Draft:Saudi Invasion of Bahrain (1801)

Saudi invasion of Bahrain was a campaign led by Imam Abdulaziz to annex Bahrain

Saudi invasion of Bahrain (1801)
Part of Wars of the First Saudi State
Location Bahrain Result Decisive Saudi victory Territorial changes Bahrain annexed by the First Saudi State
Belligerents
First Saudi State	Bahrain
Commanders and leaders
Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Saud	Salman bin Ahmad Al Khalifa
Strength
unknown	unknown
Casualties and losses
a bit	Heavy

See Also

• Piracy in the Persian Gulf
• Battle of Khakeekera

Background

Bahrain was under the rule of the Al Khalifa Family, who resided in Zubarah, in Qatar. From there, they had been running the affairs of the island since 1196 AH/1782. They left Zubarah, following the entry of the Saudi leader Ibrahim bin Afaisan into They headed to Bahrain. Sheikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and his family settled in the village of Jawa in Bahrain in 1212 AH/1797. Their stay there did not last long because Bahrain came under the rule of Sayyid Sultan bin Said, the ruler of Muscat, in 1215 AH/1800 Who appointed his brother Saeed as its ruler, and the Al Khalifa were forced to return to their old town, “Al Zubarah”, after the House of Saud granted them security. The Al Khalifa asked Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Saud to help them regain Bahrain from the ruler of Muscat, so he quickly sent an army led by Ibrahim bin Afisan, who seized Bahrain and expelled the forces of the ruler of Muscat from it in 1224 AH/1809. But Ibrahim bin Afisan did not hand over the reins of power to the House of Khalifa, At their head was Sheikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and some of the notables of Zubarah, reluctantly, to Diriyah. Imam Saud ordered Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa and some of the sons of the Al Khalifa family to remain in Diriyah, and ordered the rest to return to Zubarah This was in the year 1224 AH/1809. Fahd bin Suleiman bin Afaisan was appointed commander of the Saudi garrison in Bahrain, and Ibrahim bin Afaisan was appointed its emir. The House of Khalifa did not surrender, but rather asked for help from Said bin Sultan, the ruler of Muscat And from Qajar Iran, and their relatives from the Utub. They attacked the Saudi garrison in Bahrain, and expelled its emir, Ibrahim bin Ufaisan, and his men, and arrested the commander of the garrison, Fahd bin Suleiman bin Ufaisan, and with him sixteen men, and took them hostage until they were released Ibrahim bin Afaisan later tried to reclaim Bahrain, with the help of Rahmah bin Jaber Al-Jalhami, but he failed, and his forces were defeated in the Battle of Khakeekera in 1225 AH/1810, and Imam Saud was forced to release the leaders of Al Khalifa, and They returned to Bahrain. The Saudis did not resume their attempts to invade Bahrain, because they were busy with wars against Muhammad Ali Pasha’s forces in the Hijaz, and Saudi rule in Bahrain was not stable, and the Saudi state’s grip on Bahrain did It was not like its grip on Qatar. Because of the difficulty of sea transportation, the Saudi state did not have a military naval fleet, so it used diving ships if necessary. As for Qatar, it is a natural extension of Al-Ahsa, There are no natural barriers between them, as is the case with Bahrain, in addition to the sectarian dispute between the followers of the Saudi state and some of the Shiite residents of Bahrain, unlike Qatar, whose residents follow the Hanbali school of thought prevalent in the state.