CULTURE
In spite of its recent rapid economic
development, Bahrain remains, in most respects, essentially Arab
in its culture and lifestyle. The state radio and television stations
broadcast mainly in Arabic; television transmissions are also
received from Saudi Arabia. The traditional sports of falconry,
gazelle and hare coursing, and horse and camel racing are still
practiced by wealthier Bahrainis.
Bahrain
may have been under mainland Arab domination when Shapur II annexed
it, together with eastern Arabia, into the Persian Sasanian empire
in the 4th century AD. By the time of the Muslim conquest, in
the 7th century, Bahrain was being governed for Persia by a Christian
Arab; Syrian Christian records suggest Bahrain had its own Nestorian
bishop. The 'Abbasids took Bahrain in the 8th century, and it
remained under Arab control until 1521, when Portugal seized it.
In 1602, after 80 years of unrest, the Persians took Bahrain and
held it against assaults by the Portuguese and the Omanis. In
1783 Ahmad ibn Al Khalifah ousted the Persians, and his family
has ruled Bahrain ever since.
