Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa

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Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Hakim of Bahrain
Reign1843 – 1868
PredecessorAbdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa
SuccessorAli bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Died1890
Mecca
Names
Muhammad bin Khalifa bin Salman bin Ahmed
HouseHouse of Khalifa
FatherKhalifa bin Salman

Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (محمد بن خليفة بن سلمان آل خليفة; died 1890) was the ruler of Bahrain between 1843 and 1868.[1] He was the sixth monarch of the Al Khalifa dynasty.

Early life and struggle[]

Muhammad was the grandson of Salman bin Ahmed, co-ruler of Bahrain, and had four brothers, Ali, Duaij, Salman and Rashid.[2] Muhammad served as the governor of Manama.[2] When his father, Khalifa bin Salman, died in 1834[3] he succeeded him as the co-ruler, but with diminished power.[2] In 1842 Muhammad challenged the reign of his grand uncle Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa and declared himself as the ruler of Bahrain and Qatar.[2] However, soon Muhammad was defeated in the battle of al Nasfah against Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa and took refuge in the Emirate of Najd under the protection of Saudi ruler Abdullah bin Thunayan.[2][4]

Reign and abdication[]

In early 1843 Muhammad returned to Qatar and then to Bahrain, and in April 1843 he defeated Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa and became the ruler.[2][5] During his reign Muhammad paid an annual tribute to Faisal bin Turki, successor of Abdullah bin Thunayan as the Emir of Najd.[6] However, in 1850 he began not to pay the amount,[6] and next year Muhammad attempted to get support from the Ottomans which was not fruitful.[7] Abdullah bin Faisal, son of the ruler of Najd, managed to reach an agreement with Muhammad through the mediation of Said bin Tahnoon, the ruler of Abu Dhabi.[6]

In 1860 Muhammad asked the Persians to be the protector of his reign due to the restrictions on his actions imposed by the British, and his proposal was welcomed by them, but was not materialized.[7] Muhammad and his brother Ali signed a convention which was forced by the British Resident, Commander Felix Jones, and the convention effectively integrated Bahrain into the Trucial System in 1861.[7]

Muhammad was forced to abdicate by the British after an alleged violation of the 1861 convention which prevented him from carrying out maritime depredations.[5][8] In 1867 he and the sheikhs of Abu Dhabi attacked the coast of Qatar which led to great damage in the region, and this incident accelerated his deposition by the British.[8] Muhammad fled country in 1868 and first went to Khor Hassan in Qatar before settling in Qatif.[7] He was succeeded by his brother, Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa,[1][7] who was killed by the forces of Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa in 1869.[5][9] The British forces captured Muhammad and sent him to prison in India.[8] In addition, due to the extensive intrafamilial fractions Britain blockaded the islands of Bahrain and took all of the Al Khalifa members into custody imposing conditions that resulted in the changing the ruler.[10] They appointed Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa as the new ruler of Bahrain.[8]

In 1888 Muhammad was freed from Indian prison and brought to Mecca where he lived as a pensioner of the Ottomans until his death in 1890.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Rulers of Bahrain". eGovernment Bahrain. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Abdulaziz Mohamed Hasan Ali Al Khalifa (April 2013). Relentless Warrior and Shrewd Tactician: Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmad of Bahrain 1795-1849 A Case Study of Shaikhly Statecraft in the Nineteenth Century Gulf (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Exeter.
  3. ^ Mohammed Ameen (March 1981). A Study of Egyptian Rule in Eastern Arabia (1814-1841) (MA thesis). McGill University. p. 43. OCLC 891205897.
  4. ^ R. Bayly Winder (1965). Saudi Arabia in the Nineteenth Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 140. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-81723-8. ISBN 978-0-3330-5541-0.
  5. ^ a b c J. B. Kelly (January 1957). "The Persian Claim to Bahrain". International Affairs. 33 (1): 60. doi:10.2307/2604468.
  6. ^ a b c Bilal Ahmad Kutty (1997). Saudi Arabia under King Faisal (PDF) (PhD thesis). Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 45–46. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e Talal Toufic Farah (1979). Protection and Politics in Bahrain, 1869-1915 (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of London. pp. 52–54. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e Frederick Fallowfield Anscombe (1994). The Ottoman Gulf and the creation of Kuwayt, Sa'udi Arabia and Qatar, 1871-1914 (PhD thesis). Princeton University. pp. 24, 261. ProQuest 304117067.
  9. ^ Justin J. Gengler (2013). "Royal Factionalism, the Khawalid, and the Securitization of 'the Shīʿa Problem' in Bahrain". Journal of Arabian Studies. 3 (1): 59. doi:10.1080/21534764.2013.802944.
  10. ^ Mansoor Al Jamri (November 2010). "Shia and the State in Bahrain: Integration and Tension" (PDF). Alternative Politics. 1. ISSN 1309-0593. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2018.

External links[]

Regnal titles
Preceded by Hakim of Bahrain
1843 – 1868 		Succeeded by
Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
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