Awal

Ancient name of Bahrain

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History of Bahrain

Ancient Bahrain Dilmun Tylos Awal
Historical region Islam in Bahrain Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami
Reigning Dynasties Qarmatians Uyunid dynasty Usfurid and Jarwanid dynasties Jabrid dynasty
Portuguese occupation Muqrin ibn Zamil Antonio Correia
Safavid hegemony 1717 Omani invasion of Bahrain
1783–1971 1783 Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship (1861) 1895 coup d'etat attempt Administrative reforms of the 1920s first oil well (1932) National Union Committee March 1965 Intifada Bahraini independence survey, 1970
State of Bahrain State Security Law era 1981 coup d'état attempt 1990s Uprising
Kingdom of Bahrain 2000s in Bahrain 2011 uprising
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Awal (Arabic: أوال) is an ancient name of Bahrain, an island country in the Arabian peninsula. The name Awal had remained in use, probably for eight centuries. Awal Premi was derived from the name of a god that used to be worshiped by the inhabitants of the islands before the advent of Islam. Awal resembled the head of an ox. As for the meaning of this name, there are^[1] ʼawwal 'first, first part, previous'; ʼawwalan 'firstly, at first'; ʼawwalī 'prime, primordial, original'.

Before Islam, Bahrain's administrative name was Mishmahig^[2] and it was also called Tylos by the Ancient Greeks. If the name Tylos is related to ṭiwal 'rope with which the feet of draught-cattle are tied together',^[3] then the cattle representation of this deity may be thus confirmed.

References

^ J. Milton Cowan : A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic.
^ Security and Territoriality in the Persian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography By Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, page 119
^ Georgii Wilhelmi Freytagii (1975). Lexicon Arabico-Latinum, vol. 3. Beirut. p. 80b