Marife Dini Araştırmalar Dergisi

Abstract

Bahrain gained prominence in the period when the spread of Islam began. Bahrain, whose name came to the forefront with the Zanj Movement and the Qarmatians, seems to have been got out of existence for about six centuries. However, some political formations, such as the Usfurid Emirate, emerged here. Political events in the region, especially the island of Eval, Al-ahsa, and Qatif cities, referred to as Bahrain towns in the sources, are waiting to be investigated. The Usfurids, the subject of our study, come from the Bani 'âmir tribe. Bani 'Âmir settled in the region later and gained strength in the region with the military agreements they made with the Qarmatians here. Unlike many tribes around him, its positive relationship with the Qarmatians was almost never broken. The Usfurids wanted to sign military agreements with the Uyunites after the defeat of the Qarmatians by the Uyunid Dynasty. Although the Uyunid Dynasty kept distant from this proposal when they were strong in the early times, they were forced to sign this agreement with the Usfurids when they started to weaken. The success of the Usfurids against the Uyunid Dynasty was perhaps the biggest step towards establishing their own emirate. The Usfurids, who succeeded in overthrowing the Uyunid Dynasty, expanded rapidly and had a voice in the region for about 150 years, sometimes being completely independent and sometimes autonomous. Maritime trade from the Persian Gulf to India is the most significant reason for the political developments in their environment. The project of commanding the trade routes between the Arabian Seas and the Indian Ocean has been the principal goal of both the Usfurids and the political administrations around them. Even the Mongols, who were far from the sea, had ships built to have a voice in the region and even seized the ships and subjects of the Usfurids from time to time. The policies followed by the Usfurids against all other emirates and states, especially the Kingdom of Ormus, Mongols, and Mamluks, which were the sovereign powers in the region, were generally about protecting their economic interests and maintaining their lives. They realized this by using their power to control the pilgrimage and trade routes as the biggest trump card against the political structures around them. However, they continued their existence under the control of the surrounding political formations, sometimes directly and sometimes autonomously. Among them, the names of the Salgurlus, Mongols, Mamluks, and Tayyibies, especially the Kingdom of Ormus, are mentioned. The Usfurids, who first entered under the rule of the Kingdom of Ormus, could be able to continue their existence here for about 20 years, depending on the Hormuz Emirate. The Usfurids, who were in contact with the Mongols, who later felt their influence in the region, established good relations with the Mamluks due to their distrust of the Mongols. Their amicable relationship with the Mamluks was broken after the death of the Baybars, the Mamluk Sultan. Later on, when the Mamluks saw that their trade in the region was endangered, they sent a letter of good faith to the regional administrations, including the Usfurids. Thus, the relationship between Usfurids and Mamluks was promoted again. While the Usfurids got along well with the Mamluk Sultan Baybars, who were hostile to the Mongols, on the other hand, they established friendly relations with the Habûzîs in Zafar, whose borders extended to Yemen. However, the conflicts among themselves led the Tayyibis to seize the Bahrain Islands, Al-ahsa, and Qatif. Tayyibis, who increased their dominance in the region at the beginning of the 7th/13th century, took the Usfurid Emirate under their rule for a while and used the Usfurids in the military field when they needed it, in return for certain payments, in accordance with the agreements they made with them. The Usfurids, who left the maritime trade revenues in the Gulf to the Tayyibis, maintained their existence for a while. The coordination of the Usfurid administrators gave way to conflicts in the following years. Since the power-hungry individuals who wanted to seize the administration of the Usfurid family reached the level of appealing for help from foreign powers, the collapse of the emirate accelerated. In our study, in which we investigated the power of the Usfurid Emirate in Bahrain, the limited information on the subject and the scattered information in the sources were the most difficult part of our study. Our study aims to shed light on the political history of the Usfurid Emirate, to partly remove the hiddenness in the towns of Bahrain between the 7-8/13-14 centuries, and to pave the way for more comprehensive studies.