Page 34 - Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabi & Uman (1800-1870)

major revenue. In short, it was the amir's responsibility to expand the
community and strengthen its bases in every possible way. In adopting this
principle and attempting to apply it faithfully, the state levelled polemical wars
against evil accretions which had accumulated through the centuries and had
come to be regarded by their practitioners as part of Islamic tradition. Jihad
was consequently invoked against those who did not observe Islamic duties,
especially against the cult of saints for its veneration of and petition to fellow
creatures, against the extremism of the Shl‘ah in venerating the imams, and
against the alien traditions of Sufi orders.156 The practice of jihad both by pen
and by sword was legally sanctioned as part of the leader’s responsibility for the
good of the community. In this way, the military activities and political
expansion of the Su‘ud!s found justification.157
With the establishment of the alliance between the state and religion, a
process of political development and expansion began to take place and
continued for many years to come. This helped to create a formidable power in
the area. The expansion started with the annexation of al-Riyad after the
departure of its ruler, Dahham b. Dawwas, who fled his town after twenty-
eight years of constant wars with the Su‘udis. Al-‘Uyaynah, which had been
incorporated into the new state, came under direct Su‘udl control following the
assassination of its amir, ‘Uthman b. Mu'ammar, in 1163/1750.158 The other
districts of Najd were subjugated in turn.
The Su‘udi attack on an ‘Ujman raiding party which had beaten up a small
gathering of Subay* Bedouin in the middle of Najd provoked the hostility of
the Najrani chief, Hasan al-Makraml, who eventually led tribal forces from his
homeland, Najran, to avenge his tribe. The confrontation resulted in Su‘udl
defeat and the departure of the Najranls from the scene after a settlement
between the two parties had been reached.159 The chief of Banu Khalid,
‘Uray‘ir, also appeared in the area to fight against the Su'udls, but returned to
his domain in al-Hasa after finding Najrani support to be lacking.160 Shortly
afterwards, in 1765, Muhammad b. Su‘ud died, and his son and successor,
‘Abd al-'AzIz, continued the process of expansion by subduing Qaslm and the
district of Jabal Shammar in the north of Najd.
With the consolidation of their power in central Arabia, the Su‘udls
increased their encroachment into territories under older and stronger rulers in
western and eastern Arabia, eventually incorporating both al-Hasa in the east
and the Hijaz in the west into their own domain. The Su‘udl occupation of
al-Hasa brought them to the shores of the Persian Gulf and drew them closer to
the countries of eastern Arabia and TJman, where they began to make contacts
which will be the subject of the following chapters.

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