchants by profession, and mainly from Guzerat, Cutch, and their vicinity, keep up here all their peculiarities of costume and manner, and live among the motley crowd, ‘among them, but not of them’.

 

WG Palgrave, Narrative of a Year’s Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia (1862-3)[44] ”

 

 

Palgrave’s description of Manama’s coffee houses in the mid-19th Century portrays them as cosmopolitan venues in contrast to what he describes as the ‘closely knit and bigoted universe of central Arabia’.[45] Palgrave describes a people with an open – even urbane – outlook: "Of religious controversy I have never heard one word. In short, instead of Zelators and fanatics, camel-drivers and Bedouins, we have at Bahrain [Manama] something like ‘men of the world, who know the world like men’ a great relief to the mind; certainly it was so to mine."[46]

 

The great trading families that emerged during this period have been compared to the Borgias and Medicis[47] and their great wealth - long before the oil wealth the region would later be renown for - gave them extensive power, and among the most prominent were the Persian Al Safar family, who held the position of Native Agents of Britain in 19th Century.[48] The Al Safar enjoyed an 'exceptionally close'[49] relationship with the Al Khalifa clan from 1869, although the al-Khalifa never intermarried with them - it has been speculated that this could be related to political reasons (to limit the Safars’ influence with the ruling family) and possibly for religious reasons (because the Safars were Shia).

 

Bahrain’s trade with India saw the cultural influence of the subcontinent grow dramatically, with styles of dress, cuisine, and education all showing a marked Indian influence. According to Exeter University’s James Onley “In these and countless other ways, eastern Arabia’s ports and people were as much a part of the Indian Ocean world as they were a part of the Arab world.”[50]

 

Bahrain underwent a period of major social reform between 1926 and 1957, under the de facto rule of Charles Belgrave, the British advisor to Shaikh Hamad ibn Isa Al-Khalifa (1872-1942). The country's first modern school was established in 1919, with the opening of the Al-Hiddaya Boys School, while the Arab Persian Gulf's first girls school opened in 1928. The American Mission Hospital, established by the Dutch Reform Church, began work in 1903. Other reforms include the abolition of slavery, while the pearl diving industry developed at a rapid pace.

 

These reforms were often opposed vigorously by powerful groups within Bahrain including sections within the ruling family, tribal forces, the religious authorities and merchants. In order to counter conservatives, the British removed the Emir, Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, replacing him with his son in 1923. Some Sunni tribes such as the al Dossari were forcibly removed from Bahrain and sent to mainland Arabia, while clerical opponents of social reforms were exiled to Saudi and Iran, and the heads of some merchant and notable families were likewise exiled. The Britain’s interest in pushing Bahrain’s development was motivated by concerns about Saudi-Wahabbi and Iranian ambitions.

 

You: ?

Stranger: no way!

You: hmm