دراسات في تاريخ عمان

ten miles; the fortress is still there، bearing witness to the past.

(4) Al-Zara.

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This was an important commercial centre and the residence of the Persian marzuban before Islam، remaining well known after Islam. Persian influence seems to have continued there after Islam، since the sources relate that al-Muka bar، the marzuban of al-Zara، took advantage of the Ridda wars and fortified himself in the town، with the Magians gathering round him and refusing to pay the jizya to the Muslim adminis- tration. The central government in Medina was determined to defeat the rebels and finally achieved this when al-Zara was conquered in 13 A.H.، at the beginning of the caliphate of Umar b. al-Khattab. The killing of the marzuban and a shortage of water contributed to the Persian defeat. Al- "Ala' b. al-Hadrami reached a negotiated settlement، which prescribed that the Persians should surrender one-third of the town، one-third of its gold and silver، and half of its outlying parts.

Al-Zara was destroyed in the late Abbasid period when it was burnt down by conflicting tribes. Its site today bears the name al-Ramada.

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(5) Al-Ahsa'.11 al-Maqdisi relates that al-Ahsa' is a town in Bahrain situat- ed to the south-west of al-Qatif. In 493 A.H./ 1051 A.D.، Nasir-i Khusraw visited it and described it as a flourishing، fully-inhabited town with walls and a fortress. It seems that al-Ahsa' especially developed and flourished when the Carmathians، or Karamita، ruled Bahrain، as it became their capi- tal and the most important city in the province، matching the traditional capital Hajar. The sources mention that the leader of the Karamita، Abu Tahir al-Janabi (fourth/tenth century) revitalized al-Ahsa'، fortified it and built a new city near to it، al-Mu'miniyya، which nevertheless did not over

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