EASTERN ARABIAN HISTORY

As mentioned on the Gallery page, pre-Islamic eastern Arabia was known as Bahryan ("Land of the Two Seas"), a reference to its being delimited by the Persian Gulf and the Erythraean Sea (modern Arabian Sea). However, the southernmost territory of Bahrayn, consisting of the Oman Peninsula (modern United Arab Emirates and Oman), was sometimes distinguished as a separate region known as Magan/Makan ("Land of Copper"). During the period covered by this gallery (ca. 400 BCE-631 CE), most of Bahrayn-Magan was controlled by foreign powers, so I'll keep my history brief.

 

BAHRAYN

Herein, I use the name of Bahrayn only in reference to the coastal plain that stretches from modern Kuwait southeastwards along the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia (part of the modern Ash Sharqiyah Province) to the western border of the United Arab Emirates, including the Qatar Peninsula, the Bahrain Archipelago, and the offshore islands of the Kuwaiti and Saudi coasts. The coastal plain was delimited by the Persian Gulf to the north, the as-Summen Plateau to the south, Kuwait Bay in the northwest, and an arm of the Great Arabian Desert to the south (this arm encompasses the border between modern Qatar and United Arab Emirates). The coastal plain is roughly only about 40 miles wide with unstable, irregular terrain (a mix of sandy plains, marshes, and salt flats)—this meant that the early civilizations that inhabited this region generally were centered on the offshore islands (particularly the Bahrain Archipelago), with only a nominal presence along the coast, while the interior was usually dominated by central Arabian nomadic tribes like the Banu Abdul Qays (115 BCE-632 CE) and the Banu Tamim (115 BCE-631 CE).

 

Bahrayn was dominated by the Dilmun/Telmun civilization (3000 BCE-300 CE), named after the prominent city-state of Dilmun, located on the northwestern tip of the island of Bahrain, which dominated the Bahrain Archipelago and the adjacent coastal plain as far north as Kuwait and as far south as Abu Dhabi. Until about 1000 BCE the area controlled by Dilmun was mostly arable, fed by artesian wells that later dried up, and although Dilmun became famous as a hub of trade between Meluhha (the Indus Valley civilization), Magan/Makan (Oman), and Mesopotamia, it was also famous as a fertile agricultural region (e.g., it is portrayed as a lush paradise in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh). However, between about 1000 and 800 BCE, Dilmun's power began to wane as the wells dried up and the desert encroached from the south, and the Dilmun civilization broke up into a number of smaller independent communities—there were groups that clung to the shrinking agricultural regions along the coast (see Hagar/Gerrha below), but the region became most known for its trading ports and pirates (as happened in many other ancient regions, the maritime peoples probably oscilated between trade and piracy, depending on circumstances). This eventually led to the conquest of the Bahrain Archipelago by the Assyrians (ca. 690-612 BCE), and it seems to have remained under the control of the Babylonians after they toppled the Assyrians (ca. 612-538 BCE). After the fall of Babylon (ca. 538 BCE), the region again fell into a period of parochial disunity (ca. 538-127 BCE), although after Alexander the Great failed to conquer India and retreated to Persia via Gedrosia (ca. 325 BCE), he had his admiral, Nearchos, explore the Persian Gulf in order to supply his army by establishing trade contacts with the Persian Gulf peoples. Nearchos established several colonies on offshore islands along the coast of Bahrayn, the largest being that of Tylos in the Bahrain Archipelago (Tylos is probably derived from Dilmun/Telmun/Tilmun). Alexander's Seleukid successors seem to have established firm control over the Bahrain Archipelago (ca. 312-127 BCE), but were only able to take control of a portion of the Bahrayn coast, roughly analogous to the borders of modern Kuwait, which became the Seleukid province of Mesene—the native Arab city-state of Hagar (known as Gerrha in Greek sources) dominated the coast from the borders of Mesene in the northwest to the base of the Qatar Peninsula in the southeast, while the Qatar Peninsula and adjacent coastal plain as far south as Abu Dhabi was inhabited by a number of minor coastal peoples who continued to be known primarily for piracy. The city of Hagar/Gerrha was located near the modern Saudi city of Hofuf.

 

As the Seleukids lost ground to the Parthian Arsakids, Mesene and the Bahrain Archipelago fell under the control of the Hellenized Syrian Kingdom of Charakene (ca. 127 BCE-222 CE)—as the Seleukid empire collapsed, the governor of Mesene (Hyspaosines/Aspasine) declared his independence and briefly managed to consolidate his control over much of Lower Mesopotamia (the Parthian Arsakids ultimately conquered most of this territory, but made the kings of Charakene vassals, with direct control over Kuwait and the Bahrain Archipelago). The situation changed with the rise of the Sassanid Persians, who embarked on a campaign to destroy the great feudal lords of the Parthian Empire and install an imperial bureacracy. Charakene was annexed, and made into the province of Meshan/Maishan (ca. 222 CE). The Sassanids also moved to expand their empire, and were particularly interested in gaining direct control over the Persian Gulf and its maritime trade routes with India and East Africa. The Sassanid emperor, Ardashir I Babakan ("the Unifier"), carried out a naval expedition to root out pirates in the eastern Persian Gulf, and conquered the Qatar Peninsula, the adjacent coastal plains, and the Oman Peninsula (ca. 224 CE), organizing these territories into the Persian province (marzubanate) of Mazun (ca. 224-628 CE). Meanwhile, the Banu Lakhm had established themselves south of the Euphrates under the leadership of Imru al-Qays, and had been raiding the Persian Empire—the Lakhm had built a fleet and taken control of the Euphrates, even sailing out into the Persian Gulf and raiding Persia. It would seem that the Kingdom of Hagar/Gerrha had either moved in support of the Lakhm or had simply been raiding Persia in its own right, because both Arab kingdoms faced the wrath of the Sassanids in the form of the dynamic young (16 years-old) Persian emperor, Shapur II (309-379 CE), who launched a massive campaign (approx. 60,000 men) to take control of the remainder of Bahrayn and southern Mesopotamia (ca. 325 CE). Hagar/Gerrha was conquered and incorporated into the Persian province of Meshan/Maishan (ca. 325-637 CE), and the Lakhmids were forced to become vassals of the Sassanid Persian Empire (see Lakhmids history page).

 

MAGAN/MAKKAN

At the beginning of the time period covered by this gallery (ca. 400 BCE), the Oman Peninsula was under the control of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, as the Satrapy of Maka (539-323 BCE). The name Magan/Makkan, used for the Oman Peninsula throughout the pre-Islamic period, comes from the written cuneiform records of the Sumerian state of Ur (ca. 2500 BCE), as well as those of Babylon and Assyria (until about 550 BCE). The Oman Peninsula is dominated by the Hajar Mountains, which have rich deposits of copper, and the peoples of the Oman Peninsula became early important trade partners of Sumeria, Meluhha (i.e., the Indus Valley Civilization), Babylon, and Assyria in this ore—Magan means "Land of Copper." It is probably due to its importance in the copper trade that Magan drew the imperial attentions of the Achaemenids. However, by the time the Achaemenids were overthrown by Alexander the Great (ca. 334-329 BCE), the copper trade was becoming less lucrative, and neither Alexander or his Seleukid successors bothered to add Magan to their dominions. Thus, the Oman Peninsula was united under an independent local polity—the Kingdom of Maketa (323 BCE-222 CE). Not much is known about this kingdom. It seems to have been organized along the lines of the states in southern Arabia (Hadramawt, Saba, Qataban, Ma'in), based on agricultural communities, each with its own chief, with these chiefdoms federated under the rule of a king. However, as mentioned in reference to Bahrayn, the coasts of Magan and the adjacent coasts of Bahrayn as far north as the Qatar Peninsula became a hotbed of piratical activity (ca. 323 BCE-222 CE), leading to the conquest of Maketa by Ardashir I of Sassanid Persia, who organized it into the Marzubanate of Mazun (222 - 628 CE).

 

The Hajar Mountains run roughly from the northwest to the southeast across the Oman Peninsula, and the ancient polities of Magan/Makkan—the Satrapy of Maka, the Kingdom of Maketa, and the Marzubanate of Mazun—were centered on the mountains and surrounding foothills and steppes, as well as the coastal plains. The interior of the peninsula, south of the Hajar Mountains, is dominated by the northeastern edge of the Great Arabian Desert, and was home to nomadic Kahlans. Primary among these were the Banu Azd Daba (115 BCE-575 CE), a branch of the great Kahlan Azd federation. Following the conversion of this tribe to Islam, it was re-named the Banu Azd Uman (575-637 CE), a tribe that was instrumental in engineering the takeover of the Oman Peninsula by the representatives of Muhammed (Amr ibn al-As and Zaid ibn Haritha) in 628-630 CE. It is from "Uman" that the modern name of "Oman" is derived.