# Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain

The Kuwaiti 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 period, which made the spiritual leader of Bahrain, Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdullah Al Majed, use the Huwala to combat the Utub attacks. These attacks continued throughout the early 18th century until the Utub launched a full-scale invasion of the island and established a government loyal to the Imam of Oman. The Utub 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 Utub finally took over the island in 1783.

## Civil war and invasion

Sayid Majed ibn Sayid Ahmad Al-Jidhafsi was Bahrain's vice governor and the headman of Jidhafs who often clashed with his political rival, 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 Khalifas who came to the island of Sitra to buy 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 Utub, 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 Utub returned to Zubarah.
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, Utub spies infiltrated Al-Madhkoor's inner circle and as a result the Utub 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 due to Iran's problems. 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 started 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. The loyalists ultimately won the civil war.
However, by this time, the Al Khalifas and other Utub 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.