First Saudi state

Naming and terminology

The designation First Saudi State is a modern historiographical term applied retrospectively by researchers to differentiate the initial polity from its successors, the second Saudi state based in Riyadh and the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.^[1][6][7][8] During the lifetime of its founder, Muhammad bin Saud, the word Saudi was not employed as an official state designation.^[9] Official and popular usage developed only during the establishment of the modern kingdom under Abdulaziz Al Saud.^[9] Historical chronicles written by contemporaries such as Uthman ibn Bishr show that inhabitants originally referred to the territory under the direct control of Muhammad bin Saud as Diriyah or al-Arid, calling its population the people of Diriyah or the people of al-Arid.^[9] As military and political expansion spread under the banner of the religious reform movement, chroniclers and regional observers increasingly adopted the regional names Najd and the people of Najd, while annexed towns and provinces retained their specific territorial identities.^[9] The historian Abdullah al-Uthaymin recorded that the modern history of the country became deeply associated with Saudi rule, culminating in the title Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was later adopted as an umbrella title in academic curricula encompassing all three Saudi polities even though the formal name arose only during the third state.^[10]

Conditions in the Arabian Peninsula

Prior to the rise of the first Saudi state, the Arabian Peninsula was divided into distinct geographic and political territories without a central government.^[11] The principal regions were the Hejaz, Asir and Tihamah, Yemen, Oman, al-Ahsa, Bahrain, and Najd.^[11][12] The Hejaz stretched from Aqaba in the north to Tihamat Asir in the south along the Red Sea coast, containing urban centres such as Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Taif, Yanbu, Rabigh, al-Lith, and al-Qunfudhah.^[11] Authority over the holy cities and the surrounding tribes was exercised by the Sharifs of Mecca, whose territorial influence extended northward to Ma'an on the edge of the Syrian desert and southward to al-Qunfudhah.^[11] The economy of the Hejaz relied heavily on the annual pilgrimage, which provided income through trade, services for pilgrims, and transit tolls extracted by local Bedouin tribes.^[12] Scholarly life centred on the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, attracting scholars from various Muslim lands who taught in religious schools funded by family endowments and Ottoman subsidies.^[12] Sufi orders had established lodges, known as zawiyas and takiyas, throughout the cities of the Hejaz, while the nomadic populations of the interior lived largely detached from formal religious instruction.^[12]

In south-western Arabia, the regions of Asir, al-Mikhlaf al-Sulaymani, and Najran were populated by large confederations of tribes.^[12] The sedentary communities engaged in agriculture and livestock herding, while coastal communities worked in fishing and maritime commerce through Red Sea ports like Jizan.^[12] In al-Mikhlaf al-Sulaymani, political leadership was held by local sharifian families who nominally recognized the Zaydi imams of Sana'a until Sharif Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khayrat and his son Muhammad unified local factions under their autonomous rule.^[12] The religious landscape was mixed, with Zaydi communities alongside Sunni populations.^[12] In Najran, the Yam tribal federation held political and military sway under the Makrami leadership, adhering to the Isma'ili branch of Islam, and frequently allied with neighboring rulers against emerging regional competitors.^[12]

Eastern Arabia, comprising al-Ahsa and al-Qatif, featured rich agricultural oases supplied by abundant artesian springs supporting date palm plantations and rice fields, alongside coastal fishing and pearl diving.^[12] The towns of al-Ahsa maintained active commercial links with central Najd, enabling eastern powers to intervene periodically in Najdi internal affairs.^[12] After expelling the Ottoman garrison in 1080 AH (1669 CE), the Bani Khalid tribal confederation under Shaykh Barrak ibn Ghurayr al-Hamid established an autonomous emirate covering the eastern coast and the Gulf hinterland.^[12] Both Sunni and Shia scholars maintained active educational circles in towns like al-Hofuf, drawing religious students from across eastern Arabia, including Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab during his early travels.^[12] However, public order outside the towns was precarious, and desert clans frequently raided merchant caravans and pilgrimage routes connecting Basra and Iran to central Arabia.^[12]

Central Arabia, known as Najd, was fragmented into independent oasis settlements and subregions, including Wadi al-Dawasir, Hautat Bani Tamim, al-Aflaj, al-Kharj, al-Arid, Sudayr, al-Washm, al-Qassim, and Jabal Shammar.^[11][12] Settled populations cultivated oasis agriculture, while Bedouin tribes depended on camels and sheep.^[12] Najd lacked unified political institutions or centralized law enforcement.^[12] Local town emirs engaged in persistent rivalries, border skirmishes, and retaliatory feuds driven by disputes over scarce water wells and pasturage.^[12] Najdi settlements also faced periodic punitive expeditions from the Sharifs of Mecca in the west and the Bani Khalid rulers in the east, both seeking to impose tribute or discipline raiding clans.^[12] Ottoman imperial administration showed little interest in Najd, maintaining no military garrisons or bureaucratic presence in the interior.^[12][13] Literacy was limited to basic reading, writing, Quranic memorization, and fundamental Hanbali jurisprudence in the larger towns, without the institutional foundations or endowments necessary to support broader academies.^[12][13]

Origins of the Emirate of Diriyah

The town of Diriyah was founded in 850 AH (1446 CE) along the fertile banks of Wadi Hanifah by Mani ibn Rabia al-Muraydi, the direct ancestor of the House of Saud.^[14][15] Mani al-Muraydi migrated from eastern Arabia near al-Qatif after his kinsman Ibn Dir, ruler of Hajr al-Yamamah, granted him the two tracts of Ghasibah and al-Mulaybid along the valley.^[14][15] Following Mani's death, his son Rabia ibn Mani led the settlement as its population grew.^[16] Seeking to expand his land, Rabia seized neighboring properties from the Al Yazid clan, who held the settlements of al-Numiyyah and al-Wusayl.^[16] His son Musa ibn Rabia later consolidated control, displaced the Al Yazid from their lands, and permanently annexed both villages to Diriyah.^[16] Musa was succeeded in turn by his son Ibrahim ibn Musa, followed by Markhan ibn Ibrahim.^[16]

Upon Markhan's death, his sons Rabia and Muqrin shared the chieftainship.^[16] Leadership subsequently rotated among their descendants, passing to Watban ibn Rabia, Markhan ibn Muqrin, Nasir ibn Muhammad ibn Watban, Muhammad ibn Muqrin, Ibrahim ibn Watban, Idris ibn Watban, and Musa ibn Rabia ibn Watban until 1121 AH (1709 CE).^[16] In 1709, Saud the First ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin assumed leadership of the town.^[16] Saud I governed until his death in 1137 AH (1725 CE), after which the eldest family member, Zayd ibn Markhan ibn Watban, took power.^[16] Following Zayd's death in battle in 1139 AH (1726 CE), Muhammad bin Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin became emir of Diriyah, beginning a transformational period that led to the foundation of the first Saudi state.^[16][17]

Muhammad bin Saud focused on organizing town administration, establishing internal stability, and strengthening Diriyah's commercial position along transit routes through Wadi Hanifah.^[18][19] Diriyah evolved into a safe transit point for trade and pilgrimage caravans traveling across the central plateau.^[14][18] Its marketplace expanded into a major regional hub, and the local administration developed a systematic financial accounting framework that laid the administrative groundwork for subsequent political expansion across central Arabia.^[18][19]

Establishment and the Diriyah pact

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in al-Uyaynah in 1115 AH (1703 CE) into a family of Hanbali legal scholars, including his father, who served as qadi in al-Uyaynah and Huraymila, and his grandfather Sulayman. He memorized the Quran in childhood and traveled to the Hejaz to study under scholars such as Abdallah ibn Ibrahim ibn Sayf al-Najdi and the hadith specialist Muhammad Hayat al-Sindi.^[20][21] He then traveled to Basra in Ottoman Iraq, where he studied with Shaykh Muhammad al-Majmu'i and began composing his foundational work, Kitab al-Tawhid (Book of Monotheism), addressing practices he considered polytheistic.^[20][21] After departing Basra, he visited al-Ahsa to study with Abdallah ibn Abd al-Latif Al Shaykh and Abdallah ibn Fairuz before returning to Huraymila, where he began preaching publicly.^[6][21]

Facing opposition and threats to his life in Huraymila, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab relocated to al-Uyaynah, where the local ruler, Uthman ibn Hamad ibn Mu'ammar, welcomed him.^[22] Ibn Mu'ammar supported him, and Ibn Abd al-Wahhab married al-Jawharah bint Abdallah ibn Mu'ammar.^[22] In al-Uyaynah, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab oversaw the destruction of the venerated tomb canopy over the grave of Zayd ibn al-Khattab and enforced public moral ordinances, including the stoning of a self-confessed adulteress.^[22] These actions alarmed traditional scholars, who petitioned the paramount chief of the Bani Khalid in al-Ahsa, Sulayman ibn Muhammad al-Hamid.^[22] Threatening to cut off tax revenues and military protection, Sulayman pressured Ibn Mu'ammar to kill or banish the reformer, leading Ibn Mu'ammar to expel him from al-Uyaynah under armed escort.^[22]

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab sought sanctuary in Diriyah in 1157 AH (1744 CE), residing initially in the home of an acquaintance and teaching students.^[22][23][24] Students gathered around him in Diriyah, among them Thunayyan and Mishari, brothers of Emir Muhammad bin Saud, who asked the emir to go to him in person.^[22] The emir paid the scholar little attention at first, until his wife, Mudi bint Abi Wahtan, asked him to go to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and support him.^[22] When Muhammad bin Saud met Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the emir feared that after he gave his support the scholar would leave him and replace him with someone else.^[22] Ibn Abd al-Wahhab replied, 'blood for blood, and destruction for destruction'.^[22] This agreement, concluded in 1744 and known as the Diriyah Pact, established an alliance dividing state duties: political and military authority remained with the House of Saud, while religious authority and doctrinal instruction rested with Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and his family, later known as the Al ash-Sheikh.^[4][22][25] The alliance was reinforced through intermarriage, including the marriage of Muhammad bin Saud's son and successor, Abdulaziz, to a daughter of the religious reformer.^[26][27][28]

Following the agreement, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab spent two years conducting instructional circles in Diriyah and sending letters to princes, tribal chieftains, and ulama across Arabia and neighboring lands.^[29][30] Letters calling for the acceptance of his reform doctrine and political allegiance to Muhammad bin Saud were sent to scholars in Najd, al-Ahsa, the Holy Cities, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, India, and Yemen.^[29][30] In response, several central Najdi settlements entered into formal pacts with Diriyah, including al-Uyaynah, Huraymila, Manfuhah, al-Ammariyyah, al-Quway'iyyah, Shaqra, Duruma, al-Qasab, Thadiq, and Tharmada.^[29][30] However, multiple oasis communities subsequently renounced their oaths and rebelled, requiring the emirate to launch independent campaigns to bring each settlement back under Saudi authority.^[29][30][31]

Expansion in Najd

The unification of the central plateau of Najd required decades of military campaigns against regional towns and independent tribal confederations.^[21][32] In the al-Arid district surrounding Diriyah, the principal opponent of Saudi authority was Dahham ibn Dawwas, the ruler of Riyadh.^[21] Dahham fought against Diriyah for twenty-seven years across seventeen recorded engagements, including the battles of al-Shiyab, al-Ubayd, al-Shirak, al-Baniyyah, al-Khurayzah, al-Habuniyyah, and al-Batha, resulting in an estimated four thousand casualties.^[21][33] During one of Dahham's raids against Diriyah, Faisal and Saud, two sons of Emir Muhammad bin Saud, were killed.^[33] Although Dahham periodically concluded truces with Diriyah, fighting repeatedly resumed after broken agreements.^[22] The conflict ended in Rabi al-Thani 1187 AH (1773 CE), when Dahham fled Riyadh following the death of his sons, allowing Saudi forces under Abdulaziz bin Muhammad to enter the town and incorporate it into the emirate.^[22][34]

Nearby settlements also experienced political instability.^[22] Manfuhah, led by Emir Ali ibn Mazru, allied with Diriyah in 1159 AH (1746 CE) but revolted in 1166 AH (1753 CE) before being re-subdued.^[22] In al-Uyaynah, Uthman ibn Mu'ammar joined Saudi campaigns, but pro-Wahhabi partisans held that they had evidence of his hostility to the new state and of secret agreements with its opponents; he was assassinated following Friday prayers in 1163 AH (1750 CE), after which Mishari ibn Mu'ammar was appointed governor under Diriyah's oversight.^[22] Huraymila submitted in 1165 AH (1751 CE), but its qadi, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Wahhab, brother of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, opposed the reform teachings and encouraged local leaders to expel pro-Saudi officials.^[21] When the exiled leaders sought refuge in Diriyah, rivals from the Al Rashid family attacked them, killing the local emir Muhammad ibn Abdallah and eight companions.^[21] Abdulaziz bin Muhammad led a force to storm Huraymila, restoring control and appointing Mubarak ibn Adwan as emir.^[21]

Expansion across al-Washm, Sudayr, and al-Kharj followed a similar pattern of local submission, resistance, and military suppression.^[35] Shaqra declared allegiance early, followed by al-Quway'iyyah in 1169 AH (1755 CE), while towns such as Tharmada, Ushayqir, al-Qasab, Marat, and al-Far'ah resisted until Abdulaziz bin Muhammad led repeated expeditions against them.^[35] In Sudayr, campaigns continued for more than a decade until Rawdat Sudayr submitted.^[35] In 1196 AH (1782 CE), a regional coalition formed between the Al Madi of Rawdat Sudayr and the ruler of al-Kharj, Zayd ibn Zamil al-Dulaymi, expelling the Saudi garrison from Rawdat Sudayr.^[36] A counter-offensive led by Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz defeated the Al Madi and reclaimed the town.^[36] In al-Kharj, Zayd ibn Zamil fought prolonged wars against Diriyah; despite signing a peace agreement in 1189 AH (1775 CE), hostilities resumed until Zayd was killed in battle, after which his sons continued resistance until Abdulaziz bin Muhammad finally subdued al-Kharj in 1199 AH (1784 CE), appointing Sulayman ibn Ufaysan as governor.^[35]

The northern oasis province of al-Qassim was contested between regional towns and tribal allies.^[37] Buraydah, led by Emir Hammud al-Duraybi of the Al Abu Ulayyan, accepted the reform movement in 1182 AH (1768 CE), but settled authority was only established when Saud bin Abdulaziz besieged it in 1189 AH (1775 CE) and appointed Hujaylan ibn Hamad al-Tamimi as governor.^[37] Neighboring Unayzah submitted under Emir Abdallah ibn Ahmad ibn Zamil in 1182 AH (1768 CE), but repeatedly rebelled and executed religious teachers sent from Diriyah.^[37] In 1196 AH (1782 CE), Unayzah launched a major revolt, calling in military assistance from the ruler of al-Ahsa, Sadun ibn Uray'ir, who brought an army supported by the Dhafir, Bani Rashid, Shammar, and Anazah tribes.^[37] Sadun's force besieged Buraydah for five months, assaulting the city walls repeatedly, but Hujaylan ibn Hamad and the defenders repelled all assaults until the besiegers exhausted their supplies and withdrew.^[37][38] Saud bin Abdulaziz finally forced Unayzah into unconditional surrender in 1202 AH (1788 CE).^[39]

To secure the northern frontiers and commercial routes to Iraq and Syria, Saudi leaders targeted Jabal Shammar and the oasis of al-Jawf.^[40] In 1200 AH (1785 CE), Abdulaziz bin Muhammad instructed Hujaylan ibn Hamad to lead an expedition toward Jabal Shammar.^[40] On the march, Hujaylan intercepted an Iraqi merchant caravan headed for Ha'il, plundering its goods.^[40] In retaliation, Shaykh Thuwaini ibn Abdallah al-Sadun of the Muntafiq confederation marched toward Buraydah in Muharram 1201 AH (November 1786 CE) with troops from al-Zubayr, but was forced to withdraw to southern Iraq when internal unrest erupted.^[40] Hujaylan exploited the withdrawal to attack Jabal Shammar, forcing its Al Ali rulers to submit in 1201 AH (1786 CE), though complete compliance required ongoing military operations until 1207 AH (1792 CE).^[13][40] Using Jabal Shammar as a forward base, Emir Muhammad ibn Abd al-Muhsin Al Ali raided the Shararat tribe around Dumat al-Jandal in 1208 AH (1793 CE).^[40] In 1212 AH (1797 CE), Hujaylan led a campaign into Wadi al-Sirhan, subduing the Shararat and Ruwallah clans, thereby attaching al-Jawf administratively to Ha'il.^[21][41]

Expansion in Eastern Arabia and the Persian Gulf

The annexation of al-Ahsa brought the state to the Persian Gulf coast.^[42] Tension between Diriyah and the Bani Khalid rulers began when Sulayman ibn Muhammad demanded the expulsion of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab from al-Uyaynah.^[22] In 1172 AH (1759 CE), the Bani Khalid paramount chief Uray'ir ibn Dujayn assembled a large coalition force and marched on Najd, advancing to al-Jubaylah, but failed to breach the town's fortifications and withdrew.^[9] In 1178 AH, Uray'ir organized an alliance with Hasan ibn Hibat Allah al-Makrami of Najran and Dahham ibn Dawwas of Riyadh.^[43] At the battle of al-Ha'ir, Makrami's forces defeated the Saudi army led by Abdulaziz bin Muhammad, inflicting four hundred dead and capturing three hundred prisoners.^[33][43] The state survived by negotiating a ransom and prisoner exchange with Makrami, causing the Najranis to depart before Uray'ir arrived to conduct an unsuccessful month-long siege of Diriyah.^[33][43]

Internal dynastic discord among the Bani Khalid after Uray'ir's death allowed Diriyah to mount counter-offensives.^[44] Saud bin Abdulaziz raided al-Uyun in 1198 AH (1784 CE) and seized an Ahsa caravan the following year.^[44] When Sadun ibn Uray'ir was driven from power and sought asylum in Diriyah, the Saudi leadership exploited the opening; Sulayman ibn Ufaysan attacked al-Jishah and the port of al-Uqayr, burning stores after taking plunder.^[44] In 1204 AH (1789 CE), Saud defeated the Bani Khalid under Abd al-Muhsin ibn Sardah at the battle of Ghuraymil.^[44] In 1206 AH (1792 CE), Saud invaded al-Qatif, capturing Sayhat, seizing Anak by storm where five hundred defenders were killed, and occupying al-Qudayh.^[44] Inhabitants who sheltered in the fortified quarter of al-Fardah secured peace by paying three thousand zar (five hundred gold liras), while Saud burned a large number of books he had collected during his control of al-Qatif.^[44]

On Tarout Island, the Bani Khalid commander Abdallah ibn Sulayman al-Mahshuri fortified himself inside Tarout Castle.^[45] Ibrahim ibn Ufaysan dispatched his brother Fahd with two thousand troops, later reinforced to three thousand men, but their initial assault was beaten back with heavy casualties.^[45] Further reinforcements arrived from Diriyah under Salih ibn Rashid al-Dawsari, and after a twenty-day artillery bombardment, Saudi troops climbed into the fortress and expelled the eight hundred defenders, securing complete control over the Qatif district.^[45] A major battle occurred at al-Shayt in 1207 AH (1792 CE), where Saud's forces routed the Bani Khalid under Barrak ibn Abd al-Muhsin.^[42] Saud briefly garrisoned al-Ahsa, but local leaders revolted, forcing him to conduct a new campaign near al-Mubarraz, followed by an expedition in Dhu al-Qi'dah 1210 AH (1796 CE) to al-Ruqayqah near al-Hofuf, which permanently ended Bani Khalid rule.^[42]

Control of eastern Arabia enabled Saudi forces to project influence across the Persian Gulf.^[42] Between 1793 and 1797, Saudi expeditions raided Kuwaiti territory to punish hostile border tribes sheltering there.^[17][46][47] An expedition in 1793 led by Ibrahim ibn Sulayman ibn Ufaysan, followed by a second raid in 1797 led by Manna Abu Rijlayn, defeated local forces in the field but failed to conquer the walled town.^[17][46][47] Kuwaiti authorities constructed a second protective defensive wall in 1797, assisted by the armed presence of the British East India Company's trade factory, which had temporarily relocated from Basra to Kuwait between April 1793 and August 1795.^[47][48] In 1804, Saud bin Abdulaziz camped with his army at al-Jahra but withdrew without assault, and Kuwait preserved its autonomy due to its merchant fleet, British diplomatic interests, and Saudi military distractions on other fronts.^[47][48]

In Qatar, three main tribal groups, Al Muslim, Al Abi Husayn, and the Ma'adid, inhabited coastal settlements alongside the Al Khalifa family of the Utub, who had established themselves at the trading port of Zubarah in 1128 AH (1716 CE).^[49][50][51] In late 1207 AH (1793 CE), Ibrahim ibn Ufaysan invaded Qatar on instructions from Abdulaziz bin Muhammad, capturing the villages of Frayhah, al-Huwaylah, al-Yusufiyyah, and al-Ruwaydah.^[49][50][51] Ibn Ufaysan then besieged Zubarah, forcing the Al Khalifa to evacuate by sea to Bahrain, after which Qatar was integrated into the Saudi state.^[49][50][51]

Bahrain, held by the Al Khalifa since 1196 AH (1782 CE), was occupied by Sultan bin Ahmad of Muscat in 1215 AH (1800 CE).^[52][53] The Al Khalifa sought assistance from Saud bin Abdulaziz, who sent Ibrahim ibn Ufaysan to expel the Omani garrison in 1224 AH (1809 CE).^[52][53] Ibn Ufaysan established his headquarters at Diwan Castle and annexed Bahrain directly to the Saudi state, installing Fahd ibn Sulayman ibn Ufaysan as garrison commander.^[54][55] Prominent Al Khalifa sheikhs, including Salman ibn Ahmad, were transferred under custody to Diriyah.^[54][55] The Al Khalifa allied with Saeed bin Sultan of Muscat, Persian forces, and maritime relatives, attacking the garrison, taking Fahd ibn Ufaysan hostage, and forcing the release of their leaders.^[54][55] A subsequent counter-offensive by Ibrahim ibn Ufaysan and Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah failed at the naval battle of Khakeekera in 1225 AH (1810 CE), ending direct Saudi administration on the island.^[54][55]

In Oman and the Trucial Coast, the population was divided between the Sunni Ghafiri and the Ibadi Hinawi tribal factions.^[49] After Mutlaq ibn Muhammad al-Mutayri's initial advance met resistance, Ibrahim ibn Ufaysan led a large force to the Sir region, securing pacts with the Bani Yas and the Na'im tribes.^[49] In 1210 AH (1795 CE), Ibn Ufaysan established a permanent fortified base at Buraimi Oasis, constructing al-Sabbarah Palace between Buraimi and Hamasa.^[49] Mutlaq al-Mutayri besieged Ras al-Khaimah, compelling the Qasimi leader, Sheikh Saqr ibn Rashid al-Qasimi, to sign a treaty in 1212 AH (1797 CE), accepting Wahhabi religious doctrine and paying zakat.^[49][56] In 1214 AH (1800 CE), Salim ibn Bilal al-Hariq became governor of Buraimi, extending authority over the Dhawahir, Bani Qitab, Bani Ali, and Bani Rasib tribes.^[49] Sultan bin Ahmad of Muscat agreed to pay an annual tribute of five thousand riyals in exchange for an armistice.^[49] Under his successor, Saeed bin Sultan, open war erupted; Mutlaq al-Mutayri defeated Omani forces, killing the sultan's cousin Qays ibn Ahmad in battle, and marched into Matrah, reaching the outskirts of Muscat.^[49][57]

British authorities in India viewed the alliance between Diriyah and the Qasimi maritime fleet as a threat to their commercial shipping lanes.^[58] In September 1809, the British dispatched a naval expedition from Bombay under Colonel Lionel Smith and Captain John Wainwright, comprising the frigates HMS Chiffonne (35 guns), HMS Caroline (36 guns), five cruisers, and transport vessels carrying 800 European troops and 500 sepoys.^[59][60] On 11 November 1809, the squadron anchored off Ras al-Khaimah, subjecting the town to intense naval bombardment on 12 November.^[60] On the morning of 13 November, British troops breached the coastal defences and seized the town centre, setting fire to Qasimi vessels, but withdrew to their ships on 14 November upon reports of a large Saudi relief army approaching the coast.^[60][61][62] Mutlaq al-Mutayri continued military operations across the Batinah plain and defeated an Omani force at Shinas.^[57] Mutlaq was killed in battle against the Hajaris in Dhu al-Qi'dah 1228 AH (1813 CE); he was replaced by his brother Battal al-Mutayri, but Saudi control deteriorated as military resources were redirected to counter Egyptian advances in the west.^[53][57]

Expansion in Western and Southern Arabia

Relations between Diriyah and the Sharifs of Mecca deteriorated after Sharif Mas'ud ibn Sa'id and his brother Sharif Musa'id banned followers of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab from performing the Hajj.^[22] In 1183 AH (1769 CE), a Saudi patrol intercepted a Hejazi party headed by Sharif Mansur in upper Najd; Abdulaziz bin Muhammad released them without ransom, securing a temporary pilgrimage permit.^[22] In 1185 AH (1771 CE), Sharif Ahmad ibn Sa'id requested a religious scholar to explain the reform doctrine, and the scholar Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah al-Husayyin was sent with a treatise from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.^[22] However, after Sharif Ghalib ibn Musa'id took power in 1202 AH (1787 CE), he resumed anti-Wahhabi policies and launched military campaigns.^[63] In 1205 AH (1790 CE), Ghalib sent his brother Sharif Abd al-Aziz with ten thousand men to besiege the Saudi fortress of Qasr Bassam in al-Sir for four months without success.^[63] A counter-force led by Saud bin Abdulaziz drove the Sharifian army back to al-Sha'ra in upper Najd, where Ghalib himself reinforced the siege for a month before withdrawing.^[63]

In 1210 AH (1795 CE), Sharif Ghalib dispatched Sharif Fuhayd against the pro-Saudi Qahtan tribe under Hadi ibn Qarmalah at Masil, scoring a temporary victory.^[22] A follow-up expedition under Sharif Nasir ibn Yahya near al-Jumaniyyah was routed when Abdulaziz bin Muhammad dispatched allied Bedouin warriors from the Utaybah, Mutayr, al-Suhul, Subay', Ajman, and Dawasir clans, capturing thirty thousand camels and two hundred thousand sheep.^[22] Following another defeat at Khurmah in 1212 AH (1797 CE), Ghalib signed a temporary peace allowing Saudi pilgrims to perform the Hajj.^[21][64][65] Conflict escalated in 1217 AH (1802 CE) when Ghalib's brother-in-law and chief minister, Uthman ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mudayifi, defected to the Saudi cause.^[66] Al-Mudayifi made al-Ubayla his base, where Hejazi tribes joined him; he repelled Ghalib's attack and seized Taif in 1217 AH (1802 CE), after which Diriyah appointed him governor of Taif.^[6][66]

In Muharram 1218 AH (1803 CE), Saud bin Abdulaziz advanced with allied tribal forces toward Mecca.^[6][67] Sharif Ghalib evacuated to the port of Jeddah, leaving his brother Sharif Abd al-Mu'in in charge.^[6] Abd al-Mu'in surrendered the holy city on terms of general safety, and Saudi troops entered Mecca without bloodshed, reading an official decree of security from the pulpit of the Grand Mosque.^[6][63][68] Domed shrines, tomb markers, and decorative monuments over graves were dismantled in accordance with strict monotheistic precepts, and customs taxes deemed non-canonical were abolished.^{[6][63][68][69]} Saud led an assault against Jeddah but was unable to breach its fortified walls and retired to Diriyah, leaving a garrison in Mecca.^[63][70] Shortly after, Sharif Ghalib recaptured Mecca and besieged al-Mudayifi in Taif.^[71] In 1219 AH (1805 CE), Ghalib attacked allied tribes under Abd al-Wahhab Abu Nuqtah of Asir, suffering heavy losses that included six hundred dead, predominantly Ottoman soldiers.^[71] Saudi forces surrounded Mecca, cut off its provisioning routes, and forced Ghalib to surrender on terms recognizing Saudi sovereignty while remaining local emir.^[71][72][73] Later in 1805, troops commanded by Baday ibn Mudyan captured Medina after a siege, followed by the port of Yanbu, bringing the entire Hejaz under the first Saudi state.^{[34][72][73][74]}

The Spanish traveler Domingo Badia y Leblich, traveling under the pseudonym Ali Bey al-Abbasi, was present in Mecca during the Hajj of 1221 AH (1806 CE) and recorded an eyewitness description of the entry of Saud bin Abdulaziz and his army.^[75] He observed an advance column of five to six thousand men marching tightly in files down the road, headed by two horsemen bearing two-meter lances, with men chanting prayers and sacred declarations without military drums, trumpets, or traditional regalia.^[75] This column was followed by a larger body of forty-five thousand men, primarily mounted on camels carrying their own water, tents, cooking wood, and camel feed.^[75] Two hundred horsemen rode alongside the second-in-command, Abd al-Wahhab Abu Nuqtah.^[75] All troops were dressed in simple white ihram pilgrim garments, making the commander indistinguishable except for an elderly figure with a long white beard preceded by a green royal standard inscribed with large white letters.^[75] Badia described the fighters as disciplined and accustomed to hardship, maintaining obedience to their leaders.^[75]

In south-western Arabia, Saudi operations in Asir began in 1211 AH (1796 CE) under Rabi' ibn Zayd al-Dawsari, who secured the submission of Bishah and appointed Salim ibn Shukban as governor.^[64][76] Leaders of Asir, Muhammad ibn Amir Abu Nuqtah and his brother Abd al-Wahhab, accepted the reform teachings and allied with Diriyah.^[64][76] When Muhammad died in Ranyah in 1217 AH (1803 CE), Abdulaziz bin Muhammad confirmed Abd al-Wahhab Abu Nuqtah as general emir of Asir and Tihamah.^[64][76] Abu Nuqtah led southern armies into the Hejaz, Najran, and coastal Tihamah until he fell in battle against Sharif Hammud Abu Mismar in 1224 AH (1809 CE), after which Tami ibn Shu'ayb al-Muta'mi was named his successor.^[72][77][78]

In al-Mikhlaf al-Sulaymani (Jazan), the reform movement was introduced in 1215 AH (1800 CE) by Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Falaqi and Arar ibn Shar.^[79] Local conflicts over the governorship of Abu Arish erupted between Ali ibn Haydar and his uncle, Sharif Hammud ibn Muhammad (Abu Mismar).^[80] Hammud initially resisted Diriyah, but after Saudi forces under Abu Nuqtah intervened, Hammud accepted Saudi sovereignty and was confirmed as emir.^[64] Hammud expanded southward into Yemeni Tihamah, taking Mawr, al-Luhayyah, al-Hudaydah, Bayt al-Faqih, and Zabid in the name of the Saudi state, but later broke with Diriyah after he declined an order from Imam Saud to recover parts of Tihamah that the Zaydi Imam of Sana'a, Ali al-Mansur, had retaken.^[64][81] In 1224 AH (1809 CE), Abu Nuqtah led a northern army that routed Hammud at the battle of Wadi Baysh, though Abu Nuqtah was killed in the engagement.^[82] Tami ibn Shu'ayb renewed the campaign with ten thousand men in 1225 AH (1810 CE), capturing al-Luhayyah and al-Hudaydah, forcing Hammud to sign a peace treaty in 1226 AH (1811 CE) mediated by the ruler of Sa'ada, agreeing to surrender Sabya, al-Darb, and Baysh, and pay annual port revenues to Diriyah.^{[72][81][82][83]}

In Najran, the Yam confederation and its Makrami leaders regularly opposed the state.^[84] After the 1764 battle of al-Ha'ir, peace was restored through prisoner exchanges, but border friction persisted.^[43][84] In 1220 AH (1805 CE), a combined force led by Abd al-Wahhab Abu Nuqtah, Fahhad ibn Shukban, and Ibrahim ibn Mubarak al-Dawsari invaded Najran, building a fortified post to maintain surveillance over local clans.^[84] In Yemen, correspondence between Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz and the Zaydi Imams al-Mansur Ali and al-Mutawakkil Ahmad in Sana'a resulted in the demolition of several raised shrine canopies around Sana'a and Dhamar.^[85][86] In Hadramawt, local leaders including Abd al-Hamid ibn Qasim al-Yafi'i formed ties with Diriyah in 1205 AH (1791 CE), leading to three military expeditions between 1807 and 1811 under commanders such as Naji ibn Ali ibn Qamla, securing temporary pledges of alliance from regional sultans in Shibam, Tarim, and al-Shihr.^{[87][88][89][90][91][92]}

Campaigns in Ottoman Iraq and the Levant

Clashes between the Saudi state and Ottoman Iraq developed as southern Iraq became an operating base for dissident tribal factions and expelled rulers of the Bani Khalid.^[93] Following an attack by Thuwaini ibn Abdallah al-Sadun on al-Qassim in 1786, Abdulaziz bin Muhammad dispatched a copy of Kitab al-Tawhid to Sulayman Pasha the Great, the Ottoman governor of Baghdad, urging him to summon religious scholars and accept the doctrine; the pasha rejected the letter.^[93] In 1788, Saud bin Abdulaziz led a reconnaissance cavalry force against the Muntafiq at al-Rawdatayn between al-Mutla and Safwan, representing the first Saudi military foray across the Iraqi frontier.^[93] In 1797, Sulayman Pasha released Thuwaini from custody and appointed him commander of a major expedition against al-Ahsa.^[94][95] However, Thuwaini was assassinated by an enslaved man in his camp before battle was joined; the Iraqi force collapsed in disarray and was pursued by Saudi units to the Kuwaiti border, losing artillery and military supplies.^[54][96][97]

In 1798, the governor's deputy, Kehaya Ali Pasha, led an Ottoman army against al-Ahsa, supported by artillery, Kurdish and Arab tribal auxiliaries, and maritime supply vessels.^[96] Ali Pasha besieged the fortified Saudi garrisons inside al-Mubarraz and al-Hofuf, commanded by Sulayman ibn Muhammad ibn Majid and Ibrahim ibn Sulayman ibn Ufaysan.^[96] The siege stalled as food stores dwindled and beasts of burden died, compelling Ali Pasha to withdraw.^[96] Saud bin Abdulaziz advanced with a relief army to intercept him at Thaj; skirmishes occurred around al-Shubak, but neither force gained an advantage.^[95][96] Ali Pasha proposed a six-year armistice on terms that included Saudi withdrawal from al-Ahsa, reimbursement of campaign expenses, and restitution of booty taken from Thuwaini's campaign.^[95] Saud replied that al-Ahsa had never been directly under Ottoman imperial control, referred financial claims to his father in Diriyah, and consented only to guaranteeing the safety of Iraqi pilgrimage caravans.^[98] In 1799, a Saudi envoy arrived in Baghdad to ratify the agreement, but border friction persisted.^[60][97]

The armistice collapsed in 1799 when Khaza'il tribesmen attacked a Saudi-allied party near Najaf, killing approximately three hundred men.^[96] Diriyah's demands for blood money were rejected by the governor of Baghdad.^[96] In Dhu al-Hijjah 1215 AH (April 1801 CE or 1802 CE according to other records), Saud bin Abdulaziz and Uthman al-Mudayifi led an army into southern Iraq and attacked the Shia holy city of Karbala.^{[32][56][99][100]} Saudi forces stormed the town, demolished the dome over the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali, plundered ornaments and weaponry, and killed thousands of inhabitants.^[32][56] In retribution for the sack of Karbala, an assassin identified in Arabic records as an Iraqi Kurd from Amadiyah traveled to Diriyah and murdered Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad with a dagger while he was praying in the al-Turaif mosque in late Rajab 1218 AH (November 1803 CE).^[32][101]

Hostilities continued under Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz.^[56] In late 1803, Saudi forces raided the environs of Najaf.^[56] In 1804, they probed the defenses of al-Zubayr and Basra, capturing Sheikh Mansur al-Sadun.^[56] In April 1806, Prince Abdullah bin Saud mounted unsuccessful attacks against Najaf and al-Samawah, where Saudi climbers scaled Najaf's walls by night but were repelled by the armed townsmen with heavy losses.^[53] In 1808, Saudi cavalry raided Karbala and established an operating base in the oasis of Shathatha, besieging Karbala and al-Hindiyyah before the governor of Baghdad arrived with imperial troops and executed the local leader for adopting Wahhabi doctrines.^[53] In 1810, Abdullah bin Saud led a cavalry sweep that approached within short distance of Baghdad.^[53] By 1812, Saudi influence along the Iraqi marches was sufficient that agents collected zakat from Bedouin encampments around al-Hindiyyah.^[53][60]

In the Levant, direct contact with Ottoman authorities commenced in 1221 AH (1806 CE) when Saud bin Abdulaziz prohibited the Syrian pilgrimage caravan led by the governor of Damascus, Abdallah Pasha al-Azm, from entering the holy cities with customary ceremonial litters (mahmal), drums, and fifes.^[6][102] Sultan Selim III dismissed Abdallah Pasha for complying with Saudi demands and appointed Yusuf Pasha Kanj to wage war on Diriyah.^[102] In 1810, Saud mounted an expedition across the Syrian borderlands, marching for thirty-five days across the desert.^{[72][102][103]} His forces bypassed Mount Hermon, raided the fortress of al-Muzayrib and Bosra, and swept across the Hawran plain, seizing goods from more than thirty-five villages and targeting country estates south of Damascus before withdrawing with extensive booty.^[56][102] Sultan Mahmud II dismissed Yusuf Pasha Kanj and appointed Sulayman Pasha as governor of Damascus, ordering him to coordinate military plans with Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt.^{[49][53][104]} While the Saudi state never maintained permanent garrisons in Syrian cities, multiple nomadic tribes in the Syrian desert paid regular zakat to Diriyah.^[60][105]

Ottoman–Saudi War and fall of the state

The capture of the holy cities and interruptions to imperial pilgrimage caravans prompted Sultan Mahmud II to order the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, to reconquer the Hejaz.^{[5][60][106][107]} In 1811, Muhammad Ali organized an expeditionary force transported across the Red Sea under the command of his sixteen-year-old son, Tusun Pasha.^{[60][106][108]} In 1227 AH (1812 CE), Tusun advanced toward Medina but suffered a defeat at the Battle of Wadi al-Safra near al-Jadidah defile, where Saudi forces under Abdullah bin Saud routed his army, forcing him back to Yanbu.^[6][60] Reinforced from Egypt, Tusun retook Medina in late 1812; the Saudi garrison inside the citadel surrendered under an oath of safe conduct, but troops leaving the fortress were attacked, stripped of belongings, and killed, while garrison commander Mas'ud ibn Mudyan was sent to Istanbul and executed.^[60] In 1813 the army of Muhammad Ali, led by Tusun, retook the Hejaz.^[34][60] Sharif Ghalib pledged allegiance to Muhammad Ali, but was later arrested by the pasha and exiled to Salonica, where he died of plague in 1816. Saudi forces mounted counter-attacks in late 1813, defeating Tusun at the Battle of Turabah and inflicting reversals on Ottoman troops in Zahran and al-Qunfudhah.

Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz died in Diriyah in Jumada al-Ula 1229 AH (May 1814 CE), passing the leadership to his son Abdullah bin Saud.^[5][101] Abdullah faced internal tribal dissent that his father had suppressed. Muhammad Ali Pasha arrived in the Hejaz, winning tribal loyalties through cash gifts and organizing an offensive at the Battle of Basil east of Taif in January 1815. A cavalry force recruited from Libya broke the Saudi defensive lines led by Faisal bin Saud; Ottoman troops captured three hundred prisoners and impaled them by order of Muhammad Ali along the roads between Mecca and Jeddah. Egyptian columns captured Bishah, defeated Tami ibn Shu'ayb in Asir, captured him, and sent him to Istanbul for execution. In central Arabia, Tusun advanced into al-Qassim and occupied al-Rass, al-Khabra, and al-Shubaybah, but facing supply shortages and desert warfare, signed an armistice with Abdullah bin Saud and withdrew to Medina, returning to Egypt due to illness in 1816. Peace negotiations collapsed in Cairo when Muhammad Ali insisted on Abdullah's personal submission in Istanbul.

In September 1816, Muhammad Ali entrusted the supreme military command to his eldest son, Ibrahim Pasha.^[5][106] Ibrahim was accompanied by foreign military technical advisers, including Monsieur Vaissière, a French staff officer who had served under Napoleon. Landing at Yanbu, Ibrahim advanced to Medina and fortified al-Hanakiyyah as his forward operational depot.^[60] Abdullah bin Saud advanced to al-Rass in April 1817, but his screening forces were defeated by Ottoman commander Ali Ouzoun at the water of Mawiyah on 1 May 1817, losing extensive equipment and falling back to Unayzah. Ibrahim reached al-Rass on 21 June 1817 and besieged it for three months; Abdullah bin Saud sent reinforcements from Unayzah under Hasan ibn Mazru and Turki al-Hazzani, and the fighting went on until the emir of al-Rass sought peace with Ibrahim, the siege ending on 24 October 1817. Ibrahim then took Unayzah, whose Saudi garrison under Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Mishari ibn Saud surrendered, and entered Buraydah without fighting after guaranteeing the safety of its garrison and people. On 25 January 1818 he marched on Shaqra in al-Washm, whose walls fell after three days of fighting before its people asked for terms, and on 22 February 1818 he moved on Duruma, whose Saudi garrison withdrew to Diriyah before the town surrendered after three days.

On 9 March 1818 (Jumada al-Ula 1233 AH), Ibrahim Pasha's army drew near to Diriyah and Ibrahim made camp at al-Ilib. The Saudi capital consisted of five walled quarters: al-Turaif, al-Bujayri, al-Mughaysibi, al-Sahil, and al-Ghasibah. They were protected by defensive watchtowers and deep valley ravines along Wadi Hanifah.^[109] Abdullah bin Saud arranged his forces on several fronts, with a commander at the head of each unit. The first attack on Diriyah came from the north, with Ibrahim's artillery firing on the town's quarters for ten days without pause. Ibrahim then halted the fighting to take up new positions for his attack, choosing Ghubayra, south of the valley, where a surprise attack by the Ottoman commander Ali Ouzoun pushed the Saudi force back. In June 1818, Ibrahim took the town of Irqah south of Diriyah after granting its people safety, and on 21 June 1818 a fire broke out in an ammunition depot, which the Saudis tried without success to turn to their advantage. After five months of siege, food and ammunition ran out in Diriyah, and Abdullah's brother Faisal was killed in the fighting.^[7] On 9 September 1818 (8 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1233 AH), Abdullah bin Saud went to Ibrahim's camp to negotiate surrender.^[110]

The terms of surrender stipulated the transfer of the town to Ibrahim Pasha's army, guarantees of safety for the inhabitants and their homes, and Abdullah bin Saud's travel to Cairo and Istanbul to appear before the Sultan.^[72] Muhammad Ali rejected the clause protecting the town, ordering Ibrahim to destroy the capital.^[60] Egyptian troops set fire to Diriyah's residential quarters, demolished defensive walls, destroyed irrigation channels, and uprooted date palm orchards, rendering the site uninhabitable.^{[60][100][110][111]} Prominent civil leaders, military commanders, and scholars from the Al Saud and Al ash-Sheikh families were arrested and deported to Egypt; Ibrahim ordered the execution of key regional officials, including the Al Ufaysan governors in al-Kharj and al-Ahsa.^{[5][111][112]} Abdullah bin Saud arrived in Cairo on 16 November 1818, presenting items taken from the Prophet's Tomb chamber in an ivory casket.^[60] He was forwarded to Istanbul, where he was paraded in chains for three days and publicly beheaded in November or December 1818 in front of the Hagia Sophia, with his severed head thrown into the waters of the Bosporus, formally concluding the first Saudi state.^{[5][60][100][107][110]}

Governance and administration

The ruler of the first Saudi state initially held the title of emir, which expanded to imam as the realm grew, reflecting both political sovereignty and religious leadership.^[25][105] In early correspondence with regional powers, French diplomatic dispatches written by Ambassador Parandier in Constantinople noted the rise of an Arab kingdom capable of challenging existing Asian powers, while the British historian John Gordon Lorimer observed that Wahhabi administrative practices aimed to suppress tribal raids and impose centralized public order.^[17] The political structure was monarchical and hereditary, with the succession typically passing to the eldest son through formal pledges of fealty (bay'ah) secured during the reigning imam's lifetime.^[35][113] The heir apparent was entrusted with military command, conducted major campaigns, and acted as deputy during his father's absences or illness, gaining administrative experience.^[35][113] To prevent regional fragmentation and internal family rivalries, ruling princes were generally kept in Diriyah to assist in council and campaigns, rather than appointed as autonomous provincial dynasts.^[35][113]

Administration of outlying provinces was conducted through appointed regional governors (umara al-aqalim).^[17][35] Where local dynasts submitted voluntarily and demonstrated loyalty, the state retained them in their offices, as occurred with Hujaylan ibn Hamad in al-Qassim, the Al Ali in Jabal Shammar, and Sharif Ghalib in Mecca.^[17][35] Regional governors exercised broad civil authority, supervising local finance, collecting zakat, organizing militia contingents, and dispensing central subsidies.^[17][35] However, they remained subject to dismissal, imprisonment, or trial by the central government in Diriyah if they mismanaged funds, abused authority, or failed to enforce state decrees.^[17][35]

The military lacked a standing army, relying on levy recruitment organized through town emirs and tribal shaykhs.^[105] When a campaign was declared, the central government issued quotas requiring villages and nomadic clans to mobilize able-bodied men aged eighteen to sixty, with wealthier citizens furnishing mounts and weapons for poorer recruits.^[103][105] Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt recorded that the only standing military body was the al-Munqiyyah, an elite royal guard of approximately three hundred picked warriors residing permanently in Diriyah.^[103][114] These guards were maintained at the state's expense with horses, camels, and annual rations of wheat, dates, and clarified butter, and their horses were outfitted with protective quilted woolen armor.^[114] For major long-distance campaigns, such as the 1810 expedition against Hawran, the state mobilized the al-Sallah, comprising elite desert camel riders and cavalry who moved rapidly across water points without advance warning.^[60][103] Standard arms included lances, curved swords, matchlocks, flintlock muskets, and captured artillery.^[105]

Judiciary and legal system

The judicial system operated entirely on Islamic jurisprudence based on the Quran and Sunnah, with judges drawing interpretations primarily from Hanbali legal traditions.^[115] The qadi held high administrative authority in each province, ranking immediately after the regional governor.^[115] Judicial appointments were stable: while political governors were frequently transferred or replaced, respected qadis often served across the reigns of multiple successive imams.^[115][116] For example, Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah al-Husayyin, appointed qadi of al-Washm by Muhammad bin Saud, continued in his post under Abdulaziz, Saud, and Abdullah, acting as the region's chief legal authority and public preacher.^[116] Other notable judicial appointments included Sheikh Abdallah Aba Butayn, who served as qadi in Oman, and Sheikh Muhammad ibn Tarrad al-Dawsari in Sudayr.^[116][117]

Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad instituted legal reforms to curb customary tribal law and eradicate private feuding.^[7][60][103] He made it mandatory for disputants to submit litigations to appointed qadis rather than resorting to clan retaliation or customary arbitration.^[103] To stop desert highway robbery, the administration established collective tribal responsibility: any tribe across whose territory a theft occurred was held financially liable for the value of the stolen goods if it failed to apprehend the perpetrator.^[60] Furthermore, the state abolished the ancient Arabian custom of tribal sanctuary (al-dakhil), under which criminals evaded legal punishment by claiming protection within a neighboring clan, establishing uniform criminal liability under statutory sharia courts.^[60]

Education, libraries, and manuscripts

State-sponsored education focused on religious disciplines, literacy, and doctrinal theology, financed through public treasury allocations and endowed revenues.^[118][119] Diriyah hosted thirty formal schools and twenty-eight mosques, led by the grand mosques of al-Turaif, al-Bujayri, and Ghasibah.^[119] The al-Bujayri mosque complex accommodated up to two hundred boarding students who received free lodging, financial stipends, clothing, and meals from the public treasury, studying Quranic exegesis from Ibn Kathir and prophetic hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari.^[6][119] In addition to public classrooms, open-air learning circles convened daily in the central town square of al-Batin following the conclusion of morning market trading.^[119] Women participated in religious instruction; Fatima bint Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab taught jurisprudence and theology to both female and male students, addressing male audiences from behind a partition curtain.^[120] Following the fall of Diriyah, Fatima relocated to Ras al-Khaimah with her nephew Ali ibn Husayn to continue teaching before returning to Riyadh during the early second Saudi state.^[120][121]

The expansion of the state fostered active book-copying and archival collections.^[122][123] Following the capture of Diriyah in 1818, Ottoman-Egyptian authorities confiscated private and public libraries across central Arabia.^[124][125] General Ibrahim Pasha and later commander Husayn Bey seized a documented total of 872 bound manuscript volumes and 120 complete or partial Quranic codices from collections in Diriyah and al-Ahsa, particularly the libraries of scholars Abd al-Aziz ibn Hamad ibn Musharraf and Abd al-Aziz ibn Sulayman ibn Abd al-Wahhab.^{[124][125][126]} Muhammad Ali Pasha instructed that these 992 texts be transported to Medina and housed in the library of the al-Mahmudiyyah Madrasah near the Prophet's Mosque.^[11][126] During World War I, Ottoman military governor Fakhri Pasha transferred 556 of these surviving manuscripts from Medina to Istanbul, depositing them in the Topkapi Palace library, while the remainder were incorporated into the King Abdulaziz Library in Medina.^[11][124]

Architecture and urban layout

Diriyah exhibited traditional Najdi adobe and stone architecture adapted to the geography of Wadi Hanifah.^[109] The municipal perimeter embraced approximately 2,020 square kilometers of surrounding cultivation, wadi channels, and palm groves.^[109] High stone walls punctuated with circular watchtowers enclosed the urban core, which was divided into distinct fortified quarters, including al-Turaif, al-Bujayri, Ghasibah, al-Dhahirah, al-Tarafiyyah, al-Awdah, al-Bulaydah, and al-Surayhah.^[109] Al-Turaif, situated on a limestone spur above the wadi, served as the fortified citadel of the House of Saud.^[109] The principal seat of government was Salwa Palace, founded by Muhammad bin Saud and enlarged by his successors into a multi-story mudbrick complex containing administrative offices, residential suites, council chambers, and treasury vaults.^[109][127] French officer Jean Raymond described Salwa Palace as a massive residence on the mountain slope housing the ruler's extended family and treasures, while Ibn Bishr noted that Saud bin Abdulaziz constructed an interior three-story lecture hall containing fifty pillars and a welfare reception court called Qu' al-Shari'ah to distribute food and garments.^[109] Nearby stood Saad Palace, a two-story fortified residence built around an internal open-air courtyard.^[109]

Residential architecture in Diriyah and Najdi towns followed a functional tripartite layout dividing the home into men's public hospitality, private family living, and domestic service quarters.^[128] The men's section formed the main link between the house and the outside, with a wooden door made of tamarisk and palm trunks and decorated with carvings, colours and metal ornaments, and it held a room for receiving guests called the diwaniyyah or qahwah. The room had a kamar carved into the wall to display coffee pots and teapots, a hearth (wijar or manqad) for making coffee and tea, and a ceiling opening (kashshaf or samawah) that drew out the smoke of burning firewood, while the liwan beside it took extra guests and was used to receive guests in summer for its ventilation and natural light. The family section centred on an open courtyard that held cool air, let sunlight deep into the house and blocked noise, with arcades around it, bedrooms, and a large high-ceilinged family sitting room called the misbah or qubbah. The third section was dedicated to domestic services, housing grain storehouses, food preparation kitchens, cisterns, wells, and domestic animal pens.^[128]

Economy and public finance

The public finance system mirrored classical Islamic financial administration centered on the treasury (Bayt al-Mal).^[60] Every village and district maintained a branch treasury supervised by a bonded clerk appointed directly by the imam, with local governors prohibited from handling, counting, or diverting collected tax monies.^[60] Provincial treasury receipts were allocated into four shares: one quarter was remitted to the central treasury in Diriyah for administrative and military needs; one quarter was reserved for local poor relief; one quarter funded teachers, scholars, and judicial stipends; and the remainder was designated for the maintenance of mosques, town walls, and public wells.^[60] Local chieftains received separate hospitality allotments to operate public guesthouses providing free food and shelter to travelers.^[60]

State revenues derived from three main sharia categories: zakat, war booty (ghanima), and non-combat seizures (fay').^{[60][105][129]} Zakat was collected on agricultural produce, commercial inventories, and pastoral livestock across Arabia.^[129] Ibn Bishr recorded that Saud bin Abdulaziz sent over seventy mobile administrative commissions each spring into the desert, each staffed by seven officials: an emir, a scribe, an accountant, a cash cashier, and three executive assistants. The commissions assessed and collected zakat on camels and sheep from tribes as distant as Yemen, Hawran, and the Iraqi frontier.^[129] Swiss explorer Burckhardt reported that annual zakat receipts reached more than two million riyals during Saud's reign.^[129] War booty was divided in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence: one-fifth was deposited into the central treasury, while four-fifths were distributed among the fighting soldiers.^[60] Confiscated properties abandoned by defeated foes, such as the lands of Dahham ibn Dawwas in Riyadh, were categorized as fay' and placed under the management of the central treasury.^[105]

Monetary circulation in the first Saudi state relied on foreign silver and gold coinages due to the absence of domestic minting facilities in central Arabia.^[130] The most widely used commercial currency was the Austrian silver Maria Theresa thaler, commonly called the French Riyal in Najd, which weighed one ounce of silver and served as both a monetary unit and a standard market weight in traditional bazaars.^[130][131] Other currencies circulating in the markets included Ottoman, Spanish, French, Italian, and Indian silver and gold coins.^[130] Copper fractional coinage was supplied primarily by the Ottoman copper coin known as the Muhammadi, minted in Basra.^[132] Between 1219 AH and 1228 AH, during the Saudi control of the Hejaz, Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz authorized the minting of copper Muhammadi coins in Mecca, featuring the inscription of Mecca alongside the figure of a sandgrouse bird (yamamah) and two crescents.^[132][133]

Foreign relations

Relations between the first Saudi state and the British Empire were shaped by British commercial interests in the Persian Gulf and Indian postal transit routes.^[58] British authorities viewed Saudi-aligned Qasimi naval operations in the Gulf as threats to commercial merchant shipping.^[58] When the British East India Company relocated its regional trade factory from Basra to Kuwait between 1793 and 1795, British security personnel engaged in skirmishes alongside Kuwaiti defenders repelling Saudi raiding forces.^[48][134] In 1214 AH (1799 CE), Samuel Manesty, the British resident in Basra, dispatched his assistant, a Mr. Reinaud, on an official diplomatic mission from Kuwait through al-Qatif and al-Hofuf to Diriyah.^[48] Reinaud met with Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad to negotiate safe passage for British overland courier mails running from Basra to Aleppo across Saudi-controlled desert routes, but the mission produced no permanent diplomatic agreement.^[48] Following the collapse of the Saudi state in 1818, the British government in India dispatched Captain George Forster Sadleir to Arabia in 1819 to meet Ibrahim Pasha in the ruins of Diriyah, officially conveying British congratulations on the destruction of the Wahhabi capital and assessing the regional balance of power.^{[111][135][136][137]}

Relations with Qajar Persia were hostile due to ideological disagreements and regional territorial disputes.^[95][138] Following the 1801 sack of Karbala and the destruction of shrines in southern Iraq, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar offered military assistance to the Ottoman governor of Baghdad to attack the Saudi state.^[56][138] In 1811, Saeed bin Sultan of Muscat sent a diplomatic mission to the Persian royal court that secured an alliance, under which Persian forces led by Sadi Khan fought alongside Muscat's troops against the Saudis in Oman and recovered the forts of Samail and Nakhal.^[138] Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz dispatched a counter-mission to the Shah seeking to avert Persian-Omani military cooperation, but the mission was rebuffed.^[49] Upon receiving news of the destruction of Diriyah by Ibrahim Pasha in 1818, Fath-Ali Shah sent a formal letter of congratulations to Muhammad Ali Pasha in Cairo, presenting him with a jeweled antique sword and a turquoise ring to celebrate the defeat of the Saudi state.^[49][105]

Founding Day and historical legacy

In 2022, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree designating 1139 AH (1727 CE), the year Muhammad bin Saud assumed leadership of the town of Diriyah, as the official beginning of the first Saudi state, rather than the 1744 signing of the Diriyah Pact.^{[139][140][141][142][143][144][145]} The decree established 22 February as Saudi Founding Day, observed annually as a nationwide public holiday.^{[139][141][142][143][144]} Despite the physical destruction of Diriyah and the execution of Imam Abdullah bin Saud in 1818, survivors of the House of Saud and adherents of the reform movement regrouped under Turki ibn Abdallah, who captured Riyadh in 1824 and established the second Saudi state (the Emirate of Nejd), which endured until 1891 and set the stage for the third Saudi state and the eventual proclamation of modern Saudi Arabia in 1932.^{[5][34][107][146]}

References

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