دراسات في تاريخ عمان

of Juwatha، besides its commercial situation، was the availability of drink- able water from a spring there، which also irrigated the date-palm orchards and vegetable gardens west of the city. The site of the old city، especially its mosque، still exists، but it is no longer inhabited.

(2) Hajar.' This was the most important city in Bahrain، whence some sources use the name of this city instead of Bahrain when they speak of the province as a whole.

In pre-Islamic times، Hajar was an important communications centre and the capital، as it were (i.e. the qa?ida)، of Bahrain. A Persian marzuban، or governor، resided there. His name at the advent of Islam was Sibikhat، who exchanged letters with the Prophet Muhammad but did not embrace Islam. The majority of the inhabitants of this city was of the tribe of Abd al-Qays. After Islam، Hajar continued to be the most important town in Bahrain; the Ridda insurgents captured it in 11 A.H.، but al-Ala' b. al-H adrami recaptured it and defeated the rebels.

Hajar was، before and after Islam، the point from which tribes moved to the Persian coast of the Gulf، and Arab tribes were to be found on both sides of the Gulf. About the beginning of the fourth century A.D. the tribe of 'Abd al-Qays، from Hajar in particular، moved to the Persian coast of the Gulf and controlled Abarshahr، Ardashir Khurra and ports of the prov- ince of Fars، seizing the opportunity offered by the weakness of the central Sasanid regime. The historian Tabari relates that the Sasanid Emperor Shabur II (Shapur، 309 - 79 A.D.) gathered his forces and attacked the Ar- abs both on the eastern and western coasts of the Gulf. The Persian ruler terrified the tribes، killed thousands of men، plundered towns and de- stroyed wells. Many tribal groups there were taken captive and brought to

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