Bahrain

Bahrain first became important as a Portuguese way station on the route to India in the 16th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries it was frequently under Iranian control. In 1783 the al-Khalifa dynasty established Bahrain as an independent emirate, but it was soon eclipsed by Great Britain's growing influence in the region. Beginning in 1861, the British forced Bahrain to accept a series of treaties giving the British control over its external affairs. The significance of the emirate greatly increased when oil was discovered there in the 1930s. Bahrain remained under British control until 1971; since 1973 it has been a constitutional monarchy and has become increasingly prosperous on the income from its oil exports. After the Iranian Shiite revolution in 1979, unrest grew among Bahrain's Shiite Muslims (the al-Khalifa are Sunni Muslims), and Iran revived its claim to the islands. In 1981 Bahrain reportedly foiled an Iranian-inspired plot to foment revolution in the emirate. Renewed attempts were reported in 1985. Bahrain was part of the United Nations-led, 28-nation allied force that defeated Iraq in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. In December 1994 Shiites calling for the restoration of the National Assembly, which had been disolved in 1975, held protests that led to skirmishes with police. After several months of protests, al-Khalifa began negotiations with the Shiite leaders, but the talks dissolved by mid-1995. In early 1996 dozens of Shiites were arrested for rioting and sabotage, and in June more Shiites were arrested and later sentenced to jail for plotting to overthrow the government.