Ajam of Bahrain

Persian migration into Bahrain goes back to the days of the Sassanid and Achaemenid Persian empire, though in modern times there has been a constant migration for hundreds of years.[6] There has always been a migration of Persian-speaking Shi'a into Bahrain.[7]

In 1910, the Persian community funded and opened a private school, Al-Ittihad school, that taught Persian, besides other subjects.[8] In the Manama Souq, many Persians were clustered in the neighborhood of Mushbir. However they resettled in other areas with the development of new towns and expansion of villages during the reign of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Today, a significant number is based in Muharraq's Shia enclaves and Bahrain Island's modernized Shia towns.

Matam Al-Ajam Al-Kabeer in Manama

Matam Al Ajam interior, Fareej el-Makharqa

Matam Al-Ajam Al-Kabeer (Arabic:مأتم العجم الكبير) is the first Persian Matam and the largest such matam in Bahrain. It was founded in Fareej el-Makharqa by Abdul-Nabi Al-Kazerooni, a rich Persian merchant who was a representative of the Persian community in the council of the hakim Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa.[9] Himself an immigrant from the Dashti region of Iran, he single-handedly organised processions, collected donations and hired orators (Arabic: خطيب) to speak at the matam.[9] Construction started in 1882 as a specialized building where Ashura, a holy day in Shia Islam, would be marked with processions, ceremonial flagellation and passion plays commemorating the death of Imam Hussain.[10] The matam is still used for this purpose.

It was originally built with simple construction material such as palm tree trunks and leaf stalks. The matam was formally established in 1904 where it was decided that the matam would be renovated with rocks, clay and cement.[11] Initially in the 1890s, the matam was primarily supported by Persian merchants, with two-thirds of the donation coming from the Bushehri and Safar family, respectively. For much of the 20th century, the matam had relied on yearly donations of money and land from rich and poor members of the Persian community and from waqf revenue.[10] The matam also had an emergency relief fund that was to be distributed to the poor and to needy individuals; the matam provided financial aid and shelter to people following the collapse of the pearling market in the 1930s.[10]

Upon the death of Abdul-Nabi Al-Kazerooni in 1927, Abdul Nabi Bushehri, himself a Persian immigrant from Bushehr and a well-respected figure in the Persian community, took control of the matam.[9] Unlike his close friend, Bushehri ran the matam with other notables of the Persian community, forming a de facto board. Upon Bushehri's death in 1945, the board took over. In order to prevent confusion, the board appointed a specific member, Hasan Baljik, to act as key carrier to the matam and responsible for programs and budgetary issues.[9] In 1971, an administrative board consisting of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and others was set up, all of whom were rich merchants.[9]

• Abdulhussain bin Ali Mirza, current Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs of Bahrain
• Fatema Hameed Gerashi, Bahraini swimmer
• Karim Fakhrawi, co-founder of Al-Wasat, considered one of the more popular newspapers in Bahrain by winning numerous awards
• Ghada Jamshir (Arabic:غادة جمشير), women's rights activist
• Zainab Al Askari (Arabic:زينب غلوم العسكري), author and actress
• Sultaneez Band

• History of Bahrain
• 'Ajam of Kuwait
• Iranians in Iraq
• Ajam
• Baharna
• Iranian diaspora

• Stephenson, Lindsey (2018). Rerouting the Persian Gulf: The Transnationalization of Iranian Migrant Networks, c.1900-1940 (PhD). Princeton University.
• Fuccaro, Nelida (2005), "Mapping the transnational community: Persians and the space of the city in Bahrain c.1869-1937", in Al-Rasheed, Madawi (ed.), Transnational Connections and the Persian Gulf, Routledge, pp. 39–74, ISBN 978-0-415-33135-7

• Matam Al Ajam Al Kabeer, officially recognised in 1881
• Matam Al Ajam Al Kabeer