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Unification of Saudi Arabia
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After the fall of the previous First Saudi State and the Second Saudi State, The Third Saudi state was founded by the late King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. In 1902 Ibn Saud captured Riyadh, the Al-Saud dynasty's ancestral capital, from the rival Al-Rashid clan. Continuing his conquests, Abdul Aziz subdued Al-Hasa, the rest of Nejd, and the Hejaz between 1913 and 1926.
Background
Following the Diriyah agreement between Muhammed bin Abdulwahhab and Muhammad ibn Saud, the Al Saud clan founded the First Saudi State, a state whose strict defence of Islam was later defined as Wahhabism. The First Saudi State has conquered most of the Arabian Peninsula, And was involved in war with the Ottoman Empire. However, The Saudis was successfully captured Mecca in 1802, which was the honor part of the Ottomans in the Arabian peninsula.
This was a massive blow to the prestige of the Ottoman Empire, which had exercised sovereignty over the holy city since 1517, and the lethargic Ottomans were finally moved to action. The task of destroying the Saudis was given by the Ottomans to their powerful viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Muhammad Ali sent his troops to the Hejaz by sea and recaptured it. His son, Ibrahim Pasha, then led Ottoman forces into the heart of Nejd, capturing town after town, and allowing his troops to pillage recalcitrant villages mercilessly in events that are remembered in Nejd to this day. Finally, Ibrahim reached the Saudi capital at Diriyah and placed it under siege for several months until it surrendered in the winter of 1818. Ibrahim then shipped off many members of the clans of Al Saud and Ibn Abdulwahhab to Egypt and the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, and ordered the systematic destruction of Diriyah, whose ruins have remained virtually untouched ever since. The last Saudi Imam, Abdullah bin Saud was later executed in the Ottoman capital. The Al-Saud clan lived on to found the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891.
Fall of Riyadh and Exile of the Al Saud
The Second Saudi State refers to the period in the 19th century when the rule of the House of Saud was restored to central and eastern Arabia after having previously been brought down by an Ottoman invasion in 1818. Compared to the First Saudi State, the second Saudi period was marked by less territorial expansion and less religious zeal. Turki ibn Abdallah's reconquest of Riyadh from Ottoman forces in 1824 is generally regarded as the beginning of the Second Saudi State, while the end was marked by the Battle of Mulayda in 1891, between the last Saudi imam, Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki, and the Al Rashid dynasty in the northern town of Ha'il. The Rashidis conquered Riyadh and forced Al Saud clan to leave the land to the exile in Kuwait.
Recapture of Riyadh
Following the end of the Second Saudi State, the Al Saud clan was forced to move to Kuwait after the fall of Riyadh to the Al-Rashid family. Planning to regain his home town, in late 1901 Ibn Saud asked for men and supplies from the Kuwaiti emir. Already involved in several wars with the Rashidis, the Kuwaiti prince agreed to the request, giving Ibn Saud horses and arms.
In January 1902, Ibn Saud and his men reached Riyadh. With only 68 men, it was felt that the only way to take the city was to capture Al Masmak Castle and kill Ibn Ajlan, Chief of Riyadh. The castle was successfully captured and Ibn Ajlan was killed according to plan, and the city was taken within the night.
Conquest of Nejd
War with Ha'il over Al-Qassim
The Ikhwan Movement
Al-Hasa and Qatif
Treaty of Darin
Rebellions
Annexation of Ha'il and Jabal Shammar
Uqayr Protocols
Annexation of Asir
Conquest of Hejaz
Treaty of Jeddah
The Ikhwan Rebellion
Declaration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Border War with Yemen