| History of Bahrain | |
|---|---|
This article is part of a series |
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| Ancient Bahrain | |
| Dilmun | |
| Tylos and Mishmahig | |
| Awal | |
| Historical region | |
| Islam in Bahrain | |
| Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami | |
| Qarmatians | |
| Usfurid dynasty | |
| Jarwanid dynasty | |
| Jabrid dynasty | |
| Portuguese occupation | |
| Muqrin ibn Zamil | |
| Antonio Correia | |
| Safavid hegemony (1602-1717) | |
| 1717 Omani invasion of Bahrain | |
| Al Khalifa and the British Protectorate |
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| 1783 Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain | |
| Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship (1861) |
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| First Oil Well (1932) | |
| 20th Century Bahrain | |
| National Union Committee | |
| March 1965 Intifada | |
| State Security Law era | |
| 1981 coup d'état attempt | |
| 1990s Uprising | |
| 2011 Uprising | |
| Topical | |
| Military history of Bahrain | |
| Timeline of Bahrain history | |
|
Bahrain Portal |
Sheikh Nasr Al-Madhkur (Arabic: الشيخ نصر آل مذكور) was the 18th century local governor of what was described by a contemporary account as an "independent state"[1] in Bushire and Bahrain.[2] The account by German geographer Carsten Niebuhr who visited the region at the time describes Sheikh Nasr as "the sole Monarch of the isle of Bahrain”.[3] He lost Bahrain in 1783 after his defeat by the Bani Utbah tribal alliance at Zubarah in 1782.
The Al-Madhkur family was regarded as huwala - Arabs from Oman who had settled in Bushire,[2] and led the Abu Shahr Arabs on the Persian Gulf littoral.[4] According to Carsten Niebuhr, the 18th century German geographer, the Abu Shahr Arabs under the Al Madhkurs were one of three major Arab forces ruling parts of southern Persia in the 1760s. Although the Abu Shahr Arabs lived on the Persian Gulf littoral they should not be confused with Huwalas, and did not share their sense of identity, at least according to Niebuhr.[5] Niebuhr visited Abu Shahr in 1765 and when he wrote of independent Arab states he included Abu Shahr.[5] However it seems likely that under the system of suzerainty, the Al-Madhkurs held at least nominal allegiance to governors in southern Persia.
In 1753, from their base in Bushire, the Al Madhkurs took over Bahrain,[4] the position of which had been badly undermined by the chaos following successive invasions. Sheikh Nasr seems to have been using Bahrain as a place to send those suffering from leprosy and venereal disease.[6]
The prosperity and emerging position as a flourishing pearling centre and trading port of Zubarah, now in modern Qatar, had brought it to the attention of the two main regional powers at that time, Persia and Oman,[7] which were presumably sympathetic to Sheikh Nasr’s ambitions. Zubarah offered great potential wealth because of the extensive pearls found in its waters. In 1782, war broke out between the Zubarah-based Bani Utbah tribe and the Al-Madhkurs. Zubarah was originally the center of power of the Bani Utbah, from which the Al-Khalifa family belongs to.
The battle of Zubarah took place in the year 1782 between the Bani Utbah tribe and the army of Nasr Al-Madhkur.
In 1783, Nasr Al-Madhkur lost the islands of Bahrain to the Bani Utbah tribe.