Page 43 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

the Shaikhs and the people of the Pirate Coast embraced Waha­
bism with fanatical zeal, and ‘the Wahabi faith paved the way for
every subsequent atrocity’. Under the guise of religion, the
Pirates slaughtered all captives whose religious views did not
coincide with theirs. After the union of the pirates and the
Wahabis, the Arabs in other parts of the Gulf were reduced to
terrified, though unwilling, submission.
At the end of the 18th century, the Wahabis had begun to
extend their warlike activities beyond the confines of Ncjd and
Hasa. They invaded Iraq and, in 1801, took Kcrbala, the holy
city of the Shias. They massacred great numbers of the inhabi­
tants, plundered the city and desecrated the mosque containing
the tomb of Husain. Two years later, the Saudi Amir, Abdul
Aziz, was murdered in a mosque in Ncjd by a Shia from Kcrbala,
whose family was said to have been slaughtered by Wahabis.
The Wahabis then tried to conquer Oman, but neither at this nor
at any other time did they succeed in subjugating the whole
country. In 1803, the Wahabi Amir Saud invaded the Hejaz and
took Mecca. The city and holy places were pillaged, tombs and
domes levelled to the ground, and many religious leaders who
were opposed to Wahabism were executed. The Wahabis then
retired, leaving a garrison which was massacred by the people of
Mecca. Three years later Mecca was reconquered by the Waha­
bis, and this ended the rule of the Sharifs of Mecca who had been
nominally subject to the Ottoman Sultan.
The success of the fanatical Wahabis, whose very name spread
terror in neighbouring countries, caused consternation in the
courts of the Shah and the Sultan. Previously, the Turks had not
paid much attention to the doings of the tribes in Arabia, but they
now realised that they were in danger of losing Iraq and the Hejaz.
Mohammed Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, was authorised to proceed
against the Wahabis. In 1811, after two years of preparation, the
Egyptian expedition arrived in the Hejaz. In Oman the Sultan
was defending his country against invasion by the Wahabis from
inland and against the Joasmi pirates who raided the coast. He
had occasional support from the British and some aid from Persian
mercenaries.
The sea wolves of the Pirate Coast did not only prey on the
ships of their Arab neighbours, they captured vessels belonging to
the East India Company, attacked British men-of-war, and threat-
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