other · Arabia and the Gulf

Lahsa Eyalet

1560 CE – 1670 CE (approx.) · capital Hofuf

The Ottoman province of eastern Arabia, based at Hofuf, which guarded the Gulf flank of the empire for a century.

Origins

After the conquest of Iraq, the Ottoman Empire extended its reach down the Gulf coast and took al-Hasa around 1550, partly to counter the Portuguese. The province of Lahsa was organised around 1560 with its seat at Hofuf and included the port of Qatif.

Rule and society

Governors held the oasis towns with small garrisons of Janissaries and local levies, collecting taxes from the large date-growing oasis of al-Hasa and customs at Qatif. The province served as a base against Portuguese Bahrain, though an Ottoman expedition to take the island in 1559 failed. Control of the Bedouin hinterland was always weak, and governors were often isolated from Basra and Baghdad.

Decline and legacy

In 1670 the Bedouin chief Barrak ibn Ghurayr of the Banu Khalid expelled the Ottoman garrison and founded the Banu Khalid Emirate. The Ottomans returned to al-Hasa only in 1871.

Lineage

Lahsa EyaletBanu Khalid Emirate 1669 CE – 1796 CE

Connections (1)

Lahsa Eyalet was a province of Ottoman Empire1560 CE – 1670 CE

More states of Arabia and the Gulf →

Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lahsa Eyalet. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lahsa-eyalet
MLA: “Lahsa Eyalet.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lahsa-eyalet. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Lahsa Eyalet.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lahsa-eyalet.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lahsa Eyalet’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lahsa-eyalet (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻