Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa

Who is Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa?

Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa was born on 27 November 1848 at Riffa Fort, the fourth son of Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. In August 1869, invading forces killed his father and a usurper seized the throne; a British-backed intervention that December restored rule to the Al Khalifa family, and Isa was installed as ruler. He became sole Hakim of Bahrain in 1888 and went on to reign for sixty-three years, one of the longest tenures of any ruler in the region. In 1880 he signed a protectorate treaty binding Bahrain's foreign relations to Britain, and from 1926, working alongside British adviser Charles Belgrave, he introduced administrative reforms including regulation of the pearl-diving industry that was central to Bahrain's economy. Under pressure from the British political agent, he was forced to abdicate in 1923 in favor of his son Hamad, though many Bahrainis never fully recognized the abdication and continued to regard him as the true ruler until his death. He died while praying at dawn in Muharraq on 9 December 1932 and was buried there.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa" · Bahrainguide.org, "The Ruling Family"