Budaiya

Budaiya

Al Budaiya is a coastal town in the northwest of the island of Bahrain. It is adjacent to the villages of Diraz and Bani Jamra. The town was founded by the Dawasir tribe, and before the discovery of Bahraini oil, most of the inhabitants of Budaiya were engaged in pearling and fishing. Budaiya village consisted of three separate quarters: Fariq-al Amarah, Fariq-al Dam and Fariq-al Budaiya. The settlement contained a significant number of stone houses and reed huts. The population was estimated at 8,000 and was believed to be all Sunni Muslims; 800 houses belonged to the Dawasir tribe, 100 to the Amarah tribe, 50 to the Huwala tribe, 200 to the 'free negroes' and about 450 houses to black slaves. The harbor was home to over 100 boats, more than half of which were used for pearling. The town also had 3 Qur'anic schools. The internal affairs of the town were managed by the Shaikh of the Dawasir, without interference from the Bahraini Shaikh. Budaiya gets its water supply from wells in neighboring date plantations in the villages of Diraz and Bani Jamra. Today, most farms, stables and traditional family farms along the bay are located here. The town serves as an end point of the Budaiya road to Manama. The areas on either side of the road are colloquially referred to as Budaiya. The biggest problems in the Budaiya Road region are deforestation and seawater infiltration into the natural underground aquifers, which is a result of the construction process that preceded the construction of the Mina Salman seaport in the 1950s.