Page 65 - PERSIAN 2 1879_1883

RESIDENCY AND MUSKAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR 1879-80. 53
From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that tho Wahdbec power,
spiritual and political, taking rise about the year 1742 A.D. gradually
grew and spread under the first three Amirs, Mohammed, 'Abdul 'Azces
and Su'ood, attaining its maximum development under the Last. On
Su'ood's death in 1814, a period of decline ensued dating from the
defeat and capture of'Abdullah by Ibrahim Pasha and subjugation of Nejd.
Under the subsequent Amirs until the second accession of Feysal-bin-
Toorkce in 1843, Ncjd remained more or less in subjection to Turkey.
From the return of Fcysal in 1843 until his death in 1865 may be
considered as a period of revival of Wahdbceism, as that Amir restored
the portion of Nejd he ruled to a position of independence, and main­
tained the Wahabec faith in its strictness and integrity. On the death
of Feysal, the struggle which ensued between his sons, resulted in a
second period of decline of the Wababee power, and the occupation of
El-IIasa, the richest of tho late Amir's provinces, by Turkish troops.
Whether the fall is final or Wahdbeeism will again emerge from its
present political obscurity it would be premature to predict; the ele­
ments surrounding the question are eminently uncertain and unstable,
bat it has been observed that with political power the religious zeal and
ardour of the Wabdbee sectarians have relaxed. The tenets of
Mohammed-bin-'Abdul Wahab are not wholly forgotten, but much of
the fierce fanaticism of the earlier converts has disappeared, and the
puritanical strictness and austerity which characterized the sect are
decidedly on the wane.
(Sd.) E. C. Ross, Lieut.-Col.,
Bushire, 1880. Poltl. Resident, §c.