Zinj () is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

in the city of

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

Etymology

The general belief amongst Bahraini scholars is that the reason why the suburb literally translates to "negros" or "blackamoors", is because it pertains to the African slaves who were sold there. Some foreign scholars disagree and claim that it is named after the

Zanj Rebellion The Zanj Rebellion ( ar, ثورة الزنج ) was a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate, which took place from 869 until 883. Begun near the city of Basra in present-day southern Iraq and led by one Ali ibn Muhammad, the insurrection invol ...

against the

Abbasid caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttal ...

in the 9th century.

Geography

Zinj lies in the southern part of

and lies adjacent to the Shaikh Isa Bin Salman highway which eventually leads to the

King Fahd Causeway The King Fahd Causeway ( ar, جسر الملك فهد, Jisr al-Malik Fahd) is a 25 km (15.5 mi) long series of bridges and causeways connecting Khobar, Saudi Arabia and Al Jasra, Bahrain. Its five bridges rest on 536 concrete pylons, wi ...

to neighbouring

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. Zinj is included in the country's planned national light railway network. The suburb is divided into two sections: New Zinj and Old Zinj. New Zinj consists of spacious villas, many overlooking the sea front and

Tubli Bay Tubli Bay ( ar, خليج توبلي) (also known as the Gulf of Tubli) is a bay in the east of Bahrain, between Bahrain Island and Sitra island. The body of water is directly south of the Manama peninsula. The island of Nabih Saleh lies in the bay ...

. Old Zinj is an old section adjacent to the village of " Bilad Al Qadeem" ().

History

Old Zinj houses many historical places such as Al-Saboor Mosque, one of the oldest

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s in Bahrain. Al Saboor Mosque is uniquely known to have no ceiling since all efforts to build one have failed. In

J. G. Lorimer ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia'' (nicknamed ''Lorimer'') is a two-volume encyclopedia compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The ''Gazetteer'' was published in secret by the British government in India in 1908 and 1915 an ...

, it is mentioned that 30 huts belonging to the

Baharna The Baharna ( ar, بحارنة) are the indigenous Shia Muslim inhabitants of Bahrain who inhabited the area before the arrival of Sunni Muslim Arab tribes from Najd, particularly by Banu Utbah in the 18th century which the Bahraini royal fami ...

are located in the village, and that cement is locally produced in 1908. His account also mentions extensive cultivation of well-irrigated

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

s (estimated at 12,000) and farm animals. Zinj is the home of several foreign embassies including those of the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, while also being the previous location of the embassy of Pakistan. In April 2002, large pro-

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

demonstrations, numbering up to 20,000, were held in front of the American embassy, in which a Bahraini citizen was killed and around 100 injured after the American embassy was attacked with

petrol bombs A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamm ...

and stones. A similar protest was held in 2003, in the run-up to the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. Several roads in Zinj were barricaded with concrete blocks, and special security forces were frequently seen in the area at night during the 2000s. The area has undergone extensive commercial development in the 2010s alongside the neighbouring suburb of Seqaya, with the Galleria mall opening in 2015 in addition to other malls such as Hayat Mall, Tala Plaza and Hala Plaza. New Millennium School-DPS is a notable CBSE school in the area. The Bahrain Writers Association is based in Zinj.

Sports

Al-Ahli Club and stadium are located in Zinj. Al-Ahli Stadium holds League A and B football matches. AlAhli Sports club is also one of the oldest and most respected sports club in the country and

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. The club is famous for winning various regional competitions in football, basketball, and volleyball. The club is also known for nurturing star national football player Ala'a Hubail, who played with Al Ahli football club.

References

{{Neighborhoods of Manama Neighborhoods of Manama