File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎276v] (561/834)

— 3.52 —
The warlike Sheikh, Mohammed ibti Saud, understood how
to translate this teaching into practice. After fifteen years spent
in petty wars, he had completely converted, that is to say sub
jected, the district of el-Aridh in the interior, as also the littoral
strip of territory of el-Hasa on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and was able
to leave to his son and successor a well-secured dominion.
The latter, Abdul Aziz, born in 1721—died 1803 (reigning
from 1765 to 1803), extended his dominion in rapid and suc
cessive victorous campaigns far beyond the boundaries of Nejd.
Every campaign was announced beforehand to his adversaries
accompanied by the demand of conversion and submission.
Attracted by rich booty, the forces of the Wahhabis increased to
an undreamed of extent, and they undertook the most foolhardy
expeditions with utter contempt for death. I will not enumerate
in detail their many undertakings in all directions. These would
have been unnoticed in history had they been confined to the
interior of Arabia. The Mohammedan world was first stirred
when the pilgrims of the Haj were attacked by the Wahhabis.
This first happened in the year 1783 and w^as repeated several
times afterwards. This state of things lasted a considerable time,
until the Porte, as nominal protector of all Moslems, bestirred
itself to oppose the spoiling and oppression of the Faithful.
Neither the great age nor the blindness of the founder of this
sect, Mohammed Abdul Wahhab (who died in the year 1791,
aged ninety-five), impaired his ardour to fire the religious zeal
of his followers. His successor, Husein, also blind, succeeded in
keeping enthusiasm alive by fervent preaching. In the spring
of 1801, Saud, the son and future successor of Abdul Aziz,
undertook a foray of pillage and destruction to Kerbela on the.
Euphrates. There, at the grave of Husein, the son of the Caliph
Ali, the most revered shrine of the Shias, priceless treasures and
votive offerings had lain heaped up for centuries. No wonder
that an expedition there should appear seductive. On the feast
of the Bairam, April 20, 1801, the Wahhabis appeared before
Meshhed Husein, destroyed the sacred relics and massacred
the temple guards and priests. This was done with such un
thinking haste that, when it came to seeking the hidden treasures,
there was no survivor to be found who could reveal the access
to the subterranean vaults. However, the accessible booty was a
sufficient prize. . . .
The expedition against Mecca, undertaken in the year 1802,
was at first fruitless ; but was resumed in the following year
and ended with the sack of the town and the beheading of
twenty Sherifs. The holy places themselves were still spared on
this occasion. In the samp vpnr 1 rm
was assassinated by a fanatical Shia in revenge for the spoliation
of Meshhed Husein.
The son of the murdered man. the illustrious campaigner
to 1814. In
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