Jump to content

Emirate of Muhammara: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
WP:LEADBOMB to establish a reliably sourced base; will hopefully work some more on this in the coming days
Line 3: Line 3:
{{Original research|date=July 2019}}
{{Original research|date=July 2019}}
}}
}}
{{under construction}}
The '''Emirate of Arabistan''', sometimes also called the '''Shaykhdom of Arabistan''' or '''Principality of Arabistan''',<ref>Shaykhdom of Arabistan: {{harvnb|Herb|2015|p=75}}; {{harvnb|Minahan|2016|p=481}}. Principality of Arabistan: {{harvnb|Strunk|1977}}.</ref> was a semi-independent region in the southwestern [[Iran]]ian province [[Khuzestan]] from the late seventeenth century until 1925.<ref>{{harvnb|Ward|2014|p=76}}</ref> It was conquered by the [[Qajar Iran|Qajars]] in 1821 but retained a semi-autonomous status,<ref>{{harvnb|Ward|2014|p=76}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brog|2017}}.</ref> with the port city of [[Khorramshahr|Muhammerah (Khorramshahr)]] serving as its capital.<ref>{{harvnb|Altaie|1993|p=541}}; {{harvnb|Herb|2015|p=75}}, referring to {{harvnb|Lorimer|1908|pp=129, 356}}.</ref>


From 1897 onward the emirate was ruled by {{transliteration|ar|[[Khazʽal Ibn Jabir|Shaykh Khazʿal]]|italics=no}} (1863–1936), a tribal leader belonging to the [[Banu Ka'b]] who, perhaps under British colonial influence, turned to [[Arab nationalism]] and sought to gain independence from Iran.<ref>{{harvnb|Soucek|1984|p=206}}; {{harvnb|Elling|2013|p=37}}.</ref>
Until 1925, the region east of the Shatt al-Arab river was an autonomous region known as Arabistan. However, this region was also a province of the Persian empire and in the year 1925, central control was imposed by military force and the name of the province was changed from Arabistan to Khuzestan. Historically, the rulers of Arabistan had carved out an independent existence since the late seventeenth century by playing the Iranians against the Ottomans.<ref name=":0" /> In the eighteenth century Arabistan enjoyed autonomy from the Persian government. The Ottoman authorities, however, in co-operation with the British, sought to weaken the ruling Bani Ka'b tribes and a joint Anglo-Ottoman campaign marched on the emirate in 1763. Two years later, Persia launched a violent and destructive military campaign that led the Arab inhabitants of Arabistan to abandon their capital in Qabban and seek refuge in the village of Al-Fallahiyya (now known as Shadegan). Because of this, Arabistan became fragmented and it divided into scattered tribal groups.

The emirate was annexed by Iran in 1925 and became part of the modern Khuzestan province in 1936.<ref>{{harvnb|Takriti|2012|p=100}}.</ref> Following the downfall of Shaykh Khazʿal's rule in Arabistan, many [[Iranian Arabs|Arab Iranians]] fled to neighboring countries such as (southern) [[Iraq]] and Kuwayt, as well as to [[Bahrain]] and to the [[Al-Ahsa Governorate|{{transliteration|ar|al-Aḥsāʾ}} Governorate]] in Saudi Arabia, thus also introducing a significant [[Shi'i]] population in these countries.<ref>{{harvnb|Al-Naqeeb|2012|p=73}}.</ref>


==Geography ==
==Geography ==
Line 14: Line 18:


=== 15th-18th century ===
=== 15th-18th century ===
The rulers of Arabistan had carved out an independent existence since the late seventeenth century by playing the Persians against the Ottomans. Because of Qajar Weakness, the Arabistan tribes retained a large measure of autonomy.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Ward |first=Steven R. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/869095274 |title=Immortal : a military history of Iran and its armed forces |date=2014 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-1-62616-065-1 |pages=76 |oclc=869095274}}</ref> Until the early seventeenth century, the area east of the Shatt Al-Arab was an Arab emirate ruled by Sheikh Mubarak bin Abdul Muttalib. He ruled his emirate independently of both the Persian and Ottoman Empires. A later ruler, Sheikh Mansour, resisted Shah Abbas's attempts to interfere in his affairs. He also rejected the Shah’ s call to join the Persian forces besieging Baghdad in 1623.
The rulers of Arabistan had carved out an independent existence since the late seventeenth century by playing the Persians against the Ottomans. Because of Qajar Weakness, the Arabistan tribes retained a large measure of autonomy.<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Ward|2014|p=76}}.</ref> Until the early seventeenth century, the area east of the Shatt Al-Arab was an Arab emirate ruled by Sheikh Mubarak bin Abdul Muttalib. He ruled his emirate independently of both the Persian and Ottoman Empires. A later ruler, Sheikh Mansour, resisted Shah Abbas's attempts to interfere in his affairs. He also rejected the Shah’ s call to join the Persian forces besieging Baghdad in 1623.


===18th-19th century: The rule of the Al Bu Nasir, Princes of Fallahiyah<ref>{{cite book|title=British and South West Persia|last=Shahnavaz|first=Shahbaz|publisher=RoutledgeCurzon|year=2005|pages=5}}</ref>===
===18th-19th century: The rule of the Al Bu Nasir, Princes of Fallahiyah<ref>{{cite book|title=British and South West Persia|last=Shahnavaz|first=Shahbaz|publisher=RoutledgeCurzon|year=2005|pages=5}}</ref>===
Line 43: Line 47:
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{cite book|last1=Al-Naqeeb|first1=Khaldoun Nassan|date=2012|orig-date=1990|title=Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula: A Different Perspective|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-62396-4}}
**Review: {{cite journal|last1=Altaie|first1=Ali|date=1993|title=Khaldoun Hasan Al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula: A Different Perspective, trans. L. M. Kenny, emended by Ibrahim Hayani, under the aegis of the Project of Translation from Arabic (London: Routledge, 1990). Pp. 227.|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=25|issue=3|pages=539–541|doi=10.1017/S0020743800059122}}
*{{cite thesis|last1=Ansari|first1=Mostafa|date=1974|title=The History of Khuzistan, 1878–1925|type=Unpublished PhD dissertation|location=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago}}
*{{cite book|last1=Brog|first1=David|date=2017|title=Reclaiming Israel's History: Roots, Rights, and the Struggle for Peace|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781621576099|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxYbDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT10}}
*{{cite book|last1=Elling|first1=Rasmus Christian|date=2013|title=Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini|location=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|doi=10.1057/9781137047809|isbn=978-1-137-04780-9|url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137047809}}
*{{cite book|last1=Herb|first1=Michael|date=2015|title=The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE|location=Ithaca|publisher=Cornell University Press|doi=10.7591/9780801454691}}
*{{cite book|last1=Lorimer|first1=John G.|date=1908|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, Vol. 2A: Geo-graphical and Statistical|location=Calcutta|publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing}}
*{{cite book|last1=Minahan|first1=James B.|date=2016|title=Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World|edition=2nd|location=Santa Barbara|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-1-61069-953-2}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Soucek|first1=Svat|date=1984|title=Arabistan or Khuzistan|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=17|issue=2–3|pages=195–213|doi=10.1080/00210868408701628|jstor=4310441}}
*{{cite thesis|last1=Strunk|first1=William Theodore|date=1977|title=The Reign of Shaykh Khaz‘al Ibn Jābir and the Suppression of the Principality of ‘Arabistān: A Study in British Imperialism in Southwestern Iran, 1897–1925|type=Unpublished PhD dissertation|location=Indianapolis|publisher=Indiana University}}
*{{cite book|last1=Takriti|first1=Abdel Razzaq|date=2018|chapter=Political Praxis in the Gulf: Ahmad al-Khatib and the Movement of Arab Nationalists, 1948–1969|editor1-last=Hanssen|editor1-first=Jens|editor2-last=Weiss|editor2-first=Max|title=Arabic Thought against the Authoritarian Age: Towards an Intellectual History of the Present|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=86–112|doi=10.1017/9781108147781.007|isbn=978-1-107-19338-3}}
*{{cite book|last1=Ward|first1=Steven R.|date=2014|title=Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=9781589012585|oclc=869095274}}


[[Category:History of Khuzestan Province]]
[[Category:History of Khuzestan Province]]

Revision as of 23:45, 9 June 2022

The Emirate of Arabistan, sometimes also called the Shaykhdom of Arabistan or Principality of Arabistan,[1] was a semi-independent region in the southwestern Iranian province Khuzestan from the late seventeenth century until 1925.[2] It was conquered by the Qajars in 1821 but retained a semi-autonomous status,[3] with the port city of Muhammerah (Khorramshahr) serving as its capital.[4]

From 1897 onward the emirate was ruled by Shaykh Khazʿal (1863–1936), a tribal leader belonging to the Banu Ka'b who, perhaps under British colonial influence, turned to Arab nationalism and sought to gain independence from Iran.[5]

The emirate was annexed by Iran in 1925 and became part of the modern Khuzestan province in 1936.[6] Following the downfall of Shaykh Khazʿal's rule in Arabistan, many Arab Iranians fled to neighboring countries such as (southern) Iraq and Kuwayt, as well as to Bahrain and to the al-Aḥsāʾ Governorate in Saudi Arabia, thus also introducing a significant Shi'i population in these countries.[7]

Geography

The majority of Arabistan, with the exception of the Bakhtiari lands, fell within the geographical range of Mesopotamia[8] while bordering the Zagros mountains to the East.

History

Arabistan, a tract isolated by mountains, rivers and marsh from Turkey and Persia, had always maintained a semi-independent position, free from any but sporadic interference from either power.[9]

15th-18th century

The rulers of Arabistan had carved out an independent existence since the late seventeenth century by playing the Persians against the Ottomans. Because of Qajar Weakness, the Arabistan tribes retained a large measure of autonomy.[10] Until the early seventeenth century, the area east of the Shatt Al-Arab was an Arab emirate ruled by Sheikh Mubarak bin Abdul Muttalib. He ruled his emirate independently of both the Persian and Ottoman Empires. A later ruler, Sheikh Mansour, resisted Shah Abbas's attempts to interfere in his affairs. He also rejected the Shah’ s call to join the Persian forces besieging Baghdad in 1623.

18th-19th century: The rule of the Al Bu Nasir, Princes of Fallahiyah[11]

By the eighteenth century, the Bani Ka'b had constructed one of the gulf's largest seagoing fleets. Different accounts indicate that during this period of transition, the Ka’b recognized Ottoman sovereignty,[12] and that it was only after their post 1720 expansion into Arabistan that the question of their allegiance came to the fore. This was when Nadir Shah (1732–47 ) dispatched Muhammad Husayn Qajar to besiege Quban and the Ka'b sued for peace thereby accepting Persian suzerainty for the first time.[12]

The reign of Sheikh Salman

The Ka'b reached the zenith of their power under Sheikh Salman, who by the early 1760s controlled most of southeast Arabistan. With a navy of some eighty boats, they controlled all traffic between Basra and the mouth of the Shatt,[13] conducting their “ piratical fleet into the Gulph.”[citation needed] Thanks to a favorable location and the activities of this fleet, the economy on both sides of the Shatt flourished, and Ka‘b rulers were able to incorporate the Persian lands along the Karun as well as the nominally Ottoman districts of Muhammarah, Haffar, and Tamar, while retaining a degree of autonomy from both the Ottomans and the Persians.[12]

In 1763, the Ottoman authorities, in co-operation with the British, sought to weaken the Bani Ka’ b tribes and a joint Anglo-Ottoman campaign marched on Arabistan. This culminated in victory for the Arab tribes. Two years later, Persia launched a violent and destructive military campaign that led the Arab inhabitants of Arabistan to abandon their capital in Qabban and seek refuge in the village of Al-Fallahiyya. Because of this, Arabistan became fragmented and it divided into scattered tribal groups, the most prominent of which was the Al-Muhaysin. In due course, the capital of Arabistan moved again from the village of Al-Fallahiyya to the city of Al-Muhammara, which had been built by the Bani Ka’ b Arabs near the mouth of the river Karun on the Shatt Al-Arab, and continued to be Arabistan’ s capital until 1925. Al Muhammara was given its name because its soil was red.

19th-20th century: The rule of the Al Bu Kasib, Princes of Mohammerah

Since the emergence of Mohammerah in 1812 as an autonomous emirate in Arabistan it had been a bone of contention between the Persian and Ottoman Empires.[14] The Emirate's strategic and commercial location in the Shatt al Arab accentuated Persian Turkish rivalry for control over it. Muhammarah subsequently became a hostage to the two states, until the 1847 Erzurum Treaty allotted it to Persia.[14] Despite the treaty, the Emirate continued to be an autonomous entity, and the flow of Arab tribes across the Shatt al Arab preserved the Arab identity of the eastern bank of the Shatt. Thus Richard Frye maintains that the Arabs of Khuzistan and of the seaports of southern Persia were simply an extension of Arab settlements from the West Bank.[15]

In 1890, British consulate established at Muhammarah.[16]

Relationship with central government

At the turn of the twentieth century, Arabistan was still a frontier zone that enjoyed considerable autonomy, and two prominent British observers of the time commented on its sense of separateness.[17] In the words of journalist Valentine Chirol, “The Turk and the Persian are both aliens in the land, equally hated by the Arab population, and both have proved equally unworthy and incompetent stewards of a splendid estate.[17] British imperialist George Curzon remarked that “No love is lost between the two people, the Persian regarding the Arab as an interloper and a dullard, and the Arab regarding the Persian, with some justice in this region, as a plotter and a rogue.[17]

The discovery of oil in Arabistan

In 1901 the Persian government had granted William Knox D'Arcy the exclusive right to drill for oil in certain parts of Persia, including the region in which the territories of the ruler of Arabistan were located. But in January 1903, the Shah of Persia, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, granted a firman (Imperial edict) to the shaykh using language in which the Qajar government admitted, “at least by implication,” that it had exceeded its powers in conferring certain privileges on D’Arcy. The lands in question had belonged in the past to the shaykh, his tribesmen, and their ancestors.[18]

In 1908, William Knox D'Arcy discovered oil near Masjed Soleiman by contract with its local ruler Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari.[19][page needed][20]

Strategic importance of Mohammerah[12]

Starting with Colonel Chesney’ s expeditions (1835–37 ) to prove the navigability of the Tigris and Euphrates, which concluded that Muhammarah should be the center of communications between India and Europe, the East India Company tried to establish a foothold in the region. As Gamazof notes, the scramble over Muhammarah was understandable, for it had many desirable features. These included its anchorage in the deep and broad Haffar Canal; its good weather, safe harbor, and sweet water; the possibility of constructing stores and a wharf, or even a complete port; its strategic command of the Karun and the Shatt and the great rivers forming it; and its proximity to the trade of Baghdad, Basra, and the many local tribes that carried on commerce independently.

The same conditions also protected them from intrusive Iranian interference, while acceptance of the suzerainty of Iran ’ s rulers further ensured independence from Ottoman interference. Yet acceptance of suzerainty did not necessarily mean recognition of sovereignty, and the multiple claims of suzerainty over them, which continued through the second half of the nineteenth century, gave them even more room to maneuver.

References

  1. ^ Shaykhdom of Arabistan: Herb 2015, p. 75; Minahan 2016, p. 481. Principality of Arabistan: Strunk 1977.
  2. ^ Ward 2014, p. 76
  3. ^ Ward 2014, p. 76; cf. Brog 2017.
  4. ^ Altaie 1993, p. 541; Herb 2015, p. 75, referring to Lorimer 1908, pp. 129, 356.
  5. ^ Soucek 1984, p. 206; Elling 2013, p. 37.
  6. ^ Takriti 2012, p. 100.
  7. ^ Al-Naqeeb 2012, p. 73.
  8. ^ Friedman, Isaiah (2018-04-17). Palestine A Twice-Promised Land?. Routledge. p. 48. doi:10.4324/9781351290081. ISBN 978-1-351-29008-1.
  9. ^ Mesopotamia, Bell, Gertrude Lowthian, 1868-1926 Rich, P. J. (Rich, Paul John) Bell, Gertrude Lowthian, 1868-1926. Asiatic Turkey Bell, Gertrude Lowthian, 1868-1926. Arab of (2008). Iraq and Gertrude Bell's The Arab of Mesopotamia. Lexington Books. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7391-2561-8. OCLC 486979300.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Ward 2014, p. 76.
  11. ^ Shahnavaz, Shahbaz (2005). British and South West Persia. RoutledgeCurzon. p. 5.
  12. ^ a b c d Ateş, Sabri (2013). Ottoman-Iranian Borderlands : Making a Boundary 1843-1914. Cambridge University Press.
  13. ^ Izady, M. R. (2002), "The Gulf's Ethnic Diversity", Security in the Persian Gulf, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 33–90, doi:10.1057/9780230108189_3, ISBN 978-0-312-23950-3, retrieved 2021-05-21, 63.
  14. ^ a b Mohammad), Abdulghani, J. M. (Jasim (2011). Iraq & Iran the years of crisis. Routledge. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-280-67016-9. OCLC 1162444426.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Frye, Richard Nelson (2003). The golden age of Persia : the Arabs in the East. Phonix. p. 236. ISBN 1-84212-011-5. OCLC 918277520.
  16. ^ Olson, Ani, Robert W. Salman H. (1987). Islamic and Middle Eastern societies. Michigan: Amana Books. p. 155.
  17. ^ a b c Potter., Lawrence G. (2004). The Evolution of the Iran-Iraq Boundary. p. 63.
  18. ^ Shafiee, Katayoun (9 March 2018). Machineries of oil : an infrastructural history of BP in Iran. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-262-34484-5. OCLC 1028747467.
  19. ^ Vassiliou, M. S. Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2009. Print.
  20. ^ Peter Frangipan (2015). The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 319. ISBN 9781101946336.

Sources

  • Al-Naqeeb, Khaldoun Nassan (2012) [1990]. Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula: A Different Perspective. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-62396-4.
    • Review: Altaie, Ali (1993). "Khaldoun Hasan Al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula: A Different Perspective, trans. L. M. Kenny, emended by Ibrahim Hayani, under the aegis of the Project of Translation from Arabic (London: Routledge, 1990). Pp. 227". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 25 (3): 539–541. doi:10.1017/S0020743800059122.
  • Ansari, Mostafa (1974). The History of Khuzistan, 1878–1925 (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Chicago: University of Chicago.
  • Brog, David (2017). Reclaiming Israel's History: Roots, Rights, and the Struggle for Peace. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781621576099.
  • Elling, Rasmus Christian (2013). Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/9781137047809. ISBN 978-1-137-04780-9.
  • Herb, Michael (2015). The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/9780801454691.
  • Lorimer, John G. (1908). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia, Vol. 2A: Geo-graphical and Statistical. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing.
  • Minahan, James B. (2016). Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara: Greenwood. ISBN 978-1-61069-953-2.
  • Soucek, Svat (1984). "Arabistan or Khuzistan". Iranian Studies. 17 (2–3): 195–213. doi:10.1080/00210868408701628. JSTOR 4310441.
  • Strunk, William Theodore (1977). The Reign of Shaykh Khaz‘al Ibn Jābir and the Suppression of the Principality of ‘Arabistān: A Study in British Imperialism in Southwestern Iran, 1897–1925 (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Indianapolis: Indiana University.
  • Takriti, Abdel Razzaq (2018). "Political Praxis in the Gulf: Ahmad al-Khatib and the Movement of Arab Nationalists, 1948–1969". In Hanssen, Jens; Weiss, Max (eds.). Arabic Thought against the Authoritarian Age: Towards an Intellectual History of the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 86–112. doi:10.1017/9781108147781.007. ISBN 978-1-107-19338-3.
  • Ward, Steven R. (2014). Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781589012585. OCLC 869095274.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Emirate_of_Muhammara&oldid=1092380173"