First Saudi state

Emirate of Dir'iyah إِمَارَةُ الدِّرْعِيَّةِ (Arabic)
1727–1818
Flag of the Emirate of Diriyah
The first Saudi state at its greatest extent, 1810
Status	Emirate
Capital	Diriyah
Common languages	Arabic
Religion	Sunni Islam
Emir
• 1727–1765	Muhammad I
• 1765–1803	Abdulaziz I
• 1803–1814	Saud II
• 1814–1818	Abdullah I
History
• Diriyah Established	1727
• Diriyah Pact	1744
• Siege of Diriyah	1818
Currency	Diriyah Riyal
Preceded by Succeeded by Sheikhdom of Diriyah Hejaz Eyalet Bani Khalid Emirate Omani Empire Qasimid State Egypt Eyalet Mu'ammarid Imamate
Today part of	Saudi Arabia Qatar Kuwait UAE Bahrain Yemen

The first Saudi state (Arabic: الدولة السعودية الأولى, romanized: Ad-Dawlatul Sa'udiyyatul Uwlah), officially the Emirate of Diriyah (Arabic: إمارة الدرعية, romanized: Imāratul Dir'iyyah), was established in February 1727 (1139 AH). In 1744, the emir of a Najdi town called Diriyah, Muhammad I, and the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab signed a pact to found a socio-religious reform movement to propagate the Wahhabi religious doctrine under the political leadership of the House of Saud.

History

Early establishment

The House of Saud and its allies quickly rose to become the dominant power in Arabia by first conquering Najd, and then expanding their influence over the eastern coast from Kuwait down to the northern borders of Oman. Saud's forces also captured the highlands of Asir, while Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahhab wrote letters to people and scholars to join jihad. After many military campaigns, Muhammad bin Saud died in 1765, leaving the leadership to his son, Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad. Saud's forces went so far as to gain command of the Shia holy city of Karbala in 1801. Here they destroyed the shrine of the saints and monuments and killed over 5,000 civilians. In retribution, Abdulaziz was assassinated by a young Shia in 1803, having followed him back to Najd.

Muhammad bin Abd Al Wahhab died in 1792. In 1803, eleven years after his death, the son of Abdulaziz bin Muhammad, Saud bin Abdulaziz, sent out forces to bring the region of Hejaz under his rule. Taif was the first city to be captured, and later the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. This was seen as a major challenge to the authority of the Ottoman Empire, which had exercised its rule over the holy cities since 1517.

Decline of sovereignty

The task of weakening the grip of the House of Saud was given to the powerful viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, by the Ottomans. This initiated the Ottoman–Saudi War, in which Muhammad Ali sent his troops to the Hejaz region by sea. His son, Ibrahim Pasha, then led Ottoman forces into the heart of Najd, capturing town after town. Saud's successor, his son Abdullah I, was unable to prevent the recapture of the region. Finally, Ibrahim reached the Saudi capital at Diriyah. He placed it under siege for several months until it surrendered in the winter of 1818. Ibrahim then shipped off many members of the House of Saud to Egypt and the Ottoman capital, Constantinople (modren day Istanbul). Abdullah I was later executed in the Ottoman capital, with his severed head later thrown into the waters of the Bosporus, marking the end of what was known as the first Saudi state. However, both the followers of the Wahhabi movement and the remaining members of the House of Saud stayed committed. They founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891. Before the unification of modern Saudi Arabia, several emirates and kingdoms were established in the region, eventually paving the way for the formation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

List of rulers

Main article: List of Saudi rulers

• Emir Muhammad bin Saud 1727–1765 (1139–1179 H)
• Emir Abdulaziz bin Muhammad 1765–1803 (1179–1218 H)
• Emir Saud bin Abdulaziz 1803–1814 (1218–1229 H)
• Emir Abdullah bin Saud 1814–1818 (1229–1233 H)

See also

• Saudi Founding Day
• List of Sunni dynasties

Further reading

• William Facey; Philip Hawkins (10 March 1997). Dirʻīyyah and the first Saudi state. Stacey International. ISBN 978-0-905743-80-6. Retrieved 26 December 2011.