Page 48 - PERSIAN 2 1879_1883

30 ADMINISTRATION BErORT OF THE PERSIAN QULP POLITICAL

PART II.

MEMOIR ON NEJD.
[<Vofc.—In order to acquire a general knowledgo of the Wahabee phase of the
history of Nejd from the beginning down to tLe present time, it is necessary to con-
suit several published works and official records. It will bu found that authorities
vury on many points, and in no work have I been able to find a clear account of the
family of the Wabnbeo Amirs. Several years ago Colonel Herbert, then Political
Agent in Turkish Arabia, procured me, from Abder-itabman-ibn-Feysal, brother of
the present Amir, and at the time a detenu at Baghdad, some details of the family
history and lineage, and on this basis I framed the genealogical table appended to this
Memoir. The table was also inspected by 'Abdullah-ibn-Thaneyynn, another member of
the Al-Su’ood family, through the medium of Mr. P. Robertson, Assistant Political
Agent at Busrah, and pronouuced correct so far as it extends.
Having subsequently received some Arabic memoranda regarding El-Hasa annals,
and having oCcoion to compare the various accounts of Nejdean affairs by me, it
occurred to me ilat a connected summary of Wahabee history with the table of
Amirs, would be convenient for reference, and with a view to addiug to any useful*
ness it may possess, I have, as far as possible, indicated my sources of information.]

Outlines of the history of the Wahdbees of Nejd and the Al-Su’ood Amirs.
At the period preceding the rise of the Wahabee power, Nejd*
• Vide Administration Report for was divided into numerous petty inde-
1578-79, Part!. paragraph 29. pedent districts or townships, each
ruled by the tribal Chief, and from the frequent intertribal feuds, and
the predatory habits and disposition of
[Ar. MS.]
the Bedouin Arabs, chronic disorder
aud insecurity prevailed.
The founder of the Wahabee sect, the reformer, Mohamraed-bin-
'Abdul Wabdb, was born in the year
Mohammcd-bin-*Abdul Wabab.
1091 A.D., in the village of 'Eiyeynah
(ot ’Eiyanah) near Ei-Derieyyah, bis
[Barckhardt]
father being of the tribe Teraeein of the
'Adndnite or Ishmaelite stock of Arabs. In his youth he went to Busrah,
and perhaps to Damascus, to study religious law, and after making the pil-
[Mengin, who follow, the Shaikh primage to Mecca and Medina, returned
Abdul*Rahraau-bin-’Abduiiah-bin-Mo- to his native country, and soon after
hammcd.bm.’Abdul Wahib.] married in the village of Horeylama.
About the year 1742 A.D. he was engaged in preaching to the
people of 'Eiyeynah, exhorting them
A.D. 1742.
to reform their religion, amend their
lives, and abide strictly by the precepts of the Koran. His attention
appears to have been primarily directed to removal of the ignorance of
their religion which he observed in his fellow-countrymen; to the cor*
rection of abases and laxities which he complained had crept into the
doctrines and practice of Isldm generally; and to the restoration of that
faith to its pristine purity. Ignoring all existing spiritual authorities,
he appealed direct and solely to the fountain-head of the religion. The
points he chiefly insisted ou were: observance of the prescribed prayers