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Baharna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromBahrani people)
Not to be confused withBahrainis.
Bahārna
البحارنة
Regions with significant populations
Bahrain,Qatif,Al-Hasa
Languages
Arabic(Bahrani Arabic,Gulf Arabic)
Religion
Shia Islam

TheBahārna(Arabic:بحارنة) are anethnoreligious groupofShia MuslimArabsindigenous to the historical region ofBahrain.They are generally regarded to be the original inhabitants of Eastern Arabia.[1]They inhabited the area even before the arrival of theBanu Utbahin the 18th century which theBahraini royal familydescends from.[2]MostBahrainicitizens are Baharna. Regions with most of the population are in Eastern Arabia (Bahrain,Qatif,al-Ahsa), with significant populations inKuwait,United Arab Emirates,Qatar,Oman,Iraq,andHormozgan province of Iran.[3][4]

Origin[edit]

The origin of the Baharna is debated;[1]there are different theories regarding their origins. Several Western scholars believe the Baharna originate from Bahrain's ancient population and pre-Islamic population which consisted ofpartially-Christianized Arabs,[5][6]Aramaic-speaking agriculturalists,[5][7][8]PersianZoroastrians,and a small amount ofJews.[1]According to one historian, Arab settlements in Bahrain may have begun around 300 B.C. and control of the island was maintained by the Rabyah tribe, who converted to Islam in 630 A.D.[9]

Local anecdotal evidence suggests that the Baharna's ancestry is diverse as some word variants spoken in the dialects of the native people of the villages of Bani Jamra and A'ali are only used in places as far asYemenand Oman, indicating southern Arabian ancestry.[10]Many Baharna families descended from members of theBanu Abdul Qays,who were mostlyNestorian Christiansbefore the seventh century,[11]as-well as theAnizah tribewhich is a cousin tribe the Abd Al-Qays and are both part of the greaterRab’ia tribe.Many are also from theBani Tamimtribe, such as the ruler of Bahrain during the early islamic era, andAl-Azd.[12]

TheBahrani Arabicdialect exhibitsAkkadian,AramaicandSyriacfeatures.[13][14]The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Bahrain wereAramaic speakersand to some degreePersian speakers,while Syriac functioned as aliturgical language.[7]The Bahrani dialect might have borrowed the Akkadian, Aramaic and Syriac features fromMesopotamian Arabic.[15]

According toRobert Bertram Serjeant,the Baharna may be the last of the "descendants of converts from the original population ofChristians(Aramaeans),Jewsandancient Persians (Majus)inhabiting the island and cultivated coastal provinces ofEastern Arabiaat the time of theArab conquest".[5][16]

Etymology[edit]

The termBahraniserves to distinguish the Bahrana from other Bahraini ethnic groups, such as theethnic PersianBahrainis who fall under the termAjam,as well as from theSunniArabs in Bahrain who are known asAl Arab( "Arabs" ), such asBani Utbah.[17]In theUnited Arab Emirates,the Baharna make up 5% of Emiratis and are generally descended from Baharna coming around 100–200 years ago.[citation needed]

In Arabic,bahraynis thedualform ofbahr( "sea" ), soal-Bahraynmeans "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute.[18]The term appears five times in theQur'an,but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as "Awal".

Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are instead generally taken to be the bay east and west of the island,[19]the seas north and south of the island,[citation needed]or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground.[20]In addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity.[21]

An alternate theory offered by al-Ahsa was that the two seas were thePersian Gulfand a peaceful lake on the mainland Near Al-Ahsa, known asAl-Asfar Lake;still another provided byIsmail ibn Hammad al-Jawhariis that the more formal nameBahri(lit. "belonging to the sea" ) would have been misunderstood and so was opted against.[20]

See also[edit]

Language and culture

Geography

Bahrani People

References[edit]

  1. ^abcAl-Rumaihi, Mohammed Ghanim (1973)."Social and political change in Bahrain since the First World War"(PDF).Durham University.pp. 46–47. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 17 Aug 2022.
  2. ^Krieg, Andreas (2017-03-27).Socio-Political Order and Security in the Arab World: From Regime Security to Public Security.Springer. p. 62.ISBN978-3-319-52243-2.
  3. ^Holes, Clive (2001).Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary.BRILL.ISBN978-9004107632.
  4. ^الجزيري, الوسط-محمود."البحرينيون في بندر لنجة: نزحوا بعاداتهم... فشيَّدوا المنامة في كل زقاق".صحيفة الوسط البحرينية(in Arabic).Retrieved25 March2024.
  5. ^abcHoles, Clive (2001).Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary.BRILL. pp. XXIV–XXVI.ISBN978-9004107632.Thus the elements in the pre-Islamic ethno-linguistic situation in eastern Arabia appear to have been a mixed tribal population of partially Christianised Arabs of diverse origins who probably spoke different old Arabian vernaculars; a mobile Persian-speaking population, possibly of traders and administrators, with strong links to Persia, which they maintained close contact; a small sedentary, non-tribal community of Aramaic-speaking agriculturalists; a Persian clergy, who we know for certain, used Syriac as a language of liturgy and writing more generally, probably alongside Persian as a spoken language.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  6. ^Netton, Ian Richard (2006-03-09).A Popular Dictionary of Islam.Routledge.ISBN9781135797737.
  7. ^abSmart, J. R. (2013).Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Language And Literature.Psychology Press.ISBN9780700704118.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  8. ^Houtsma, M. Th (1993).E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 5.BRILL. p. 98.ISBN978-9004097919.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  9. ^"Bahrain - History Background".education.stateuniversity.com.Archived fromthe originalon October 11, 2015.
  10. ^Language Variation And Change In A Modernising Arab State: The Case Of BahrainGoogle Books
  11. ^Peter Hellyer.Nestorian Christianity in the Pre-Islamic UAE and Southeastern Arabia,Journal of Social Affairs, volume 18, number 72, winter 2011
  12. ^"من هم البحارنة؟ – ســنــوات الــجــريــش"(in Arabic). 2009-06-06.Retrieved2024-01-25.
  13. ^Jastrow, Otto (2002).Non-Arabic Semitic elements in the Arabic dialects of Eastern Arabia.Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 270–279.ISBN9783447044912.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  14. ^Holes, Clive (2001).Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary.BRILL. pp. XXIX–XXX.ISBN978-9004107632.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  15. ^Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary By Clive Holes.Page XXIX
  16. ^Robert Bertram Serjeant(1968). "Fisher-folk and fish-traps in al-Bahrain".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.31(3).SOAS:488.JSTOR614301.
  17. ^Lorimer, John Gordon,Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia,republished by Gregg International Publishers Limited Westemead. Farnborough, Hants., England and Irish University Press, Shannon, Irelend. Printed in Holland, 1970, Vol. II A, entries on "Bahrain" and "Baharna"
  18. ^Encyclopedia of Islam,Vol. I. "Bahrayn", p. 941. E.J. Brill (Leiden), 1960.
  19. ^Room, Adrian.Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites.2006.ISBN978-0-7864-2248-7.
  20. ^abFaroughy, Abbas.The Bahrein Islands (750–1951): A Contribution to the Study of Power Politics in the Persian Gulf.Verry, Fisher & Co. (New York), 1951.
  21. ^Rice, Michael.The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, c. 5000-323 BC.Routledge, 1994.ISBN0415032687.

External links[edit]

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