the revival of akhbārism, or "neo-akhbārism" as it became known, was under the dean of karbala scholarship, yusuf al bahrani (1695–1772), who led an intellectual assault on usuli thought in the mid-18th century. an akhbārī critique of usulism had emerged in bahrain at the beginning of the 18th century, partly spurred by the weaknesses of the usuli sponsoring safavid empire. by succeeding to the role of dean of karbala as one of the pre-eminent scholars of the age, al-bahrani's extended this bahrain-based debate to the rest of the shī‘a world.