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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
The kingdom was founded in 1932, about thirty years after Abd
al Aziz had begun the reconquest of the Arabian Peninsula for the
House of Saud. During the eighteenth century, the Al Saud
established hegemony over many of the tribes of the peninsula but
lost it during the nineteenth century. The Islam of the forces
led by Abd al Aziz was based on
Wahhabism (see Glossary), the
creed of the Al Saud since the eighteenth century. Inspired by
the stern reformer, Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, the armies of the
Al Saud gradually forced the other tribes of Najd to accept their
dominance and slowly extended their rule to the shores of the
Persian Gulf. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, they
seized Mecca and Medina, destroying shrines and images they
considered sacrilegious. Learning the fate of the two holy cities
and of the Wahhabi action of turning back Islamic pilgrims as
idolaters, the Ottoman sultan-caliph in Constantinople sent his
viceroy in Egypt, Muhammad Ali, to mount a campaign to destroy
the Al Saud. In 1816 Mecca and Medina were recaptured and, after
a bloody campaign, the Ottoman army conducted a savage invasion
of the Al Saud homeland in Najd
(see
The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam, 1500-1818
, ch. 1).
During the course of the nineteenth century, the Al Saud
gradually resumed their dominance of the central Najd region only
to be superseded in the 1890s by the Al Rashid, who originated in
Hail, northwest of Riyadh. After the dramatic capture of Riyadh
in a dawn raid in 1902, Abd al Aziz and his allies defeated the
Rashidi forces in a series of battles, gradually winning control
of the remaining settled areas of Najd. Although Ottoman forces
equipped with artillery combined with the Rashidi armies, they
could not prevent Abd al Aziz from consolidating his mastery over
all central Arabia in the middle of the first decade of the
twentieth century.
Taking advantage of the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire and
the weakening of Turkish garrisons on the peninsula, Abd al Aziz
invaded the Eastern Province (also seen as Al Ahsa) in 1913 and
then the entire gulf coast between Kuwait and Qatar after
overcoming the Turkish garrison at Al Hufuf. Although it had
remained part of the Ottoman Empire, most of the peninsula had
been almost a world unto itself until the tribes were drawn into
larger outside conflicts during World War I. Relying on the
Ottomans to maintain stability in the Middle East before the war,
Britain had earlier disdained a pact with Abd al Aziz, but after
Britain's declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire in
October 1914, the British sought an alliance with the House of
Saud. By a treaty signed in December 1914, the British recognized
Saudi independence from the Ottoman Empire and provided Abd al
Aziz with financial subsidies and small arms. As his part of the
agreement, Abd al Aziz promised to keep 4,000 men in the field
against the House of Rashid, which was associated with the
Ottomans. Bolstered by
Ikhwan (brotherhood--see Glossary) forces,
Saudi control was extended to the outskirts of Hail, the Rashidi
capital, by 1917.
Data as of December 1992
Armed Struggle of the House of Saud
The kingdom was founded in 1932, about thirty years after Abd
al Aziz had begun the reconquest of the Arabian Peninsula for the
House of Saud. During the eighteenth century, the Al Saud
established hegemony over many of the tribes of the peninsula but
lost it during the nineteenth century. The Islam of the forces
led by Abd al Aziz was based on
Wahhabism (see Glossary), the
creed of the Al Saud since the eighteenth century. Inspired by
the stern reformer, Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, the armies of the
Al Saud gradually forced the other tribes of Najd to accept their
dominance and slowly extended their rule to the shores of the
Persian Gulf. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, they
seized Mecca and Medina, destroying shrines and images they
considered sacrilegious. Learning the fate of the two holy cities
and of the Wahhabi action of turning back Islamic pilgrims as
idolaters, the Ottoman sultan-caliph in Constantinople sent his
viceroy in Egypt, Muhammad Ali, to mount a campaign to destroy
the Al Saud. In 1816 Mecca and Medina were recaptured and, after
a bloody campaign, the Ottoman army conducted a savage invasion
of the Al Saud homeland in Najd
(see
The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam, 1500-1818
, ch. 1).
During the course of the nineteenth century, the Al Saud
gradually resumed their dominance of the central Najd region only
to be superseded in the 1890s by the Al Rashid, who originated in
Hail, northwest of Riyadh. After the dramatic capture of Riyadh
in a dawn raid in 1902, Abd al Aziz and his allies defeated the
Rashidi forces in a series of battles, gradually winning control
of the remaining settled areas of Najd. Although Ottoman forces
equipped with artillery combined with the Rashidi armies, they
could not prevent Abd al Aziz from consolidating his mastery over
all central Arabia in the middle of the first decade of the
twentieth century.
Taking advantage of the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire and
the weakening of Turkish garrisons on the peninsula, Abd al Aziz
invaded the Eastern Province (also seen as Al Ahsa) in 1913 and
then the entire gulf coast between Kuwait and Qatar after
overcoming the Turkish garrison at Al Hufuf. Although it had
remained part of the Ottoman Empire, most of the peninsula had
been almost a world unto itself until the tribes were drawn into
larger outside conflicts during World War I. Relying on the
Ottomans to maintain stability in the Middle East before the war,
Britain had earlier disdained a pact with Abd al Aziz, but after
Britain's declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire in
October 1914, the British sought an alliance with the House of
Saud. By a treaty signed in December 1914, the British recognized
Saudi independence from the Ottoman Empire and provided Abd al
Aziz with financial subsidies and small arms. As his part of the
agreement, Abd al Aziz promised to keep 4,000 men in the field
against the House of Rashid, which was associated with the
Ottomans. Bolstered by
Ikhwan (brotherhood--see Glossary) forces,
Saudi control was extended to the outskirts of Hail, the Rashidi
capital, by 1917.
Data as of December 1992
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