Everything about Al-hasa totally explained
» This article refers to the traditional region of Al-Hasa. For the current Saudi Arabian administrative unit sometimes called Al-Hasa, see: Al-Ahsa (governorate). For other uses see Al-Ahsa.
Al-Hasa or
al-Ahsa (
al-Aḥsāʾ, locally
al-Ḥasāʾ; ) is a traditional
oasis region in eastern
Saudi Arabia that gives its name to the
Al-Ahsa Governorate, which comprises much of that country's
Eastern Province. The
oasis is located about 60 km inland from the
Persian Gulf
Al-Hasa contains one of the largest concentrations of
Shia Muslims in predominantly
Sunni Saudi Arabia. Al-Ahsa is part of the region known historically as
Al-Bahrayn, which included the eastern coast of the
Arabian Peninsula down to the borders of
Oman, and also included the island of Awal (modern-day
Bahrain).
History
Al-Hasa has been inhabited since prehistoric times, due to its abundance of water in an otherwise arid region. Natural fresh-water springs have surfaced at
oases in the region for millennia, encouraging human habitation and agricultural efforts (
date palm cultivation especially) since prehistoric times.
Its early history is similar to that of eastern Arabian
historical region of Bahrain. In AD
899, the region came under control of the
Qarmatian leader, al-Jannabi, and was declared independent from the
Abbasid caliphate of
Baghdad. Its capital was at al-Mu'miniya near modern
Hofuf. In
1077, the Qarmatian state of al-Hasa was overthrown by the
Uyunids. Al-Hasa subsequently fell under the rule of the
bedouin dynaysty of the
Usfurids, followed by their relatives, the
Jabrids, who became one of the most formidable powers in the region, retaking the islands of
Bahrain from the princes of
Hormuz. The last Jabrid ruler of Bahrain was
Muqrin ibn Zamil.
In 1521, the
Portuguese Empire conquered the Awal Islands (the islands that comprise present day Bahrain) from the
Jabrid ruler
Migrin ibn Zamil, who fell in battle. The Jabrids struggled to maintain their position on the mainland in the face of the
Ottomans and their tribal allies, the
Muntafiq . In
1550, al-Hasa and nearby
Qatif came under suzerainty of the
Ottoman Empire of
Suleiman I. Al-Hasa was nominally the
eyalet of
Lahsa in the Ottoman administrative system but in reality was usually only a
vassal of the Porte and Qatif was later lost to the Portuguese.
The Ottomans were expelled from al-Hasa in
1669, and the region came under the rule of the chiefs of
bedouin Banu Khalid tribe.
Al-Hasa, along with Qatif, was incorporated into the
Wahhabist First Saudi State in
1795 but returned to nominal Ottoman control in
1818 with an invasion ordered by
Muhammad Ali of Egypt. The Banu Khalid were again installed as rulers of the region but, in
1830, the
Second Saudi State re-took the region.
Direct Ottoman rule was restored in
1871 and al-Hasa was placed first under
Baghdad Vilayet and, with Baghdad's subdivision in 1875,
Basra Vilayet. In
1912,
Ibn Saud, the founder of modern
Saudi Arabia, annexed Al-Hasa and Qatif to his domain of
Najd.
On
December 2,
1922,
Percy Zachariah Cox officially notified Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah that Kuwait's borders have been modified. Earlier that year Major
John More [the British representative in Kuwait) had met with Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia to settle the border issue between Kuwait and
Najd. The meeting result was
Uqair Protocol of 1922, which gave away lands of Kuwait to
Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia.
In the 1930s, huge
petroleum deposits were discovered near
Dammam, resulting in rapid modernization of the region. By the early 1960s, production levels reached one million
barrels per day.
Princes of Al-Hasa:
1- Saud bin abdullah bin Jalawi Al Saud from 1935 to 1966
2- Abdulmohsen bin abdullah bin Jalawi Al Saud from 1966 to 1985
3- Mohammed bin Fahed bin abdullah bin Jalawi Al Saud from 1985 to 1996
4- Bader bin Mohammed bin abdullah bin Jalawi Al Saud from 1997 to now
Further Information
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