House of Khalifa

The House of Khalifa (Arabic: آل خليفة, romanized: Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. They profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe. Some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Najd in central Arabia to Kuwait, then ruled all of Qatar, more specifically Al Zubarah, which they built and ruled over before settling in Bahrain in the early 17th century. The current head of the family is King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999 and proclaimed himself King of Bahrain in 2002, in fact becoming a constitutional monarch.

House of Khalifa آل خليفة
Royal house
Coat of arms of Bahrain
Parent house	House of Utbah
Country	Bahrain
Founded	1766; 259 years ago (1766)[a]
Founder	Khalifa bin Mohammed[1]
Current head	Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Titles	King of Bahrain Emir of Bahrain Hakim Sheikh Crown Prince of Bahrain Prime Minister of Bahrain

As of 2025, roughly half of the serving cabinet ministers of Bahrain were members of the Al Khalifa royal family,^[2] while the country's Prime Minister, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is also from the Al Khalifa family and is the son of the current King.

History

Bahrain fell under the control of Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Khalifa in 1783, following the defeat of Nasr Al-Madhkur who ruled the archipelago as a dependency of Persia (see Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain). Ahmed ruled Bahrain as hakim until 1796, but was based in Zubarah (in modern-day Qatar) and spent summers in Bahrain. Ahmed was the first hakim of Bahrain and the progenitor of the ruling Al Khalifa family of Bahrain. All of the Al Khalifa rulers of Bahrain are his descendants.

Ahmed had four children. Following his death in 1796, two of his sons, Salman and Abdulla, moved to Bahrain, and co-ruled it as feudal estates and imposed taxes on the indigenous Baharnah population. Salman settled in Bahrain Island and Abdulla in Muharraq Island, each ruling independently. The Al Khalifa soon became split into two branches, Al-Abdulla and Al-Salman that engaged in open conflict between 1842 and 1846.^[b] The Al-Salman branch was victorious and enjoyed complete rule of Bahrain. Until 1869, Bahrain was under threat of occupation by various external powers including the Wahhabis, Omanis, Ottomans, Egyptians and Persians, yet the Al Khalifa managed to keep it under their control.^[4][5] The Al-Abdulla branch continued to be a rival until 1895.^[6] Today, Abdulla ibn Ahmad Al Khalifa's descendants live in Qatar, while Salman ibn Ahmad Al Khalifa's descendants live in Bahrain.

List of Al Khalifa rulers of Bahrain

Since 1783, the Al Khalifa have been rulers of Bahrain:

Name	Years as ruler	Title
Sheikh Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Khalifa	1783–1796	Hakim
Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, ruling jointly with Sheikh Salman bin Ahmad Al Khalifa Shaikh Khalifa bin Sulman Al Khalifa	1796–1843 1796–1825 1825–1834	Hakim Hakim Hakim
Sheikh Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa	1834–1842 1849–1868 1869–1869	Hakim
Sheikh Ali bin Khalifah Al Khalifa	1868–1869	Hakim
Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa	1869–1869	Hakim
Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa	1869–1932	Hakim
Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa	1932–1942	Hakim
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa	1942–1961	Hakim
Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa	1961–1971 1971–1999	Hakim Amir
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa	1999–2002 2002–present	Amir King

Family tree

House of Khalifa

Ahmad bin Muhammad (1) r. 1783–1795 Salman ibn Ahmad (2) r. 1796–1821 Abdullah ibn Ahmad (3) r. 1796–1843 Khalifa bin Salman (4) r. 1825–1834 Muhammad bin Abdullah (7) r. 1869 Muhammad bin Khalifa (5) r. 1834–1842, 1843–1868, 1869 Ali bin Khalifa (6) r. 1868–1869 Isa bin Ali (8) r. 1869–1932 Hamad bin Isa (9) r. 1932–1942 Salman bin Hamad (10) r. 1942–1961 Isa bin Salman (11) r. 1961–1999 Hamad bin Isa (12) r. 1999–present

Ruling Family Council

Decisions pertaining to the Al Khalifa family, as well as disputes between family members are arbitrated by the Ruling Family Council (Arabic: مجلس العائلة الحاكمة).^[7][8][9] The council attends to internal family disputes particularly those related to appropriation of land, sale of real estate and other properties. Members of the ruling family are not allowed to refer these or other disputes to ordinary law courts.^[7]

Relations between the political leadership and the rest of the "rank and file" members of the Al Khalifa ruling family have been formally managed by the council since 1932. However, on the eve of the 1973 parliamentary elections, then the Amir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa issued a decree restructuring the Ruling Family Council to become a formal organ of the state, and giving the administrative head of the council the rank of minister.^[7]

The Ruling Family Council is chaired by King Hamad,^[10] its deputy chairman is Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa,^[11] and the director general is Ibrahim bin Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.^[12]

The King appoints the members of the board of the Ruling Family Council as recognised representatives of various kingship lines and factional alliances within the Al Khalifa family.^[7]

Cabinet ministers

As of 2024, 4 out of 25 serving cabinet ministers of Bahrain were members of the Al Khalifa royal family.^[13]

• Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, The Crown Prince, and Deputy Supreme Commander
• Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister
• Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior
• Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy

Notable people

• Sheikha Dheya bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa, royal family member and President of the Riyada Group of Companies

Controversies

The King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was responsible for attacks on protesters during the Arab Spring. The king and the government were condemned both locally and overseas. They later enlisted the help of nearby Saudi Arabia and the UAE.^[14]

• Bahrain Police and protesters clash violently on 13 March 2011.
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See also

• List of Arabian royal houses

Notes

1. The year the family settled in Zubarah. The first ruler from the family took over in 1783.
2. Inter-Al Khalifa conflicts within Bahrain began in 1828 and lasted until 1869.^{[3][better source needed]}