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House of Khalifa

The House of Khalifa (Arabic: آل خليفة, romanized: Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Al Khalifas profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe. Some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Najd in central Arabia to Kuwait, then ruled all of Qatar, more specifically Al Zubarah, which they built and ruled over before settling in Bahrain in the early 17th century. The current head of the family is King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999 and proclaimed himself King of Bahrain in 2002, in fact becoming a constitutional monarch.

House of Khalifa
آل خليفة
Royal house
Lesser coat of arms of Bahrain
Parent houseHouse of Utbah
CountryBahrain
Founded1766; 258 years ago (1766)[a]
FounderKhalifa bin Mohammed[1]
Current headHamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
TitlesKing of Bahrain
Emir of Bahrain
Hakim of Bahrain
Crown Prince of Bahrain
Sheikh

As of 2010, roughly half of the serving cabinet ministers of Bahrain were members of the Al Khalifa royal family,[2] while the country's Prime Minister, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is also from the Al Khalifa family and is the son of the current King.

History

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Bahrain fell under the control of Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Khalifa in 1783, following the defeat of Nasr Al-Madhkur who ruled the archipelago as a dependency of Persia (see Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain). Ahmed ruled Bahrain as hakim until 1796, but was based in Zubarah (in modern-day Qatar) and spent summers in Bahrain. Ahmed was the first hakim of Bahrain and the progenitor of the ruling Al Khalifa family of Bahrain. All of the Al Khalifa rulers of Bahrain are his descendants.

Ahmed had four children. Following his death in 1796, two of his sons, Salman and Abdulla, moved to Bahrain, and co-ruled it as feudal estates and imposed taxes on the indigenous Baharnah population. Salman settled in Bahrain Island and Abdulla in Muharraq Island, each ruling independently. The Al Khalifa soon became split into two branches, Al-Abdulla and Al-Salman that engaged in open conflict between 1842 and 1846.[b] The Al-Salman branch was victorious and enjoyed complete rule of Bahrain. Until 1869, Bahrain was under threat of occupation by various external powers including the Wahhabis, Omanis, Ottomans, Egyptians and Persians, yet the Al Khalifa managed to keep it under their control.[4][5] The Al-Abdulla branch continued to be a cause of threat until 1895.[6] Today, Abdulla ibn Ahmad Al Khalifa descendants live in Qatar, while Salman ibn Ahmad Al Khalifa's descendants live in Bahrain.

List of Al Khalifa rulers of Bahrain

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Since 1783, the Al Khalifa have been rulers of Bahrain:

Name Years as ruler Title
Sheikh Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Khalifa 1783–1796 Hakim
Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, ruling jointly with
Sheikh Salman bin Ahmad Al Khalifa
Shaikh Khalifa bin Sulman Al Khalifa		 1796–1843
1796–1825
1825–1834		 Hakim
Hakim
Hakim
Sheikh Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa 1834–1842
1849–1868
1869–1869		 Hakim
Sheikh Ali bin Khalifah Al Khalifa 1868–1869 Hakim
Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa 1869–1869 Hakim
Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa 1869–1932 Hakim
Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa 1932–1942 Hakim
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa 1942–1961 Hakim
Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa 1961–1971
1971–1999		 Hakim
Amir
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa 1999–2002
2002–present		 Amir
King

Family tree

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House of Khalifa
Ahmad
ibn Muhammad
(1)
r. 1783–1795
Salman
ibn Ahmad
(2)
r. 1796–1821		Abdullah
ibn Ahmad
(3)
r. 1796–1843
Khalifa
bin Salman
(4)
r. 1825–1834		Muhammad
bin Abdullah
(7)
r. 1869
Muhammad
bin Khalifa
(5)
r. 1834–1842,
1843–1868,
1869		Ali
bin Khalifa
(6)
r. 1868–1869
Isa
bin Ali
(8)
r. 1869–1932
Hamad
bin Isa
(9)
r. 1932–1942
Salman
bin Hamad
(10)
r. 1942–1961
Isa
bin Salman
(11)
r. 1961–1999
Hamad
bin Isa
(12)
r. 1999–present

Ruling Family Council

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Decisions pertaining to the Al Khalifa family, as well as disputes between family members are arbitrated by the Ruling Family Council (Arabic: مجلس العائلة الحاكمة).[7][8][9] The council attends to internal family disputes particularly those related to appropriation of land, sale of real estate and other properties. Members of the ruling family are not allowed to refer these or other disputes to ordinary law courts.[7]

Relations between the political leadership and the rest of the "rank and file" members of the Al Khalifa ruling family have been formally managed by the council since 1932. However, on the eve of the 1973 parliamentary elections, then the Amir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa issued a decree restructuring the Ruling Family Council to become a formal organ of the state, and giving the administrative head of the council the rank of minister.[7]

The Ruling Family Council is chaired by King Hamad,[10] its deputy chairman is Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa,[11] and the director general is Ibrahim bin Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.[12]

The King appoints the members of the board of the Ruling Family Council as recognised representatives of various kingship lines and factional alliances within the Al Khalifa family.[7]

Transcription

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Al Khalifa is commonly mistranscribed al-Khalifa. The Al (آل) written with the long (madda) alif is unconnected to the following word and means house, in the sense of family or dynasty, and is not the definite article particle al- 'Al' can also mean 'of'.

Cabinet ministers

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As of 2024, 4 out of 25 serving cabinet ministers of Bahrain were members of the Al Khalifa royal family.[13]

Notable people

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Controversies

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Bahraini police and protesters clash violently, 13 March

The King of Bahrain, King Al Khalifa was responsible for attacks on protesters during the Arab Spring. He and the Bahraini government were condemned both locally and overseas. He later enlisted the help of nearby Saudi Arabia and the UAE.[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The year the family settled in Zubarah. The first ruler from the family took over in 1783.
  2. ^ Inter-Al Khalifa conflicts within Bahrain began in 1828 and lasted until 1869.[3][better source needed]

References

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  1. ^ "History of the Ruling Family of Bahrain". Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  2. ^ Bahrain Shia demand cabinet change, Aljazeera.net, 5 March 2010
  3. ^ Baumgartner 2008, p. 20.
  4. ^ Khuri 1980, pp. 24–31.
  5. ^ Littlefield 1964, pp. 6–7.[better source needed]
  6. ^ Farah 1985, p. 87.
  7. ^ a b c d Abdulhadi Khalaf. Contentious Politics in Bahrain, From Ethnic to National and Vice Versa. The Fourth Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies: The Middle East in a Globalizing World, Oslo, 13–16 August 1998. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  8. ^ Dominic Moran (7 February 2007). "Sectarian tensions simmer in Bahrain". International Relations and Security Network. The trio's relationship to their primary political support base, the wider royal family, is managed by the Family Council.
  9. ^ Hassan Ali Rahdi (2003). Judiciary and Arbitration in Bahrain: A Historical and Analytical Study. BRILL. p. 130. ISBN 978-90-411-2217-9.
  10. ^ "HM King Hamad Chairs Ruling Family Council". Bahrain News Agency. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  11. ^ "Royal Order No. 23 of the Year 2004 on the Appointment of the Deputy Chairman of the Ruling Family Council". Official Gazette of the Kingdom of Bahrain. 22 May 2004. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Amiri Order No. 69 of the Year 2000 on the Appointment of the Director General of the Ruling Family Council". Official Gazette of the Kingdom of Bahrain. 20 December 2000. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Cabinet". Government of Bahrain. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Bahrain mourners call for end to monarchy". 18 February 2011.

Works cited

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