Abdullah bin Ali Al Uyuni

Abdullah bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Muhammad Al-Marri Al-Abdi Al Uyuni was the founder and Emir of the Uyunid Emirate ruling from 1074 to 1107. He succeeded in removing the Qarmatians from Eastern Arabia.

Lineage and dynastic etymology Al Uyuni was a descendant from the Banu Abdul Qays tribe, although it is unclear from which branch. Some sources indicate the Al-Marri as a Marra bin Amer bin al-Harith bin Anmar bin Amr bin Wadia ’bin Lakiz bin Afsa bin Abdul Qays, but Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani spoke of a prince named Abu Senan Muhammad bin al-Fadl bin Abdullah bin Ali Al-Abdi Al-Marri. The Uyunid rulers were also named Al Ibrahim after Al Uyuni’s great-grandfather. Since the tribe once lived in the village of Al Oyun in the Al-Ahsa Oasis, the family was named after it, that is, Al Uyuni. The Abdul Qays tribe stemmed from Rabi'a ibn Nizar, the ancestor of the Eastern Arabian tribes and son of Nizar ibn Ma'ad. Malik-Shah was the more receptive of the two sovereigns in his eagerness for suzerainty over Al-Ahsa and to avenge his general Kajkina’s defeat at the hands of the Qarmatian troops of Yahya ibn Ayyash. Therefore, the Turkmen commander, Axsek Salar, was dispatched from the Seljuk capital of Baghdad to Al-Ahsa, from where he marched through Basra to Qatif. Salar looted Qatif and confiscated the treasury of Ibn Ayyash (who had fled to Awal Island, now Bahrain). Afterwards, the Seljuks assisted Al Uyuni’s siege of Al-Ahsa, ultimately leaving 200 soldiers to garrison it. Finally in 1078, at what was called the “Battle of the Two Rivers,” the Qarmatians and their Banu Amir allies were routed and surrendered.

Restoring Qatif After the retreat of the Seljuk army, however, Ibn Ayyash recaptured Qatif, but he was rebuffed by Al Uyuni, who proceeded to occupy Bahrain. Finally killing Ibn Ayyash in battle, Al Uyuni has united Eastern Arabia and Bahrain into one state, the Uyunid Emirate, based in Al-Ahsa.

Royal dynasty Uyunid dynasty