Al-Manāma

Manama is a port on the northern shore of Bahrain, looking across the waters of the Gulf. Its harbour welcomed merchants and sailors from different distant shores, while the island's palm gardens and freshwater springs supported its settlements. Bahrain's pearl banks were a source of wealth and attracted the attention of powers seeking to control trade through the Gulf. Manama's position made it a meeting place for the commerce of Arabia, Persia and lands farther east.

The town is recorded by name in the fourteenth century, when Bahrain was drawn into the affairs of Hormuz. In 1521 a Portuguese expedition defeated the Jabrid ruler Muqrin and established control over Bahrain. Portuguese accounts later described Manama's tall houses and wind towers, evidence of a prosperous harbour settlement. Its fortunes were tied to the wider struggle for the island: in 1602 the Portuguese were expelled and Bahrain came under Safavid rule.

During the eighteenth century the island passed through further contests involving Persian and Omani forces. In 1783 the Al Khalifa, based at Zubarah on the Qatari coast, took Bahrain. Manama remained a port and market, though the fighting that followed continued to disturb its commerce. Pearl diving, shipping and exchange linked its inhabitants to communities around the Gulf long after each change of ruler.