Portuguese explorers who captured the island, in 1521, were eventually overwhelmed by the Persians in 1602.
To escape tribal wars in Central Arabia, the al-Khalifa family moved to the Gulf Coast in the 17th century and found a more prosperous life on the coast of Qatar.

The al-Khalifa family gained control of Bahrain in 1783, until British influence in the region forced them to accept a series of treaties.
From 1861, Great Britain started to control Bahrain's external affairs. Bahrain joined the Trucial States but, when the British withdrew, they elected to remain outside the United Arab Emirates.

Bahrain became an independent constitutional monarchy on 6th December, 1973. Since dissolving the constitutional national assembly in August 1975, the royal family have taken over as unchallenged absolute rulers.
In the 1980's, the Iranians tried to encourage revolution in the island and renew their claims to the emirate; but their attempts were thwarted.

Shiite supporters of a cleric have tried to call for a return to the national assembly but their demonstrations in Manama were quickly put down, in December 1994 and early 1995.
Bahrain's Ninth al-Khalifa:
In 1999, Sheikh Isa took over as head of state after the death of his father, Sheikh Salman, becoming the ninth in a line of Bahrain's rulers from the al-Khalifa family.
Bahrain became a Kingdom on 14th February, 2002.