Bani Utbah

The Shia Safavids asked for the assistance of the Utub in invading Oman in 1697; however, they were defeated, as they were already engaged in another war with the Ottomans for the control of Basra.[1]

The sultan of Oman at the time asked for the assistance of the Utub in invading Bahrain in 1717.[2]

Bani Utbah led by many tribes along with Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Khalifa and Salama bin Saif Al Bin Ali invaded and conquered Bahrain in 1783. Bahrain is ruled by the Bani Utbah, House of Khalifa ever since.

On 17 May 1783, war broke out between The Al Bin Ali Bani Utbah tribe and the army of Nasr Al-Madhkur. Zubarah was originally the center of power of the Al Bin Ali Bani Utbah tribe, which ruled Zubarah and are the original dominant tribe in Zubarah. About 2,000 Persian troops arrived in Bahrain by December; they then attacked Zubarah on 17 May 1783. After suffering a defeat, the Persians withdrew their arms and retreated to their ships. An Utub naval fleet from Kuwait arrived in Bahrain the same day and set Manama ablaze. The Persian forces returned to the mainland to recruit troops for another attack, but their garrisons in Bahrain were ultimately overrun by the Utub.

It is well known that the strategist of this battle was Shaikh Nasr Al-Madhkur; his sword fell into the hands of Salama Bin Saif Al Bin Ali after his army collapsed and his forces were defeated.

The Al Bin Ali have kept the sword with them and they kept passing it from son to grandson until it was given as a gift to King Abdul Aziz Bin Faisal Al Saud and it can be seen today at the King AbdulAziz Museum in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia.[3]

The Utub under the leadership of Shaikh Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and his subjects in Zubarah, Qatar, conquered and expelled the Persians from Bahrain after defeating them in the battle of Zubarah that took place in the year 1782 between the people of Zubarah and the Army of Nasr Al-Madhkur Ruler of Bahrain and Bushire. The Bani Utbah was already present at Bahrain at that time, settling there during summer season and purchasing date palm gardens.[4]

On 5 March 1837, the Al Bin Ali under the command of their leader Isa bin Tarif attacked Mombasa, Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman helped the tribe with ships and armoury, repeatedly bombarding Fort Jesus for a week until the Portuguese surrendered on 12 March. The fort was ruled by the Portuguese Empire, with Kenyan and Portuguese soldiers. ^[4]

Fort Jesus is a Portuguese fort built in 1593 by order of King Philip II of Spain (King Philip I of Portugal), then ruler of the joint Portuguese and Spanish Kingdoms, located on Mombasa Island to guard the Old Port of Mombasa, Kenya. It was built in the shape of a man (viewed from the air), and was given the name of Jesus, after Shaikh Isa Bin Tarif Al Bin Ali Al Utbi conquered the fort in 1837[5]

The Utub's ancestors were expelled from Umm Qasr in Iraq by the Ottomans due to their predatory habits of preying on caravans in Basra and trading ships in Shatt al-Arab.[6] They migrated to Kuwait thereafter. Around the 1760s, the Al Jalahma and Al Khalifa clans, both belonging to the Utub federation, migrated to Zubarah in modern-day Qatar, leaving Al Sabah as the sole proprietors of Kuwait.[7] The two tribes established a free-trade port at Zubarah's harbor, but the Al Khalifas refused to share the economic gains with the Al Jalahmah, and so the latter migrated to Al Ruwais. The Al Khalifa went on to monopolize the pearl banks around Qatar.[8]

Putting aside their grievances, the Utub tribes of Al Bin Ali, Al Jalahma and Al Khalifa, along with some Arab tribes, drove out the Persians from Bahrain in 1783 in an expedition which was launched in part due to Persian aggression towards Zubarah in 1782.[9]