emirate · Arabia and the Gulf

Jarwanid dynasty

1305 CE – 1440 CE (approx.) · capital Qatif

A Shi'a dynasty that ruled Qatif and the Bahrain islands in the 14th and early 15th centuries under the shadow of Hormuz.

Origins

The Jarwanids took control of Qatif and the Bahrain islands in the early 14th century, displacing the Usfurid dynasty there. They are usually described as an Arab family of eastern Arabia and adherents of Twelver Shi'ism.

Rule and society

The dynasty governed the coastal towns and pearl fisheries and depended on the Kingdom of Ormus, to which it paid tribute and whose kings sometimes intervened in its affairs. The traveller Ibn Battuta, visiting Qatif around 1331, described a town of Arab tribesmen who were committed Shi'a. Twelver scholarship flourished in Bahrain under their rule.

Decline and legacy

Around 1440 the Jabrid dynasty, Sunni Bedouin from al-Ahsa, conquered Qatif and the islands, ending Jarwanid rule.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Jarwanid dynastyJabrid dynasty 1440 CE – 1524 CE

Connections (1)

More states of Arabia and the Gulf →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Jarwanid dynasty. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jarwanid-dynasty
MLA
“Jarwanid dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jarwanid-dynasty. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Jarwanid dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jarwanid-dynasty.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Jarwanid dynasty’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jarwanid-dynasty (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻