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15th Century Fort | Bahrain | Arad Fort
Arad Fort, locally also known as Qal'at Arad, lies in the town of the same name on the Muharraq island in Bahrain.
Arad Fort was probably built during the late 15th or early 16th century as its style reflects the Islamic forts built during those times. Originally it was equipped with a double wall and was circled by a shallow moat filled with water from specially dug wells. It has several nose shaped machicolations. Inside the fort is a well and an ancient Arabic date press, known as a madbasa or mudabissa.
The fort guarded the strategic waterway between Muharraq island and the former Arad island. Later on during the 16th century Arad Fort was used by the Portuguese who had made Bahrain their colony. In 1602 they were expelled by the Safavid Persians, who also took use of the fort. After Bahrain was conquered by the Utub in the late 18th century the fort apparently lost its strategic importance and fell into disrepair.
In the early 19th century the fort was rebuilt by the Omanis who had invaded Bahrain. They did not rebuild the outer wall. Arad Fort became the seat of the Omani Governor; the 12-year-old Salim, son of the Omani ruler Sayyid Sultan. Shortly after that Bahrain was taken by the Al Khalifa tribe of the Utub. They also used the fort.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is actually an archipelago of 33 islands in the Arabian Gulf that has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times. Around 5000 years ago Bahrain was home to the Bronze Age civilization of Dilmun, which lasted some two millenia. Since then Bahrain has been occupied alternately by Babylonians, Sumerians, Greeks, Persians, Portuguese, and Turks, among others.

The Dilmuns were powerful and influential people. Situated along popular trade routes between southern Iraq and India and Pakistan, Dilmun was a center of business, a tradition Bahrain still holds dear as a financial hub of the Middle East.

In the fourth century BC, Nearchus, a general in the army of Alexander the Great, explored Bahrain, when it was known by the Greek name Tylos. Greek writer Pliny commented on Tylos’ beautiful pearls in his writing in the first century AD.

In the 3rd or 4th centuries AD many people living in Bahrain adopted the Christian faith. Nestorian Church records show that Bahrain was an established seat of its religion prior to and during the early years of Islam.

When Islam made its first forays into Arabia, Bahrain was one of the first parts to accept the new religion. In 640 AD, the Prophet Mohammed wrote the ruler of Bahrain inviting him to adopt Islam. A peaceful adoption of Islam occurred and for two centuries Christians and Muslims lived together in Bahrain. Bahrain still has a small indigenous Christian community.

In 1487 the Omanis conquered Bahrain and erected a fort whose ruins still exist and Portuguese also entered the scene until 1602 when Bahrainis themselves drove them from their island and then invited Persians in for protection. In 1783, The Al-Khalifa family arrived from Kuwait and drove out the Persians. The Al Khalifas rule the land benevolently to this day.