UC Press Blog

For over four thousand years, the Gulf—sometimes called the Persian Gulf, sometimes the Arabian Gulf—has been a global crossroads while managing to avoid control by the world’s greatest empires. In its history, we see a world of rapid change, fluctuating centers of trade, a dependency on uncertain global markets, and intense cross-cultural encounters that hold a mirror to the contemporary world. Focusing each chapter on a different port around the Gulf, The Center of the World shows how the people of the Gulf adapted to larger changes in world history, creating a system of free trade, merchant rule, and commerce that continues to define the region today.

Allen James Fromherz is Professor of History and Director of the Middle East Studies Center at Georgia State University. He is author of Qatar: A Modern History and Ibn Khaldun: Life and Times and editor of The Gulf in World History: Arabia at the Global Crossroads.

What motivated you to write this book?

This book has been two decades in the making, and the result of my time spent in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE — all of which helped me see the truly global nature of the Gulf.

In 2004, as an intern, I visited the Buraimi Oasis and observed how important this place, even far inland, was as a crossroads between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean (people from the coast migrated inland to oases on a seasonally). I saw firsthand how historical lineage remained important in determining present-day nation states and their quests for control over the enormous amounts of potential oil wealth beneath the ground. Yet at the time there was relatively little scholarship on the deeper history of the region. There was an opportunity here — but I needed more time and experience living in the region to tell the story.  The Gulf also felt very international, mainly due to the large expatriate community. There was more to the story, however, than the recent developments created by oil wealth.  

After living there a few more years, I came to realize that this global culture was nothing new, but part of a much deeper history of global interconnectivity. I moved to Qatar to teach Middle East History to Qatari nationals at Qatar University. From my students, I learned about a deeper history. Many had been from families that had traversed the Gulf. National boundaries that exist today were crossed easily, especially between Arabs and Persians. 

The Gulf is part of a global story that is more than 5000 years old, a story of Africans, South Asians, Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Baluchis, Sufis, Nestorians, Mandaeans and Buddhists.

Other experiences in the Gulf helped me realize that a history of the Gulf would, by necessity, be a global one. During fellowships in Abu Dhabi and Oman, I remember seeing ships etched into the crumbling walls of forts deep in the mountains. In Bahrain, I was stunned by the wealth of archaeological remains from Ancient Dilmun, famous for its once-sacred, underground fresh waters. I also went to more remote areas such as Sir Bani Yas Island, where I visited the rare remains of an early Islamic era Christian monastery. In Bahrain, I saw the fascinating ancient site of Dilmun and signs of a commercial trading culture connecting the Gulf to the Indus River Valley. This history would need to be at least 5000-years old, not just a “modern” one. 

Why do we need this history from the view point of the Gulf? What new insights does it bring to our understanding of world history?

As far as we know, world history and significant world trade began with ships coming from the Gulf. There are some who dispute the simple definition of pre-history as a time before writing and history as a time after writing. But it can’t be denied that the advent of the written word, which occurred in Sumer, and in places like Ur and, later Dilmun, changed our ability to understand the people of the past. What those first human records revealed was the humanity’s first long-distance maritime trade between empires, linking the Indus Valley with Mesopotamia.

Ever since, the Gulf has managed to be at the center of events, especially since it holds a unique geographical role as the hypotenuse of Eurasia. One of the new insights from The Center of the World is the significance of geography over the long-term history of the Gulf, the fact that the mountains, deserts and marshes, which surround the Gulf on three sides, make it very difficult for empires to directly control the whole of the Gulf, even as autonomous port cities, ruled by specialized merchant princes, managed the trade between far flung places like Baghdad and Canton, Hormuz and Cochin. That trade was only successful if relative tolerance reigned and merchant princes, and their subjects, were loath to reject any merchant due to their identity or religious beliefs, especially since customs duties were the main source of revenue, not agricultural or land taxes. 

The history of the Gulf as a relatively “free trade zone” predates the modern explosion of wealth seen in cities such as Dubai and Doha today. There are ruins of similar great cities of world trade, such as Siraf, scattered across the islands and coves of both sides of the Gulf. Unlike a majority of the world, which has been dominated by the agricultural economy for most of human history, the Gulf has been dependent on trade for over 5000 years.

What do we gain from studying these cross-cultural encounters? What do they tell us about the contemporary world?

The Gulf teaches us about being both “global” and cosmopolitan while also maintaining an identity or a belief system that may not always be so welcoming of others in some respects. For instance, in medieval Siraf, a special table was set aside for some Hindu merchants who could not eat with the other merchants due to their dietary beliefs. The philosophy was simple: to each his own plate and table, as long as the customs duty was paid. 

A story Gulf sailors and merchants told over and over is about being on a ship sharing close quarters with merchants of over 70 different faiths, the number of faiths in the world, according to many Muslims in the past. That proximity and intimacy of contact is much more common today than it was in the past. The history of the Gulf shows us how humans have managed to reconcile both cosmopolitanism and identity. 

Unlike a majority of the world, which has been dominated by the agricultural economy for most of human history, the Gulf has been dependent on trade for over 5000 years. 

Can you share an interesting or surprising example from the book?

One surprising fact for me was the failed Portuguese attempt to install a Catholic convert as King of Hormuz. The Portuguese ruled the wealthy port city on the Island of Hormuz during most of the sixteenth century. They called it a “river of silver that never runs dry” but also tried to transform it into a more-exclusive Catholic stronghold. Their failure to do so showed how effectively the merchant and trading classes in the city, and even the Portuguese on Hormuz, were united against these plans by outsiders to change the religious make-up of the population. Even most Portuguese who went to Hormuz with the intent to convert or implement stricter rules soon realized the necessity of openness and toleration. The church in Hormuz received most of its funding, including a special pension for money for the choir and the priests, directly from the customs house. If they were inhospitable to non-Catholics, the main source of the church’s funds would quickly disappear.  

In other parts of the Portuguese empire, the story was very different. The presence of Catholicism is one of the main legacies of their rule. In the Gulf, however, there is little left except inscriptions, abandoned cannon and some sea shanties about the Portuguese still told by Gulf sailors. Today, Catholicism has had a comeback in the Gulf. There are churches being built in Qatar, including one sponsored by the Emir, as well as in the UAE and Kuwait, specially to cater to the large Philippine worker population. 

What is one thing you hope readers take away from the book?

While the US Carter Doctrine, which seeks to preserve the vital flow of goods through the Strait of Hormuz, has allowed the old system of relatively free commerce to remain in place, US interests could shift in the near future. The Gulf today is being split into rival national histories and stories. These national boundaries, central to disputes and claims over scarce resources, are starting to damage the very global character of the region that has made it so attractive to commerce from around the world. 

I hope the book helps readers grasp the bigger picture of this extraordinary place. The Gulf is part of a global story that is more than 5000 years old, a story of Africans, South Asians, Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Baluchis, Sufis, Nestorians, Mandaeans and Buddhists. Understanding the diversity of its people, and the long history of mutual interactions reveals that the conflict between Shia/Sunni, Iran and Arabia in the news today was not always the norm. Bridging the Gulf can help us build a bridge at the center of history.