Editing Saudi Arabia (section)

=== Saud dynasty and unification ===
{{See also|Unification of Saudi Arabia}}

[[File:The First Saudi State Greatest Extent.png|thumb|Expansion of the [[Emirate of Diriyah|first Saudi State]] in 1810|left]]
The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the Al Saud, began at the town of [[Diriyah]] in [[Nejd]] in central Arabia with the accession as [[emir]] of [[Muhammad bin Saud]] on 22 February 1727.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-27|title=Saudi Arabia to commemorate 'Founding Day' on Feb. 22 annually: Royal order|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2022/01/27/Saudi-Arabia-to-commemorate-Founding-Day-on-Feb-22-annually-Royal-order|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Al Arabiya English|language=en|archive-date=1 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001180301/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2022/01/27/Saudi-Arabia-to-commemorate-Founding-Day-on-Feb-22-annually-Royal-order|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=History of the Kingdom {{!}} kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Ministry of Foreign Affairs|url=https://www.mofa.gov.sa/sites/mofaen/aboutKingDom/Pages/CountryDevelopment36143.aspx|access-date=2022-02-15|website=www.mofa.gov.sa|archive-date=2 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302002523/https://www.mofa.gov.sa/sites/mofaen/aboutKingDom/Pages/CountryDevelopment36143.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1744 he joined forces with the religious leader [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]],{{sfn|Bowen|2007|p=69–70}} founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Religions: A World Guide |first1=Ian |last1=Harris |first2=Stuart|last2=Mews|first3=Paul|last3=Morris|first4= John |last4= Shepherd |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-582-08695-1 |page=369|publisher=Longman }}</ref> This alliance 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 |first=Mahmud A. |last=Faksh |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-275-95128-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/futureofislaminm0000faks/page/89 89–90] |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |url=https://archive.org/details/futureofislaminm0000faks/page/89 }}</ref>

The [[Emirate of Diriyah]] established in the area around Riyadh rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, [[Wahhabi sack of Karbala|sacking Karbala]] in 1802, and [[Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia|capturing Mecca]] in 1803. In 1818, it was destroyed 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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316131703/http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm |date=16 March 2017 }}". Library of Congress Country Studies.</ref> The much smaller [[Emirate of Nejd]] was established in 1824. 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]], who ruled the [[Emirate of Jabal Shammar]]. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile in Kuwait.<ref name="Britannica history"/>

[[File:Churchill and King Abd al-Aziz of Saudi Arabia.jpg|thumb|British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Ibn Saud]], the founding father and first king of Saudi Arabia, in [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]] in 1945]]
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to control or have a 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 |first=David |last=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=978-1-86064-193-0 |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 |first=Ewan W. |last=Anderson |author2=William Bayne Fisher |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-07667-8 |page=106|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> In 1902, [[Abdul Rahman bin Faisal|Abdul Rahman]]'s son, Abdulaziz—later known as [[Ibn Saud]]—recaptured control of Riyadh bringing the Al Saud back to Nejd, creating the [[Emirate of Nejd and Hasa|third "Saudi state"]].<ref name="Britannica history" /> Ibn Saud gained the support of the [[Ikhwan]], a tribal army inspired by Wahhabism and led by [[Faisal Al-Dawish]], 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 from the Ottomans in 1913.

In 1916, with the encouragement and support of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|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 pan-[[Arab Revolt]] against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of World War I |first=Spencer |last=Tucker |author2=Priscilla Mary Roberts |year=205 |isbn=978-1-85109-420-2 |page=565|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref> Although the 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, and Hussein bin Ali became [[Kingdom of Hejaz|King of Hejaz]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the Arab Peoples |first=Albert |last=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 Nejd]] in 1921. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Kingdom of Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25, and on 10 January 1926, Ibn Saud declared himself king of Hejaz.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Brief History of Saudi Arabia |first1=James |last1=Wynbrandt |first2=Fawaz A. |last2=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> 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's objective switched to expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of 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 favour 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 1929 at the [[Battle of Sabilla]], where their leaders were massacred.<ref>{{cite book |title=Inside the Kingdom |first=Robert |last=Lacey |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-09-953905-6 |pages=15–16|publisher=Arrow }}</ref> On Ibn Saud's behalf, [[Faisal bin Abdulaziz al Saud|Prince Faisal]] declared the unification on 23 September 1932, and the two kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd were unified as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.<ref name="Britannica history" /> That date is now a national holiday called [[Saudi National Day]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pmu.edu.sa/News/News.aspx?ID=866 |title=History of Saudi Arabia. ( The Saudi National Day 23, Sep ) |website=Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University |access-date=21 September 2018 |archive-date=6 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206142313/https://www.pmu.edu.sa/News/News.aspx?ID=866 |url-status=live }}</ref>