Bahrain’s past revealed

Did you know that Bahrain was called Dilmun, a paradise garden in the Epic of Gilgamesh? This is

one of the many facts that people don't know about Bahrain but Bahraini writer and researcher

Rashid Al Jassim brings back a spectrum of Bahrain's past in his book titled “Bahrain and its Arab

and Islamic Depths.”

Mr Al Jassim said that that during his extensive travels across the region, he found out that

whenever he announced his Bahraini identity people would receive him with much respect. Mr Al

Jassim wondered and questioned as to how the country, its people and the ancestors gained

such reputation to earn recognition and respect across the region.

Mr Al Jassim set himself out to spend four-and-a-half years on researching and documenting

resources of the instances of Bahraini people's relations with Arab, Islamic and Gulf countries.

The book, which unearths many untold stories of Bahrain, is at display at this year’s Al Ayam

Book Fair. 

"There are many instances where Bahrainis had to migrate to places in Al Ahsa of Saudi Arabia

and Iraq. The pearl trades contributed to funding and building educational hubs for people.

Bahrain also supported many Gulf countries. In fact, one of the Bahrainis pitched the idea of a

Gulf Union in 1911 while another one pitched an idea for an Islamic Union,” said Mr Al Jassim. 

He stressed that, "Bahrain is not just Muharraq, not just Manama nor Riffa… Bahrain is the

Arabian Peninsula, it is the depths of the Arab and Islamic."

The book, divided into two sections, has close to 1,000 pages of historical data and anecdotes

that he collected from old libraries in places like Egypt and Kuwait. He also explored them

through people's stories, old newspapers and magazines.

He said that there are people who didn't see the point of working hard researching for so long on

the book, but he explained that, "We don't have many resources about the people themselves,

most of the relations between these countries are about their government. And for us to present

such resources to many generations ahead will I hope bring a change in this cultural notion of

embracing our identity through understanding the depths of our history."