ABSTRACT
Pearl diving is described by Belgrave (1973:51) as “the oldest industry in Bahrain”, and is cited as the primary reason why it has suffered so many invasions and the degree of international attention the islands have received. This is reflected, for example, in the Portuguese seizure of Bahrain in 1522, an event specifically attributed by Belgrave (ibid.) to a desire to control the pearl industry. It would certainly appear that the importance of the pearl industry should not be underestimated for it is a theme remarked upon by various other commentators. Lorimer (1915:2220) provides very detailed information on the pearl fisheries of the Gulf, and argues that a failure in the supply of pearls would have had dire consequences for the economies of the region at the time he was writing, i.e. the early twentieth century. These being stated as reducing the trade of Bahrain to one fifth of what it would have been without pearls included, and having even more dire consequences for the ports of “Trucial ‘Oman” (United Arab Emirates) which on account of their then having no other resources, “would practically cease to exist” (ibid.).
