Hola (ethnic group)
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Bahrain
|
n/a |
 United Arab Emirates
|
n/a |
 Kuwait
|
n/a |
 Qatar
|
n/a |
 Saudi Arabia
|
n/a |
| Languages | |
| Gulf Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arabs, Bahrani, Iranians | |
Houla (Arabic: هوله, sing. Houli هولي) is blanket term for the Arabs of the Banâdir littoral between Kangan and Bandar Abbas ; and the Arabs of Qeshm island and the mainland near Bandar Lengeh who began to infiltrate here about 1760 from the Arabian shore opposite.
Houla (in Arabic: هوله), is a plural Arabic term for Houli (in Arabic: هولي), which "migrant Arabs"
The most recent influx of the Hola to the now known as GCC countries is during the 1960s. Iran under the Shah was strict regarding different ethnic groups and maintained censuses on them. Most of the Hola families were exiled from various ports and villages of Iran. One inviting country was Bahrain, which had a need for more Sunni Muslims as the country was mainly Shia and was ruled by a Sunni family that came from Saudi Arabia. It was also a country that had a fairly large Hola community that existed on the island beforehand. Though there was a difference between the variety of people that had come during different times, the term “Hola” began to be used generally for all Sunni Muslims that had connections with Iran, especially after the Iranian Revolution, which brought about anti-Shia tensions to the GCC nation states, uniting those that were Sunni. You will mainly hear this term used in Bahrain, though Oman and the UAE has a large number of these families living among them. The Hola had a degree of self-rule with a number of emirates (Arabic: see Arabic article) in the south of Iran until the 20th century. Following the ascent of the Pahlavi Dynasty, there was a diminution or abolition of the local ruling families' privileges as elsewhere in Iran.
Most of the Huwala families lived in the urban centres of the Persian Gulf states and established themselves as trading business families, making use of their networks across the Persian Gulf. In the Bahraini city of Manama, many settled in the neighbourhood of Awadhiya.
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