The Bahārna (; or ), are an ethnoreligious group of Shia Muslim Arabs from the historical region of Bahrain. Generally regarded by scholars as the original inhabitants of Eastern Arabia, most Bahraini citizens are Baharna. They inhabited the region before the arrival of the Banu Utbah, from which the Bahraini royal family descends, in the 18th century.
Outside contemporary Bahrain, Baharna populations are found throughout Eastern Arabia (Bahrain, Qatif, and al-Ahsa). There are also significant populations in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Iraq (specifically Najaf and Karbala), as well as Khorramshahr and Hormozgan province in Iran. Additionally, some have migrated to Eastern Africa (Zanzibar in particular), Europe and America as well.
Origin The origin of the Baharna is debated, and there are different theories regarding their origins. Several Western scholars believe that the Baharna originate from Bahrain's ancient pre-Islamic population which consisted of partially-Christianized Arabs, Aramaic-speaking agriculturalists, Persian Zoroastrians, and a small number of Jews. According to one historian, Arab settlements in Bahrain may have begun around 300 B.C., and control of the island was maintained by the Rab'iah tribe that eventually converted to Islam in 630 A.D.
Local anecdotal evidence suggests that the Baharna's ancestry is diverse, as some word variants spoken in the dialects of the native people of the villages of Bani Jamra and A'ali are only used in places such as Yemen and Oman, indicating southern Arabian ancestry.Language Variation And Change In A Modernising Arab State: The Case Of Bahrain Google Books
Most Baharna families and clans claim descent from the Rab’ia tribe. However, the direct relation is often contested. While some trace ancestry to the Abd al-Qays, who were mostly Nestorian Christians (Church of the East) before the seventh century,Peter Hellyer. Nestorian Christianity in the Pre-Islamic UAE and Southeastern Arabia, Journal of Social Affairs, volume 18, number 72, winter 2011 others trace their ancestry to the Anizah tribe (a cousin tribe of the Abd Al-Qays). Some among them also claim ancestry to Bakr Bin Wail. Furthermore, other families trace their heritage to the other influential tribal conglomeration of northern pre-Islamic Arabia, the Banu Mudar, through the Banu Tamim tribe who ruled Bahrain during the early Islamic era. Illustrating the tribal mosaic of the Baharna, many other clans trace their heritage to Al-Azd, from Yemen.
According to Robert Bertram Serjeant, the Baharna may be the last of the "descendants of converts from the original population of Christians (Aramaeans), Jews and ancient Iranians (referred to by Arabs at the time as Majus) inhabiting the island and cultivated coastal provinces of Eastern Arabia at the time of the Arab conquest".
These claims are also supported by archaeological finds, as archaeologists uncovered Parthian (247 BC – 224 CE) related artefacts in Shah-khoura, and a Christian church in Samaheej () dated between the mid-4th and mid-8th centuries CE.
They are considered to be the original inhabitants of Bahrain,Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary By Clive Holes. Page XXIX as such, there is no indication that a population replacement happened to the Dilmunites.
The "Baharnah" mainly trace their lineages to these tribes:
Abd al-Qays Rabi'ah Bakr ibn Wa'il Banu Tamim Al-Azd Musawi Sayyid Descent (Qarooni, Alawi, Musawi, Qaheri....)
Genetics
A 2024 genomic study sequenced whole genomes from four individuals who lived in Bahrain during the Tylos period (circa 300 BCE – 600 CE). The results revealed that ancient Bahrainis possessed a composite genetic profile, primarily derived from ancient populations of the Near East. Their ancestry was best modelled as a mixture of ancient Anatolian, Levantine, and Iranian/Caucasian sources, reflecting Bahrain's historical position as a crossroads of regional populations. Subtle genetic variation among the four individuals indicated internal diversity even before the Islamic era—one individual showed stronger Levantine affinities, while others were genetically closer to groups from Iran and the Caucasus. Comparisons with modern populations showed that these ancient Bahrainis shared closer genetic affinities with present-day peoples of Iraq and the Levant than with those of the central Arabian Peninsula.
Complementing this, a Y-chromosome study of 562 Bahraini males found that haplogroup J2—often associated with populations of Iran, the Caucasus, and Mesopotamia—was the most prevalent lineage in Bahrain, accounting for 26.7% of all samples. This was followed by haplogroup J1 (22.9%), E1b1b (17.4%), and R1a (8.0%). Sub-regional analysis revealed that J2 was the dominant haplogroup in all governorates, with its highest concentration in the Northern Governorate (85 out of 254 samples). These results align with the genetic continuity observed between ancient and modern Bahrainis, especially among the Baharna and Ajam, whose Y-lineages show strong affinities to populations of the northern Arabian Gulf and southwestern Iran rather than the central Arabian Peninsula. Certain families seem to also show affinity to J2, including Al-Alawi, Al-Musawi, Al-Qassab and others. This is also true of the general population in the northern and capital governates, both in ancient and present times.
Some Baharna and Ajams likely intermixed, giving many Bahrainis claim to Iranian descent. Furthermore, a significant portion of the Baharna, along with many Emiratis, can trace part of their ancestry to Persian roots, often through a grandmother from two or three generations ago during the pre-oil era. This connection might position them as a distinct intermediate or mixed ethnic group.
Additionally, some subgroups of Baharna have had recurring migrations between Bahrain and Khouzestan, notably the Al-Qarooni family (said to be named after a man called Qaroon/Karun who is traced to the lineage of Musa Al-Khadim), who have had to re-migrate after the Persian harassment campaign against the Arabs of Mohammerah intensified, after they were involved in an Arab Nationalist movement. Some of them speak a variant of Mesopotamian Arabic. Some of them are shown by some samples to have an affinity to the J2 Haplogroup (belonging to the J-BY44557 branch), indicating continuous presence since ancient times.
Etymology The term Bahrani serves to distinguish the Baharna from other Kuwaiti or Bahraini ethnic groups, such as the ethnic Bahraini-Iranians who fall under the term Ajam, as well as from the Sunni Arabs in Bahrain who are known as Al Arab ("Arabs"), such as Bani Utbah.Lorimer, John Gordon, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia, republished by Gregg International Publishers Limited Westemead. Farnborough, Hants., England and Irish University Press, Shannon, Irelend. Printed in Holland, 1970, Vol. II A, entries on "Bahrain" and "Baharna" In the United Arab Emirates, the Baharna make up 5% of Emiratis and are generally descended from Baharna coming around 100–200 years ago.John Gordon Lorimer. Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. 1908. p.241–242
In Arabic, bahrayn is the dual form of bahr ("sea"), so al-Bahrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute.Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. I. "Bahrayn", p. 941. E.J. Brill (Leiden), 1960. The term appears five times in the Qur'an, but does not refer to the modern islandoriginally known to the Arabs as "Awal".
Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are instead generally taken to be the bay east and west of the island,Room, Adrian. Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites. 2006. . the seas north and south of the island, or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground.Faroughy, Abbas. The Bahrein Islands (750–1951): A Contribution to the Study of Power Politics in the Persian Gulf. Verry, Fisher & Co. (New York), 1951. In addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity.Rice, Michael. The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, c. 5000–323 BC. Routledge, 1994. .
An alternate theory offered by al-Ahsa was that the two seas were the Persian Gulf and a peaceful lake on the mainland Near Al-Ahsa, known as Al-Asfar Lake; still another provided by Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari is that the more formal name Bahri (lit. "belonging to the sea") would have been misunderstood and so was opted against.
Language
Pre-Arabization Prior to Arabic, it is likely that the Baharnah spoke Syriac Aramaic (ܣܘܪܝܝܐ), preceded by Akkadian, which was used during the Dilmun era and was written in Cuneiform.
Bahrani Arabic
The Bahrani Arabic dialect, which is a bit different from Bahraini Gulf Dialect and other Gulf Arabic dialects, is one of the dialects of the Arabic language, spoken by the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain in rural areas, as well as by the inhabitants of Qatif Governorate in eastern Saudi Arabia.
The Bahrani Arabic dialect exhibits Akkadian, Aramaic, Syriac and Parsig features. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Middle Persian (Pahlavi) speakers, while Syriac functioned as a liturgical language.
Linguistic anthropologist Clive Holes says with regards to the Bahrani dialect and its Akkadian roots:
The Bahrani dialect is spoken in two forms: the traditional old form (known as Halayliyya) and the modern form used today. Its vocabulary is divided into several sub-varieties, including:
The general Bahrani dialect, which is widespread in most villages and areas of Bahrain and is closely related to the Iraqi dialect. The dialect of Sitra Island residents (""), used only in Sitra and its surroundings, differing slightly from the main Bahrani dialect. The dialect of A’ali and Buri residents, which is a middle form between the general dialect and that of Sitra, characterized by heavier pronunciation. The dialect of Manama and Ras Rumman residents, known for its calm tone and closest resemblance to the Qatif dialect. The dialect of Diraz residents.
Notes on the Bahrani dialect:
The letter k (ك) is changed to sh (ش) in feminine words — a feature known as shanshana. Example: Yā l-mas‘ada jātsh ḥamātsh (“Oh happy one, your mother-in-law came”). The letter dh/the (ذ) is pronounced as d (د). Example: hādhāk → hadāk (“that one”). The letter ẓ (ظ) is pronounced as ḍ (ض). Example: bi-ḥifẓ Allāh → bi-ḥfaḍ Allāh (“with God's protection”). The letter qāf (ق) is pronounced as the Egyptian g (ج) / Persian g (گ) or the hard g sound (as in “go”). Example: qāl → jāl or gal (“he said”). The letter qāf (ق) is also sometimes softened to j (ج). Example: ṣadīq → ṣadīj (“friend”). The letter th (ث) is changed to f (ف). Example: thalātha → falāfa (“three”). The addition of the -n (ن) sound to some words in the second-person form. Example: ’inti → ’intīn (“you [feminine]”), ’antum → ’intūn (“you [plural]”).
Only Bahrani Arabic has a different pronoun for female "I" (), and like other gulf dialects it includes the “ga” (گ) and “ch” (چ) sounds, below are some examples of that: +Bahrani ArabicBahraini Gulf ArabicEnglish Translationwhat is this?I want three sandwichesFor what? (feminine) (masculine) (feminine) (masculine)I am tired
Culture
Traditional Crafts
The Baharnah are known for their handcrafts and have been known so for many years, these crafts include:
Weaving: Artisans use palm leaves to create mats (sofra), baskets, fans, and more, particularly in Karbabad and Jasra. Pottery () : The village of Al-Ali is famous for its ceramics, alongside other pottery traditions found across the island.