Al Khawalid ( the Khawālid; literally "the Khālids"), also spelled Al Khawaled, is a branch of the House of Khalifa, the ruling family of Bahrain. Al Khawalid is most often used to refer collectively to descendants of Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, which they are named after. The term also refers to brothers Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Royal Court Minister and Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa the Commander in Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force. For the purpose of this article, immediate descendants of Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa will be referred to as "the Khalids", the aforementioned two brothers will be referred to as "the Khawalid brothers" and the family branch collectively as "Al Khawalid".
The history of Al Khawalid dates to the 1920s, when the Khalids opposed the British-led administrative reforms and launched a military crackdown on the Shia who supported the reforms. The perpetrators were later put before a court that sentenced them to exile. They gradually returned to Bahrain, where they were kept outside government despite developing personal relations with those in power. They regained some influence since the late 1960s, but remained outside the inner decision-making circle. During this period, senior members of the Khalids were critical of the ruling family, opposed political reforms and held a grudge against the British.
The Khawalid brothers rose to power during the reign of King Hamad (1999–present), who they had a longstanding personal relationship with and whose mother belonged to their branch. They took up leading positions and controlled important institutions, becoming increasingly influential, with their power reportedly surpassing that of the Prime Minister (PM). The House of Khalifa is reported to have been split into a "moderate" faction led by the Crown Prince (CP) and a "hardline" faction led by the Khawalid brothers who share the same "anti-reform" agenda with the PM. In 2006, a report revealed an alleged secret plan by the Khawalid brothers which aimed to marginalize the Shia majority and identified one of their cousins as leader of the alleged conspiracy.
During the Bahraini uprising of 2011, the Khawalid brothers objected to compromise with the opposition and instead preferred crackdown. After a failed round of negotiations led by the CP, the Khawalid brothers led the crackdown, described as the widest in Bahrain's modern history. The Commander in Chief of the army, Khalifa bin Ahmed, was given wide authority with the announcement of martial law; he led a main crackdown operation, presided over military courts and made several interviews with regional and local media. Another Al Khawalid involved in the crackdown was the then-director of the National Security Agency, which was found to be responsible for arbitrary arrests and systematic torture. The crackdown empowered the Khawalid brothers faction further and marginalized the CP, who found himself and allies stripped from their powers.
The Khawalid brothers share an anti-West conservative ideology. They believe that the West is conspiring with Iran against Bahrain and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries and often accuse the United States of secretly supporting the Bahraini opposition. They are allied with Saudi Arabia and Sunni Islamist groups, and hold an anti-Shia ideology, viewing them as a fifth column to Iran. Based on their beliefs, the Khawalid brothers have pushed a security approach to deal with the Shia instead of political reforms, and have allegedly used sectarianism as a political tool.
Nomenclature and genealogy
Al Khawalid, which literally means "the Khalids" is used mostly to refer to descendants of Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa (1853–1925), the half-brother of Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa (1848–1932), Bahrain's ruler between 1869 and 1923. They are a branch of the House of Khalifa that had ruled Bahrain since they led a coalition of Sunni tribes that invaded the country in 1783. Khalid, the eponymous forebear of Al Khawalid, was married to four women and had four sons and a daughter that survived him, Ibrahim (b. 1873), Salman (b. 1893), Ali (b. 1900), Najla (1901–39) and Abdulla (b. 1921 or 1922). He also had two other sons who had died by 1900, Ahmed (b. 1874) and an older Ali (b. 1876).
The term is also sometimes used to refer specifically to brothers Khalid (b. 1942) and Khalifa (b. 1946), sons of Ahmed bin Salman bin Khalid (died 2007). The latter two are usually connected with their maternal cousins, Mohamed and Ahmed (b. 1966) bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa. The four of them are sometimes collectively known as sons of Al Suwaidi daughters () as their mothers, Mariam and Moza bint Nasser Al Suwaidi, belong to the Al Suwaidi family. The two aforementioned sons of Ateyatalla Al Khalifa along with their half-brothers Salman and Abdulaziz bin Ateyatalla are sometimes included within the Khawalid brothers faction.
*Wife of Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I, Bahrain's ruler (1942–61) **Married to Mariam, sister of Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Prime Minister (1971–present) ***Only wife of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain's ruler (1961–99)
History
Administrative reforms
Context
The history of Al Khawalid dates back to the 1920s when the British were pushing for administrative reforms. The nature of the reforms, sometimes referred to as "reforms of the twenties" was administrative only, leaving out political issues such as legitimacy and public representation. They were mainly focused on reshuffling of public offices and economic resources. By 1921, the country was divided into two camps. The first supporting the reforms was composed of the elder son of the ruler and the heir apparent, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa (1872–1942), the British political agent, Major C. K. Daly (1920–26) and the Shia, who at time composed about half of population. The opposing faction was composed of the ruler, Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa, his younger son Abdulla, the Khalids and tribesmen of Sunni origin.
The heavily taxed Shia were desperate to get rid of the tribal regime and together with Major Daly claimed to be victims of corruption, mismanagement as well as "atrocities and oppression". The opposing faction rejected the reforms on the basis that equity and standardization of law would remove their advantages such as exemption from taxes and sovereignty over estates. A series of pro and anti reform petitions were submitted by the two factions to different British officials including the Foreign Office. However, the situation remained unchanged for two years as the British were hesitating.
Role of the Khalids
Khalid bin Ali, the Al Khawalid ancestor, was the governor of Riffa and ruled over Sitra and Nabih Saleh islands, and his elder son Ibrahim controlled Jabalat Habashi. The Khalids were known for being hard on the Shia. In 1923, the events took a new turn. Wanting to end the calls for reform, the Khalids and Al Dawasir tribe used armed tactics to intimidate reform supporters. The former's paramilitary forces numbered 100, about 20 percent of the total Al Khalifa manpower, while the latter had about 400 men.
Al Dawasir attacked Shia villages of Barbar and A'ali, while the Khalids attacked Sitra island. The attacks resulted in the killing of 12 villagers, burning of several houses and raping of women. The violence settled after Colonel Knox, the British acting Political Resident arrived in Bahrain in two gunships. Knox forced Isa bin Ali to abdicate in favor of his elder son, Hamad. The Khalids had agreed to reduce taxes on residents of Sitra following the visit. However, as soon as Knox had left, taxes were increased again, and Shia residents continued to be subjected to forced labor. The situation prompted some 500 Shia to hold a protest in front of the British Agency demanding a solution to the situation and equal taxation of citizens (several taxes were only imposed on the Shia).
Writing for the Journal of Arabian Studies, Justin Gengler argues that the reason behind the involvement of the Khalids was probably their father's ambition to hold a senior position if they succeeded in stopping reforms and placing Abdulla bin Isa as ruler. Gengler added: When in 1869 the British selected Shaikh ʿĪsā bin ʿAlī as the next ruler of Bahrain ... Shaikh Khālid, was obliged to accept the governorship of Rifā ... [he] could hope to gain immensely if the final defeat of the reforms were accompanied ... thereby rectifying the historical accident by which he was sidelined from power more than fifty years earlier.
The petitions and political crisis continued to the reign of Hamad (1923–42) who —encouraged by the British— began it by setting up a criminal court to try those involved in the violence including his first cousins, the Khalids. The ruler was put in a dilemma between his tribal alignment and public law, and so he exiled his cousins, but paid their expenses. The Khalids, however, held a deep grudge against residents of Sitra who witnessed against them, and in 1924 attacked the island before their exile, killing several Shia men, women and children. The attackers were sentenced to death following major Shia protests and a lengthy second trial, but managed to escape before the sentence was carried out. Their father was confined to Manama. The trials marked the first time in Bahrain's history that members of the ruling family were convicted.
1924–99
Gradually, the Khalids were pardoned and allowed back to Bahrain after the leaders of the Shia community in Sitra were persuaded that the Khalids would not attack their villages again. Ibrahim bin Khalid, the eldest of the Khalids, who was exiled to Zubarah (Qatar) for 10 years, was convicted in 1929 of being responsible for a failed assassination attempt on the ruler, his first cousin, in 1926. Instead of getting tried, the ruler appointed Ibrahim at his Sakhir Palace. His brother Salman, originally exiled for 10 years, was allowed back in 1928, while Abdulla was probably not exiled as he was an infant when the 1923 and 1924 incidents occurred.
Still, the Khalids were kept outside the inner decision-making circle until the reign of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (1999–present). They were also kept away from government positions when Charles Belgrave was the adviser of the ruler (1926–57) as "the colonial administration [did] not see fit to re-empower the most militant opponents of [the administrative reforms]," Gengler explained. Other factors that kept the Khalids away from power was their relative lack of efficiency to head the new specialized offices and their self-isolation due to "lingering enmity toward the British as well as to some in the ruling branch of the Āl Khalīfa". They however had personal links with the center of power as two rulers, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I (1942–61) and his son Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (1961–99) had married from them: Latifa bint Ibrahim bin Khalid and Hessa bint Salman bin Ibrahim bin Khalid respectively. The latter is the mother of the current King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa.
The first return of the Khalids to government was in 1967, when Abdulla bin Khalid was appointed as Minister of Municipalities and Rural Affairs. In 1973, he was given the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs which he kept until a cabinet reshuffle in November 2002. During the 1970s, Abdulla opposed the constitutional reforms that paved the road to the short-lived 1973–5 parliament. He was also critical of the ruling family, highlighting their "rampant economic exploitation" and "expropriat[ion] [of Shia farmers] properties". Abdulla's older brother, Salman was also critical of the ruling family. Salman and his sons however did not head top positions during the reign of Isa bin Salman, either due to refusing such positions or to not being offered them as a result of Salman's criticism of the family. Salman was particularly noted to hate the British and parts of the ruling family.
Return to power