Eastern Arabia

Quick Facts: Who was Eastern Arabia?

Subject:

Eastern Arabia

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Historical region encompassing the eastern Arabian Peninsula along the Persian Gulf.

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2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

Eastern Arabia, also known as Bahrain Region (Arabic: ٱلْبَحْرَيْن, romanized: Al-Baḥrayn), is a historical region encompassing the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula stretching from Basra to Khasab along the coast of the Persian Gulf. It includes parts of the modern-day states of Bahrain, Iraq (Basra Governorate), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (Eastern Province), and the United Arab Emirates. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as "Bahrain" for a millennium. Until recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from the Shatt al-Arab to the mountains of Oman, was a place where people moved around, settled and married unconcerned by national borders. The people of Eastern Arabia shared a culture based on the sea, as seafaring peoples.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Nowadays, Eastern Arabia is a part of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, with all the seven modern-day countries listed as the Gulf Arab states. Most of Iraq and Saudi Arabia are not geographically a part of the historic Eastern Arabia. In Arabic, Baḥrayn is the dual form of baḥr (Arabic: بَحْر, lit. 'sea'), so al-Baḥrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The term appears five times in the Qur'an, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”—but rather to the oases of al-Qatif and Hajar (modern Al-Aḥsā). It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the archipelago in the Gulf of Bahrain, but it was probably after the 15th century. Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are instead generally taken to be the bay east and west of the coast, the seas north and south of the island, or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground. 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. An alternate theory offered by al-Hasa was that the two seas were the Great Green Ocean and a peaceful lake on the mainland; still another provided by al-Jawahari is that the more formal name Bahri (lit.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Eastern Arabia

True or False: “The term 'Bahrain' in Arabic originally referred to the modern island nation of Bahrain.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): Originally, the term 'Baḥrayn' referred to the oases of al-Qatif and Hajar (modern Al-Aḥsā), not exclusively the archipelago.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Eastern Arabia