Page 135 - Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabi & Uman (1800-1870)

CONCLUSION

The foundation of the Su'udi state can be traced to the years 1744-5, when a
compact was made between Muhammad b. Su‘ud, the amir of al-Dir‘iyah, and
Shaykh Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab to carry out religious and political
reforms through means of persuasion and military campaigns. The result was
the gradual ascedancy and expansion of the Su‘udi-Wahhabl state and its
emergence as a dominant power in the peninsula for many years. The
expansion began with the successive incorporation of the districts of Najd into
the rising Su‘udl power, and later extended to its eastern and southeastern
frontiers. The eventual conquest of al-Hasa brought the Su‘udls closer to the
Arab principalities, and further contacts and expansion in their direction
inevitably followed.
Inflamed with religious zeal and political ambition, and encouraged by tribal
factionalism and competition for greater power and territorial gains among
local rulers in eastern and southeastern Arabia, the Su‘udis began to promote
their influence and extend their authority there. They annexed the settlements
of Qatar, extended their supremacy over al-Bahrayn, and put great pressure on
the principality of al-Kuwayt in an attempt to bring it under subjugation.
Su‘udi contact with ‘Uman began when the inhabitants of al-Buraymi
transferred their allegiance to the Su‘udl state. This event contributed to the ]
subsequent alliance with the Qawasim on the coast of ‘Uman, and they also
became staunch supporters of the Su‘udi cause. With the consolidation of their
power in al-Buraymi, the Su‘udis approached Sultan b. Ahmad, the ruler of
Masqat, and challenged his rising power by inviting him to adopt the reform
principles and acknowledge their supremacy. The ambitious Sultan b. Ahmad
faced their challenge by resisting the Su‘udl advance militarily but without
long-range success. He subsequently managed to prevent Su‘udi incursions
into Masqat through intermittent nominal acknowledgement of their
supremacy.
During the early years of the second decade of the nineteenth century,
however, the Su‘udi presence and influence in eastern Arabia and ‘Uman
began to deteriorate drastically due to their involvement in the war against the
Ottoman-Egyptian troops. By the time of the fall of al-Dir‘Iyah in 1818, Su‘udl
influence had been confined to al-Buraymi and the coast of‘Uman.
The Su‘udi conquest of Makkah and al-Madlnah was their major religious

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