A Study of the History, Status, Features, and Mysteries of al-Awal Island (Bahrain) in the Persian Gulf

Al-Awal Island (Bahrain) has always been of particular political, social, and economic importance to Iranian and Muslim kings and rulers. With al-Awal Island or today’s Bahrain as its central island in the south of the Persian Gulf, the archipelago of Bahrain was a part of the vast and powerful country of Iranian kings, that is, the Achaemenids and Sassanids in ancient times and later Iranian- Islamic governments, until the time of its independence. That is why it has been a focus of attention to some Iranian and Muslim geographers. Following a library descriptive method, this paper examines the background, significance, and strange features of this island, including the Holy Quran’s reference to prophet Moses’ presence there; the existence of some animals, such as Whales and giraffes, and palm-groves and tropical fruit and pearl-hunting there, as well as Iran’s long sovereignty over Bahrain since the Achaemenid period until its independence relying on the sources written by Muslim geographers and other historical references.