A-Brief-History-of-Saudi-Arabia

7
Roots of Modern Arabia
(1818–1891)
The fall of Diriya in September of 1818 marked the end of the first
Saudi state. The last of its rulers, Imam Abdallah ibn Saud, who surrendered
to the Egyptian commander, Ibrahim Pasha, son of Muhammad
Ali, was sent to Cairo, then six months later to Constantinople. Abdallah’s
arrival was greeted with three days of celebrations during which he was
paraded through the streets, then beheaded.
The Saudi defeat was a victory not only for the Egyptians but also for
opponents of the Wahhabi who chaffed at their religious and social strictures,
and for previously independent tribes resentful of their subjugation
by the Saudi-Wahhabi forces. Yet despite this opposition, Al Saud and
Wahhabism had united Arabia (albeit by sword) and largely halted the
tribal warfare and instability that had wracked the land since before the
coming of Muhammad. Their defeat at Diriya, complete as it appeared,
became a mark of the resilience of their movement and the implacability
of its adherents, as Saudi and Wahhabi loyalists forged a second Saudi
state that would survive until the last decade of the century.
Ashes of the First Saudi State
In Hijaz the Ottomans, who had driven the Wahhabi from Medina
and Mecca in late 1812 and early 1813, had been regarded by some
Wahhabi opponents as a liberating force. Strict religious doctrine and
practices such as compulsory prayer and bans on music and other
entertainments were vacated. Though Ottoman troops were garrisoned
around the region to preserve order and establish Ottoman presence,
for most in Hijaz, especially those outside of garrison towns, Ottoman
rule was more transparent than Wahhabi rule had been. Not so in Najd,
the birthplace and stronghold of the movement.
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