ABSTRACT
Anotheraspectofthepowerfulsocialandculturalphenomena thatchangedArabiaduringtheeighteenthcenturywasthe puritanicalandpoliticallyexpansiveMuwahhidun(Unitarian)or WahhabireligiousrevivalthatoriginatedinthecentralArabian provinceofNajdduringthemid-eighteenthcentury.10Theriseof theUtubprincipalitiesofbothKuwaitandZubarahhadbeenaided bythebenevolentregimeandprotectionoftheBanuKhalid,who heldswayineasternArabiawhentheUtubarrived.Duringthelate 1770s,however,BanuKhalidsupremacyintheareawastoppledby theexpandingpoweroftheSu'udifamily,whochampionedthe WahhabiversionofIslamanditsstrictHanbaliversionofMuslim law.Thus,unlikethesituationpriorto1780wheneasternArabiawas sharedbyanumberofArabtribesco-existingunderthepermissive overlordshipofBanuKhalid,afterwardsmuchoftheeastArabian mainlandwaspartofapowerfulandaggressivelyexpansionistnew politicalentity,theSu'udi/Wahhabiimamate.Withtheexceptionof interregnainSu'udiruleinthe1820sandthelatenineteenth century,accommodationtotheSu'udipresencehasbeena continuingnecessityforallAlKhalifarulersandforBahrainisociety ingeneral.
