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Struggle with the Ottomans |
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In 1801 the Wahhabis captured and sacked the Shi'ite
holy city of Karbala` in Ottoman Iraq, and in the following year Sa'ud
led his father's army to the capture of Mecca itself in the Ottoman Hejaz.
It was soon after his return from this expedition that his father was
assassinated by a Shi'ite in the mosque of Ad-Dir'iyah in
revenge for the desecration of Karbala`. (see also Index:
Ottoman Empire) |
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The issue was now joined between the Ottomans and the Wahhabis of Arabia. In 1804 Sa'ud captured Medina, and the Wahhabi empire embraced the whole of Arabia down to Yemen and Oman. Year after year Sa'ud visited Mecca to preside over the pilgrimage as the imam of the Muslim congregation. But the tide was soon to turn to his disadvantage. The sultan of the Ottoman Empire, preoccupied in other directions, consigned to Muhammad (Mehmet) 'Ali Pasha, the virtually independent viceroy of Egypt, the task of crushing the "heretics." An Egyptian force landed on the Hejaz coast under the command of Tusun, the youthful son of Muhammad 'Ali Pasha. Sa'ud inflicted a severe defeat on the invaders, but reinforcements enabled Tusun to occupy Mecca and Medina in 1812. The following year Muhammad 'Ali assumed command of the expeditionary force in person. In the east, Britain severely curbed the naval allies of the Wahhabis in 1809. |
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Sa'ud died at Ad-Dir'iyah in 1814. His successor, his son 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'ud, was scarcely of his father's calibre, and the capture of Ar-Ra`s in Al-Qasim by the Egyptians in 1815 forced him to sue for peace. This was duly arranged, but the truce was short-lived, and in 1816 the struggle was renewed, with Ibrahim Pasha, another of Muhammad 'Ali's sons, in command of the Egyptian forces. Gaining the support of the volatile tribes by skillful diplomacy and lavish gifts, he advanced into central Arabia. Joined by most of the principal tribes, he appeared before ad- Dir'iyah in April 1818. Fighting ended in September with the surrender of 'Abd Allah, who was sent to Istanbul and beheaded. Local Wahhabi leaders were executed, Ad-Dir'iyah was razed to the ground, and Egyptian garrisons were posted to the principal towns. The Sa'udi family had suffered heavy losses during the fighting. A few had managed to escape before the surrender; the rest were sent to Egypt for detention along with descendants of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab. The Wahhabi empire ceased to exist, but the faith lived on in the desert and in the towns of central Arabia in defiance of the new rulers of the land. (see also Index: Dir'iyah, Battle of ad-) |
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Copyright © 1994-1997 Encyclopędia Britannica, Inc. |
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"Arabia: THE COUNTRIES OF ARABIA: Saudi Arabia: HISTORY:
The Wahhabi movement." Britannica Online. |