Southern Arabia | Page 6

the sea between Bahrein and the mainland has
contributed considerably to the geographical and mercantile importance
of the Bahrein. No big vessels can approach the opposite coast of
Arabia; hence, in olden days, when the caravan trade passed this way,
all goods must have been transhipped to smaller boats at Bahrein.
Sir M. Durant, in a consular report, states it as his opinion that, 'under a
settled government, Bahrein could be the trading place of the Persian
Gulf for Persia and Arabia, and an excellent harbour near the
warehouses could be formed.'
If the Euphrates Valley Railway had ever been opened, if the terminus
of this railway had been at Koweit, as it was proposed by the party of
survey under the command of Admiral Charlewood and General
Chesney, the Bahrein group would at once have sprung into importance
as offering a safe emporium in the immediate vicinity of this terminus.
Bahrein is the Cyprus of the Persian Gulf, in fact. This day is, however,
postponed indefinitely until such times as England, Turkey, and Russia
shall see fit to settle their differences; and with a better understanding
between these Powers, and the development of railways in the East, the
Persian Gulf may yet once more become a high road of commerce, and
the Bahrein Islands may again come into notice.
The Portuguese, who were the first Europeans after the time of
Alexander to visit the Gulf, recognised the importance of Bahrein. Up
to their time the Gulf had been a closed Mohammedan lake. The
history of their rule in that part has yet to be written, but it will disclose
a tale of great interest, and be a record of marvellous commercial
enterprise. It was Albuquerque who first reopened the Gulf to
Europeans.

Early in the sixteenth century (1504), he urged the occupation of the
Gulf. In 1506 three fleets went to the East under the command of
Tristan d'Acunha, with Albuquerque as second in command. Tristan
soon took his departure further afield, and left Albuquerque in
command. This admiral first attacked and took Hormuz, then governed
by a king of Persian origin. Here, and at Maskat, he thoroughly
established the Portuguese power, thereby commanding the entrance
into the Gulf. From de Barros' account it would appear that the king of
Bahrein was a tributary of the king of Hormuz, paying annually 40,000
pardaos, and from Albuquerque's letters we read that the occupation of
Bahrein formed part of his scheme. 'With Hormuz and Bahrein in their
hand the whole Gulf would be under their control,' he wrote. In fact,
Albuquerque's scheme at that time would appear to have been
exceedingly vast and rather chimerical--namely, to divert the Nile from
its course and let it flow into the Red Sea, ruin Egypt, and bring the
India trade viâ the Persian Gulf to Europe. Of this scheme we have only
the outline, but, beyond establishing fortresses in the Gulf, it fell
through, for Albuquerque died, and with him his gigantic projects.
The exact date of the occupation of Bahrein by the Portuguese I have as
yet been unable to discover; but in 1521 we read of an Arab
insurrection in Bahrein against the Persians and Portuguese, in which
the Portuguese factor, Ruy Bale, was tortured and crucified.
Sheikh Hussein bin Said, of the Arabian tribe of Ben Zabia, was the
instigator of this revolt. In the following year the Portuguese governor,
Dom Luis de Menezes, came to terms with him, and appointed him
Portuguese representative in the island.
A few years later, one Ras Bardadim, guazil, or governor of Bahrein,
made himself objectionable, and against him Simeon d'Acunha was
sent. He and many of his men died of fever in the expedition, but the
Portuguese power was again restored.
Towards the close of the sixteenth century the Portuguese came under
the rule of Spain, and from that date their power in the Persian Gulf
began to wane. Their soldiers were drafted off to the wars in Flanders
instead of going to the East to protect the colonies; and the final blow

came in 1622, when Shah Abbas of Persia, assisted by an English fleet,
took Hormuz, and then Bahrein. Twenty years later a company of
Portuguese merchants, eager for the pearls of these islands, organised
an expedition from Goa to recover the Bahrein, but the ships were
taken and plundered by the Arabs before ever they entered the Gulf.
Thus fell the great Portuguese power in the Gulf, the sole traces of
which now are the numerous fortresses, such as the one on Bahrein.
From 1622 to the present time the control over Bahrein has been
contested between the Persians and Arabs, and as the Persian power has
been on the wane, the Arabian star has been in the ascendent. In 1711
the Sultan