This chapter explores the origins and history of the Al Khalifa tribe and the circumstances that led to their shaykhly mastery over Bahrain. In most of the period examined here (mid-1600s to 1783), the Al Khalifa are studied as part of the ‘Utubi confederation, which established a polity in Kuwait and then in Zubara before taking over Bahrain. In focusing on the ruling dynasty, the chapter investigates the formation of the house of Al Khalifa and how its successive heads dealt with challenges and opportunities that served their ambition towards achieving an autonomous and thriving shaykhdom in the Gulf. It also observes the early practice of joint chieftainship in the house of Al Khalifa along with the foundation of the shaykhdom. While some parts of the history of the Al Khalifa seem to be the subject of consensus, others are controversial and debatable. This chapter tries to reach a coherent narrative of the conquest of Bahrain in 1783, the aftermath of which shaped the political and social dynamics in the shaykhdom, and has continued to do so, into the 21st-century present. The Origins of the Al Khalifa Al Khalifa ( آل خليفة ), that is, the descendants of Khalifa bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Faysal al-‘Utubi (the originator of the Al Khalifa dynasty), are genealogically traced back by most sources to the ‘Amarat section of the great ‘Anizah tribe, a section of the ‘Adnani division of Arabs (Northern Arabs) who are called al-‘Arab al-Musta‘ariba (Arabised Arabs) Until the early nineteenth century, a short while after they had conquered Bahrain, the Al Khalifa were mostly referenced as part of the al-‘Utub (adj. ‘Utubi) who were Bedouin nomads who had migrated from Wadi al-Haddar, located within the district of al-Aflaj, in inner Najd. Local historians describe the al-‘Utub as a group of tribes descended from dissimilar lineages who confederated and became linked to each other; they may have converged through intermarriage, aiming to strengthen their relatedness and extend their kindred ties.