Bahrain » History

After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Bahraini Shi'ite fundamentalists in 1981 orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organisation, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. The coup would have installed a Shi'ite cleric exiled in Iran, Hujjatu Al-Islam Hadi al-Mudarrisi, as supreme leader heading a theocratic government.

In 1994 a wave of rioting by disaffected Shi' Islamists occurred due to perceived unjust actions by the government. The Kingdom was badly affected by sporadic violence during the mid-1990s in which over forty people were killed by the government and hundreds tortured and jailed.

In March 1999, Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah succeeded his father as head of state and instituted elections for parliament, gave women the right to vote and released all political prisoners; moves described by Amnesty International as representing an 'historic period for human rights'. This provided the country with a great chance to move forward, if somewhat falteringly, toward a political consensus.

Longer Historical Perspective

Bahrain has been inhabited by humans since ancient times and has even been proposed as the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden.

Its strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, and finally the Arabs, under whom the island became Muslim. Bahrain was in the ancient times known as Dilmun, Tylos (its Greek given name), Awal as well as Persian name Mishmahig when it came under the imperial rule of the Persian Empire.

The islands of Bahrain, positioned in the middle south of the Persian Gulf, have attracted the attention of many invaders throughout history. Bahrain is an Arabic word meaning "Two Seas", and is thought to either refer to the fact that the islands contain two sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water in the surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters of the Persian Gulf, separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran, respectively.