Editing Najd (section)

=== Modern history ===
In the 16th century, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] added the [[Red Sea]] coast (the [[Hejaz]], [['Asir Province|Asir]] and tried to add [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|al-Ahsa]]) to the Empire and claimed [[suzerainty]] over the interior. It was an attempt to [[Ottoman naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean|thwart the Portuguese]] from attacking the Red Sea (hence the Hejaz)<ref name="Bernstein">William J. Bernstein (2008). ''A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World''. Grove Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ePiReZWp0NwC&pg=PA191 pp. 191 ff.]</ref>
[[File:The First Saudi State Greatest Extent.png|thumb|250px|Expansion of the [[Emirate of Diriyah]] at its short-term peak around 1810]]
Ottoman control over these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.<ref>[[#Bowen|Bowen]], p. 68.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Muddle of the Middle East, Volume 2 |author=Nikshoy C. Chatterji |year=1973 |isbn=0-391-00304-6 |page=168|publisher=Abhinav Publications }}</ref> The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the [[House of Saud|Al Saud]], began in [[Nejd|Najd]] in central Arabia in 1744, when [[Muhammad bin Saud]], founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]],<ref>[[#Bowen|Bowen]], pp. 69–70</ref> founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Religions: A World Guide |author=Ian Harris |author2=Stuart Mews|author3=Paul Morris|author4= John Shepherd |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-582-08695-1 |page=369|publisher=Longman }}</ref>

This alliance formed in the 18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Future of Islam in the Middle East |author=Mahmud A. Faksh |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-275-95128-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/futureofislaminm0000faks/page/89 89–90] |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |url=https://archive.org/details/futureofislaminm0000faks/page/89}}</ref> The first "Saudi state" established in 1744 in the area around [[Riyadh]] rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia,<!--Removed New York Post source. That is [[WP:RS/P|not reliable]]--> but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman [[viceroy of Egypt]], [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Mohammed Ali Pasha]].<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm "The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam"]. Library of Congress Country Studies.</ref>

A much smaller second "Saudi state", located mainly in Nejd, was established in 1824 by [[Turki bin Abdallah|Turki bn Abdullah]].<ref>(1992) Nineteenth Century Arabia. In [[Helen Chapin Metz]], ed. http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/8.htm ''Saudi Arabia: A Country Study'']. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress.</ref> Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the [[Rashidi dynasty|Al Rashid]]. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile in [[Kuwait]].<ref name="Britannica history">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia |title=History of Arabia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 20th century, the [[Ottoman Empire]] continued to control or have suzerainty over most of the peninsula. Subject to this suzerainty, Arabia was ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers,<ref name= Murphy>{{cite book |title=The Arab Revolt 1916–18: Lawrence Sets Arabia Ablaze |author=David Murphy |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84603-339-1 |pages=5–8|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Politics in an Arabian Oasis: The Rashidis of Saudi Arabia |author=Madawi Al Rasheed |year=1997 |isbn=1-86064-193-8 |page=81|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> with the [[Sharif of Mecca]] having pre-eminence and ruling the [[Hejaz]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics |author=Ewan W. Anderson |author2=William Bayne Fisher |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-07667-8 |page=106|publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

In 1902, [[Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud (1850–1928)|Abdul Rahman]]'s son, AbdulAziz—later to be known to the west as [[Ibn Saud]]—recaptured control of Riyadh, bringing the Al Saud back to Najd.<ref name="Britannica history"/> Ibn Saud gained the support of the [[Ikhwan]], a tribal army inspired by Wahhabism, and which had grown quickly after its foundation in 1912.<ref>{{cite book |title=Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World |author=R. Hrair Dekmejian |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-8156-2635-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/islaminrevolutio00dekm/page/131 131] |publisher=Syracuse University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/islaminrevolutio00dekm/page/131}}</ref> With the aid of the Ikhwan, Ibn Saud captured [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|al-Ahsa]] from the Ottomans in 1913.

In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting the Ottomans in [[World War I]]), the Sharif of Mecca, [[Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca|Hussein bin Ali]], led a [[Arab Revolt|pan-Arab revolt]] against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of World War I |author=Spencer Tucker |author2=Priscilla Mary Roberts |year=205 |isbn=978-1-85109-420-2 |page=565|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref> Although this revolt failed in its objective, [[Allies of World War I|the Allied]] victory in World War I resulted in the end of Ottoman suzerainty and control in Arabia.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the Arab Peoples |author=Albert Hourani |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-571-22664-1 |pages=315–319|publisher=Faber & Faber }}</ref>

Ibn Saud avoided involvement in the Arab Revolt and instead continued his struggle with the Al Rashid. Following the latter's final defeat, he took the title [[Sultanate of Nejd|Sultan of Najd]] in 1921. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25 and on 10 January 1926, Ibn Saud declared himself King of the [[Hejaz]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A Brief History of Saudi Arabia |author=James Wynbrandt |author2=Fawaz A. Gerges |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8160-7876-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofsa0000wynb/page/182 182] |publisher=Infobase |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofsa0000wynb/page/182}}</ref> A year later, he added the title of King of Nejd. For the next five years, he administered the two parts of his dual kingdom as separate units.<ref name="Britannica history"/>

After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leadership turned to expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of [[Emirate of Transjordan|Transjordan]], Iraq and Kuwait, and began raiding those territories. This met with Ibn Saud's opposition, as he recognized the danger of a direct conflict with the British. At the same time, the Ikhwan became disenchanted with Ibn Saud's domestic policies, which appeared to favor modernization and the increase in the number of non-Muslim foreigners in the country. As a result, they turned against Ibn Saud and, after a two-year struggle, were defeated in 1930 at the [[Battle of Sabilla]], where their leaders were massacred.<ref>{{cite book |title=Inside the Kingdom |author=Robert Lacey |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-09-953905-6 |pages=15–16|publisher=Arrow }}</ref> In 1932 the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the modern-day [[Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]].<ref name="Britannica history"/>