Page 22 - Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabi & Uman (1800-1870)

allegiance to A1 Su‘ud.66
Since the rise of Islam, this part of Arabia, where nomadic Arab tribes
outnumbered the settled population, had been left to its tribal traditions. The
Umayyads, and after them the ‘Abbasid caliphs, satisfied themselves with the
nominal allegiance of the tribal chiefs. Thus the region was loosely attached to
the central governments in Damascus and Baghdad. At times it was controlled
through the caliph’s governor at al-Bahrayn and through the governor at
al-Yamamah at others.67 Disturbances were frequent and depredations were
inflicted upon the settled people or the pilgrims by the Najdi tribes either for
reasons of survival, or else as a challenge to the caliphs and their
representatives; the latter in the eyes of the tribes, lacked sensitivity toward
their economic and social problems, as well as the power to solve or control
them. Such disturbances once compelled the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Wathiq (r.
842-847) to dispatch his Turkish general, Bugha al-Kablr (the elder), to
campaign against some of the tribes at Batn al-Sirr in the heart of Najd. 68
Bugha won over the tribes and strengthened control over the region by
appointing a new ruler native to Najd as governor of al-Yamamah, eastern
Arabia, and the pilgrim route to Makkah. 69
The gradual decline of ‘Abbasid power led to the establishment of local
dynasties in the various regions of the Arab world, and Najd was not excluded
from this development. Around the second half of the ninth century, an ‘Alid
family known as the Ukhaydirids, after a forefather named Ukhaydir, set up a
state in Najd. Their capital was al-Khidrimah, near the present town of
al-Yamamah.70 The family continued to rule that region for two centuries.
According to the traveller Nasir-i Khusru, who visited al-Yamamah in 443/
1051, the Ukhaydirids maintained their power for such a long time because
there was no stronger established government in their neighbourhood.71 The
danger to the Ukhaydirids, however, finally came from the newly-founded
Qarmatian state in eastern Arabia. The Qarmaus made their way into Najd,
met the Ukhaydirids on several battlefields, and put an end to their rule. The
Ukhaydirids were the last dynasty to have controlled the whole district of Najd
during the medieval period.72
After the fall of the Ukhaydirids, the political situation in Najd deteriorated,
and the country was tom by local skirmishes and raids. The absence of law and
order created a hostile environment, encouraging tribal and even familial feuds
and quarrels to become matters of daily practice. The instability of the region
contributed to the neglect of trade and cultivation, and thus the region became
vulnerable to outside encroachment, easy prey for the contending ruling
families beyond its western and eastern borders. Raids and plunder were the
main objects of the intruders.
From the east, the Jabrids of al-Hasa, and after them the Banu Khalid,
crossed Najd once in a while, raiding the towns and returning to headquarters
with their plundered booty.73 Most of their attacks were directed against the
Bedouin tribes. The shanfs of Makkah, though having trouble controlling the
vicinity of the Holy Cities, repeatedly attacked-several settlements in Najd,
plundering some and imposing heavy payments on others.74 Some of these
operations reached deep into the heart of the region, such as that of Hasan Abu
Numayy, who led an expedition of thousands against Mi‘kai, a small
settlement on the site of the present city of al-Riyad.75 He devastated the town
and held some of its notable figures as prisoners for a year in a jail in Makkah,

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