Al Khalifa-ruled sheikhdom over the Bahrain archipelago, under British protection from an 1861 treaty through a full protectorate relationship until independence.
Britain announced withdrawal from the Gulf in 1968; Bahrain became fully independent on 15 August 1971, continuing as the modern State/Kingdom of Bahrain (already canonical, id: bahrain).
A concise modern history of Bahrain's political development from the protectorate through independence and beyond.