Zinj () is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the city of

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

, the capital of

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

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 ( ) 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 involved both enslaved and ...

against the

Abbasid caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

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 () 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, with seven embankments in the Gulf's shallowe ...

to neighbouring

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. 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. Old Zinj is an old section adjacent to the village of "

Bilad Al Qadeem Bilad al-Qadeem (, ''The old country'') is a suburb of Manama, the capital city of Bahrain. Bilad al-Qadeem used to be a separate town situated next to the village of Zinj, Bahrain, Zinj until it was incorporated into Manama in the 20th century. ...

" ().

History

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

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

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's

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 a ...

, it is mentioned that 30 huts belonging to the

Baharna The Bahārna (, or ), are an ethnoreligious group of Shia Muslim Arabs indigenous to the historical region of Bahrain. They are generally regarded to be the original inhabitants of Eastern Arabia. They inhabited the area even before the arrival ...

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 the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, while also being the previous location of the

embassy of Pakistan This is a list of diplomatic missions of Pakistan, excluding honorary consulates. As the fifth-most populous country and the second-most populous country in the Muslim world, Pakistan has an extensive and large diplomatic network around the worl ...

. In April 2002, large pro-

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

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 '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flammable liquid ...

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

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. Several roads in Zinj were barricaded with concrete blocks, and special security forces were frequently seen in the area at night during the 2000s.

Economy

The area has undergone extensive commercial development in the 2010s alongside the neighbouring suburb of

Seqaya Seqaya () is a suburb located in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It used to be a village separate from the capital Manama, but rapid urbanization of the city engulfed the village. It is predominantly a residential area and lies close to Salmaniya. It is ...

, 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. Al Jazira Supermarket is situated in Zinj, as is the Bahrain Writers Association.

Sports

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

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

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

References

{{Neighborhoods of Manama Neighborhoods of Manama