Baharna
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Bahrain, Qatif, Al-Hasa, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman | |
Languages | |
Arabic (Bahrani Arabic, Gulf Arabic) | |
Religion | |
Islam |
The Bahārna (Arabic: بحارنة) Are an Arab Adnanite tribe that is located in the Arabian Gulf. They are regarded by scholars and Bahraini people to be the original Arab inhabitants of the Bahrain archipelago.[1] Most Bahraini citizens are Baharna. Regions with most of the population are in Eastern Arabia (Bahrain, Qatif, al-Hasa), with significant populations in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Iraq.
Origin
The overwhelming majority of Al-Baharna are of the Abd Al-Qays tribe, with a significant minority from the Anizah tribe (Bani Wa’il) and a smaller number from Bani Tamim.[2] This has also been confirmed by countless authenticated DNA tests.[3][4][5]
Etymology
The term Bahrani serves to distinguish the Bahrana from other Bahraini ethnic groups, such as the ethnic Persian Bahrainis who fall under the term Ajam, as well as from the Sunni Arabs in Bahrain who are known as Al Arab ("Arabs"), such as Bani Utbah.[6] In the United 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, bahrayn is the dual form of bahr ("sea"), so al-Bahrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute.[7] The term appears five times in the Qur'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,[8] the seas north and south of the island,[citation needed] or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground.[9] 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.[10]
An alternate theory offered by al-Ahsa was that the two seas were the Persian Gulf and a peaceful lake on the mainland Near Al-Ahsa, known as Al-Asfar Lake;still another provided by Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari is that the more formal name Bahri (lit. "belonging to the sea") would have been misunderstood and so was opted against.[9]
See also
Language and culture
Geography
Bahrani People
References
- ^ Al-Rumaihi, Mohammed Ghanim (1973). "Social and political change in Bahrain since the First World War" (PDF). Durham University. pp. 46–47. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 Aug 2022.
- ^ "من هم البحارنة؟ – ســنــوات الــجــريــش" (in Arabic). 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ "FamilyTreeDNA - مشروع القطيف الجيني". www.familytreedna.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ "FamilyTreeDNA - Bahrain". www.familytreedna.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ "FamilyTreeDNA - J2-M67Arab". www.familytreedna.com. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ 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"
- ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. I. "Bahrayn", p. 941. E.J. Brill (Leiden), 1960.
- ^ Room, Adrian. Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7864-2248-7.
- ^ a b Faroughy, Abbas. The Bahrein Islands (750–1951): A Contribution to the Study of Power Politics in the Persian Gulf. Verry, Fisher & Co. (New York), 1951.
- ^ Rice, Michael. The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, c. 5000-323 BC. Routledge, 1994. ISBN 0415032687.
External links
- The 1922 Bahrani uprising in Bahrain
- Rival Empires of Trade and Imami Shiism in Eastern Arabia, 1300-1800, Juan Cole, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2, (May 1987), pp. 177–203
- Eastern Coast of Arabian Peninsula for DNA test