History of Muharraq: The Pearling City PDF

History of Muharraq: The Pearling City Muharraq: The Pearling City Old Muharraq settlement was Bahrain’s capital from 1810 to 1923, the peak years of the pearling economy, and is today the predominate city of Bahrain’s second largest island. For centuries, Muharraq was the Arabian Gulf’s pearling ca...

History of Muharraq: The Pearling City Muharraq: The Pearling City Old Muharraq settlement was Bahrain’s capital from 1810 to 1923, the peak years of the pearling economy, and is today the predominate city of Bahrain’s second largest island. For centuries, Muharraq was the Arabian Gulf’s pearling capital: it was the Gulf’s most active and prosperous pearling city; the largest number of pearl divers lived here; virtually everybody was involved directly in pearling activities or its supply industries; and Muharraq boasted the largest fleet of pearling vessels. Muharraq can be distinguished from many other Arabian Gulf settlements in that, by the last decades of the pearling economy, the city was built largely of coral stone. In contrast, around the turn of the twentieth century several of the Gulf’s smaller pearling centres, such as Dubai, were almost entirely barasti settlements (temporary houses made of palm material). This stone construction ensured the survival of significant elements in Muharraq that now constitute a unique testimony of the pearling societies not only of Bahrain but of the Arabian Gulf region. The decline of the pearling economy and the almost simultaneous discovery of oil and gas resources in Bahrain saw Muharraq’s role diminish, and that of the city of Manama, located just across the harbour on the main island of Bahrain, expand. The development pressures on the new capital helped Muharraq retain much of its atmosphere. Despite a great deal of modern construction, in most parts of Muharraq city, the street pattern remains the same as in the pearling era, characterised by a maze of narrow, often picturesque alleyways. Urban development pattern: Muharraq developed into a city from a number of core settlements, each based on tribal and family alliances and centred around a mosque or tribal gathering place (majlis). These separate quarters or neighbourhoods (furjan; sg. farij) traditionally integrated social, economic and political organisation and remain important to the people of Muharraq. Muharraq’s urban pattern retains features of the classic Islamic city with its alleyways winding into residential quarters in combination with larger axial thoroughfares. These connect the centre of each farij to the seashore and the market which were crucial elements in the pearling economy. Expressing Islamic ideals, the residential architecture of the individual neighbourhoods has modest exteriors and screens the interiors to uphold the privacy of domestic life. The farij system was arguably essential to the viability and religious legitimacy of the island’s single product economy of pearling. Architectural styles: Muharraq’s architecture, as in other Islamic cities, attaches great importance to privacy and the domestic life, with modest exteriors and no visual access to the interior. The locally influenced styles are combined with the regional influences from India, the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. The woodwork for ceilings and decorative panels presents influences from various countries; windows, doors and their frames were imported through Indian trade routes; and the decorative patterns were inspired from the Arabic culture. The City of Women: Muharraq was transformed into a unique city of mostly women once the men boarded the dhows and set sail for the pearling season. The women were left behind with their children and the few older men who could no longer work on board the pearling dhows. Unavoidably, the social status influenced the way women experienced this annual mass exodus of males from Muharraq Island. The wealthiest women would have noticed little real difference, as they were continuously attended to by their female servants. For less wealthy women, however, everything changed. They had to live on the cash advances provided by their husbands and carefully calculate their spending to ensure it lasted the full length of the season. Some women, according to descendants of the era, even took up occupations such as bread baking and fishing. Jalahma House, an urban component of the World Heritage Site of Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy, is a magnificent example of how women influenced the architecture of the city. The house hosts exhibitions presenting its prototypical design features conveying the extraordinary role of women within the pearling society.  QI) Answer the following questions: 1. Name Bahrain’s capital during 1810-1923? 2. Of what material are the Baristi settlements made up of? 3. Why is Jalahma House famous? 4. What brought about the decline in the Pearling Industry? 5. What occupation did the local women take up? QII) Fill up the blanks: 1. The pear capital of the Arabian region__ 2. The neighbourhood region was also known as____ 3. Doors and frames were imported from ___ 4. The traditional boat that men travelled on while pearling_____ 5. Centre of each Farij is connected to ____________ and the ______ which are the two crucial elements of the pearling economy.