Saudis delivered the proof of the Turkish Empire weakness, fragility, corrupted belief, and the groundless authority on the Islamic World

Saudis delivered the proof of the Turkish Empire weakness, fragility, corrupted belief, and the groundless authority on the Islamic World

The bond of the Ottomans with the Arabian Peninsula began after their occupation of Egypt in 1517, right after the Mamluk state fell and the Sharif Barakat bin Muhammad bin Barakat, or Barakat II, recognized the new Ottoman sovereignty, after a campaign of terror and messages of intimidation sent by Selim I if he does not declare his allegiance, and threatening to invade Hijaz. For three centuries, The Ottomans continued to colonize by imposing their authority on vital parts of the Arabian Peninsula only, in Hijaz, Yemen and Al-Ahsa, especially in Hijaz, where the Sharifs continued to rule autonomously under the name of the Ottomans, until the period of the Sharifs power struggle. What was the Ottomans stance towards the families of the Sharifs who were part of the power struggle?

The Ottomans dismissed those who they wanted to remove from the Sharifs, through the governor of the Levant, as the latter takes advantage of the short period during which the pilgrims remained in Makkah and dismisses the Sharif who is required to be removed, and appoints someone else, as he was also appointing one of the Ottoman pashas over Jeddah. The Sharifs competing on the Sharifate of Makkah are encouraged by the governors of the Sultan in the adjacent provinces; During the eighteenth century, the affairs of Makkah were intervened by the rulers of Egypt, the Levant, and Yemen, where the influence and interests of all these clashed.

In his book “The Ottoman State and the Arabian Peninsula,” the Egyptian historian, Mr. Rajab Haraz, tells us an important fact in the bond of the Ottoman Empire with the heartland of the Arabian Peninsula: “The Ottoman State, at its glare of glory, its hand did not reach to some sheikhdoms or emirates of the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Oman, and it did not have effective control over the heartland of the Arabian Peninsula.”. However, the Ottomans continued to claim the rights of sovereignty over the entire peninsula or what is known as the Arab region, which is bounded by the Fertile Crescent from the northeast and northwest, then the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to the south, and then the Gulf of Oman to the southeast. and the Arabian Gulf to the east.

Rajab Haraz: "The Ottoman Empire, at its flare of glory, failed to have its hand reach to some sheikhdoms or emirates of the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Oman, and it did not have effective control over the heartland of the Arabian Peninsula."

This led to attempts by the Sharifs of Makkah, who recognize Ottoman sovereignty, to invade Najd several times, and their conquest began in (1578), then they tried to invade it again three years later. During the seventeenth century, the Sharifs invaded Najd five times in the years (1606, 1647, 1669, 1676, 1697).

The weakness of the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century as a result of its successive external defeats, multiple revolutions in Yemen and its departure from Ottoman sovereignty, further to the Ottomans’ withdrawal from the eastern seas, allowed the Sharifs of Hijaz to grow powers and the Ottomans to count on them in running the affairs of the Arabian Peninsula; as the Sharif of Makkah  assumes his position from the sultan, recognizes the judge appointed by the sultan, and is proud of being the servant of the Empire and the sultan.

With the establishment of the first Saudi state in the heartland of the Arabian Peninsula in 1744, a direct clash took place between the Sharifs of Makkah, affiliated with the Ottoman Empire and the Saudis. This issue reached its peak during the reign of the governor of Makkah, Ghalib bin Musaed, who doubted the submission of the Emirate of Diriyah to Islam, and obtained a fatwa from some scholars in Makkah that it is permissible to fight the Saudi state and eliminate its call; this is what Ghalib wished to prepare a military campaign to attack the first Saudi state. A campaign consisted of thousands of soldiers, came out in (1790) against the Saudis, led by Abdul Aziz bin Musaed. Certainly, Ghalib justified this campaign that the Saudis were Kharijites against the Ottoman Sultan, therefore they must be fought.

The campaign marched to Najd to invade it, and confrontations took place in several areas, such as Al-Bassam Palace in the “Al-Sir” area, and Ghalib personally joined the campaign after that, so that the Ottoman Sultan rest assured of the success of the campaign in eliminating the state, and the battles were renewed again in “al shoaraa” and “al baroud”. However, the Saudi army was able to defeat Ghalib’s army in the battle of Al-Adwa. Subsequently, all attempts by Ghalib bin Mosaed to do it again failed.

It is said that Ghalib bin Musaed managed to get some scholars of Makkah and Madinah to write letters of invocation to the Ottoman Sultan, for the direct intervention of the Ottomans against the Saudis, as they were Kharijites against the Ottoman Empire. Ghalib also took advantage of the opportunity of the pilgrimage of the governor of Acre, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, and complained to him about the situation of the Saudis and the impact of their call on the position of the Ottomans in Hijaz.

Ghalib bin Musaed attacked Najd again, but the Saudis were able to fight back, Imam Saud bin Abdul Aziz was even able to counter-strike him in his own state. From this point on, the Saudis’ victories against the Ottoman governors in Hijaz began with the annexation of Taif until the recovery of Makkah, the Prophet’s city and the rest of Hijaz from the grip of the Ottomans and their colonization until the Ottomans cried out to their rulers until Muhammad Ali Pasha moved to Egypt after several temptations to prepare a military campaign against the Saudi state, which began preparation for a year ago (1809 AD).

The Ottomans prompted their governors and supported the inter-Arab wars in the Arabian Peninsula.

  1. Othman bin Bishr, Title of glory in the history of Najd, achieved by: Abdul Rahman Al Sheikh, 4th ed (Riyadh: Ministry of Education, 1971).

 

  1. Abdul rahman Aljabart, Date of Jabarti named the wonders of monuments in biographies and news, achieved by: Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Rahman (Cairo: Egyptian National Library, 1997).

 

  1. Abd al-Rahim Abd al-Rahman, The First Saudi State, 5th ed (Cairo: University book house, 1987).

 

  1. Al-Sayed Rajab Haraz, The Ottoman Empire and the peninsula of the Arabs (Cairo: Institute of Arab Research & Studies, 1970).