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Description

Ibn Saud's Defeat

The fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the First World War gave rise to a new Arabia, largely dominated not from Constantinople, but from London and Paris. The British-backed Hashemites had succeeded in expanding their domain in the wake of the Arab Revolt, with kings from the dynasty ruling over Hejaz, Transjordan and Iraq. Similarly, to the east of the Hashemites, the Wahhabist House of Saud under Emir Ibn Saud, had gained from aiding the British war effort against the Ottomans. The Saudis, based in the Emirate of Nejd, now had a formidable military force backed by their Ikhwan tribal troops, and came into direct competition, primarily on religious grounds, with Sharif Hussein of Hejaz.

Ibn Saud had signed the Treaty of Darin in 1915, placing his state under British protection, and yet he retained territorial ambitions in areas nominally under British control. In particular, it had long been a desire of the Emir to annex the Sheikhdom of Kuwait, a desire which came to fruition with the outbreak of the Kuwait-Nejd war in 1919. The conflict mostly consisted of Ikhwan forces carrying out damaging border raids into Kuwaiti territory, creating issues the British appeared willing to solve diplomatically given their alliance with Ibn Saud. The situation shifted in late 1919, however, when a large Ikhwan army succeeded in capturing Al Asimah, the capital governorate of the Sheikhdom. Amidst the chaos that ensued in the town of Kuwait, the British political agent and five British soldiers were killed at the hands of the Ikhwan, attracting ire from London.

Though the group of Ikhwan which had performed this raid had acted outside of orders from Ibn Saud, rather than forcing them to back down, the Emir took the capture as an opportunity to negotiate Kuwait’s annexation. Attempts at diplomacy from Riyadh were only met with fury from London, with the Foreign Office demanding Nejd’s withdrawal, or Britain would dismantle the Treaty of Darin. When no response was received from Ibn Saud, Britain began readying a force to recapture Kuwait from the Ikhwan invaders. The region was to remain under the control Ibn Saud’s troops for months to come as a diplomatic stalemate developed.

In Hejaz, bleak news emerged from Mecca in October 1919, Sharif Hussein had succumbed to the destructive Spanish Flu and had passed away. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Ali bin Hussein, as the King of Hejaz and Sharif of Mecca. In London however, many viewed this turn of events as somewhat relieving. Ali’s father had previously been vehemently opposed to signing the Treaty of Versailles on account of included clauses of providing for a Jewish National home, among other clauses that he viewed as contradictory to the McMahon-Hussein correspondence. Ali, on the other hand, seemed reluctantly willing to accept the treaty, knowing the strain his father’s refusal had been causing in Anglo-Hashemite relations and the promise of increased payments and military assistance in the event of signing the Treaty.

Ali’s decision certainly proved to be fruitful for Hejaz, when Ibn Saud, entering a full year since the tense stalemate had begun in Kuwait, finally decided to move on the long-disputed Al Khurma oasis on the border with Hejaz. However, when a camel charge by the Ikhwan came up against recently resupplied forces of the Hashemite dynasty with new machine gun emplacements, what has been described as a slaughter ensued. After the disastrous charge on the first day of the battle for Al Khurma, the forces of Nejd had already been greatly weakened, and within just another day they were set to rout. Ali had been victorious, and Ibn Saud humiliated.

With the costly defeat at Al Khurma, and just two weeks later a bloody battle in Kuwait between British-aligned tribal levies and the Ikhwan that ultimately forced Nejd out of the region, the situation was dire for Riyadh. Nejd’s woes were further compacted with the assassination of Ibn Saud at the hands of disgruntled Ikhwan troops, who had viewed the two humiliations as a failure to materialise key Wahhabi goals. Turki bin Abdulaziz, Ibn Saud’s eldest son, ascended to the throne and quickly aimed to make peace with both the Hashemites and the British so as to attempt to crush what had escalated into a full-scale Ikhwan rebellion against the House of Saud. The 1920 Second Treaty of Darin forbade the expansion of Nejd passed its now defined boundaries, and forced the new Emir to respect both the claims and protectorates of the United Kingdom and Hejaz.

The Emirate of Asir

The Emirate of Asir, a little-known state on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, has prospered from the failure of Nejd’s attempts at expansion, as it had been directly in Riyadh’s crosshairs for years. Now with its independence from the House of Saud secured, a new threat became apparent, Imam Yahya of Yemen to the south. The Imam, and other Yemeni rulers before him, had claimed parts of Asir for decades, and now sought to materialise such claims. Yahya’s bellicose aims had been troubling for the British, as there existed rumours that he would also strive to bring the historical region of greater Yemen under his domain, including Aden and other parts of South Yemen which for years had been under British influence. The Imam’s army marched into the strategic port of Hudaydah in March 1923, swiftly capturing it from the small Asir garrison.

Britain feared that unchecked Yemeni expansion would seriously threaten their holdings in Southern Arabia in future, and an agreement formed between London and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi to supply and assist his forces in defence. These efforts succeeded in slowing the Yemeni advance and bringing the conflict to a stalemate. Within two months, and under pressure from Britain, Imam Yahya signed an agreement that awarded him both recognition from London and the port of Hudaydah, but which also defined the Asir border to the north, depriving Yemen of access to more of the coast and the significant inland town of Najran.

Description

Ibn Saud's Defeat

The fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the First World War gave rise to a new Arabia, largely dominated not from Constantinople, but from London and Paris. The British-backed Hashemites had succeeded in expanding their domain in the wake of the Arab Revolt, with kings from the dynasty ruling over Hejaz, Transjordan and Iraq. Similarly, to the east of the Hashemites, the Wahhabist House of Saud under Emir Ibn Saud, had gained from aiding the British war effort against the Ottomans. The Saudis, based in the Emirate of Nejd, now had a formidable military force backed by their Ikhwan tribal troops, and came into direct competition, primarily on religious grounds, with Sharif Hussein of Hejaz.

Ibn Saud had signed the Treaty of Darin in 1915, placing his state under British protection, and yet he retained territorial ambitions in areas nominally under British control. In particular, it had long been a desire of the Emir to annex the Sheikhdom of Kuwait, a desire which came to fruition with the outbreak of the Kuwait-Nejd war in 1919. The conflict mostly consisted of Ikhwan forces carrying out damaging border raids into Kuwaiti territory, creating issues the British appeared willing to solve diplomatically given their alliance with Ibn Saud. The situation shifted in late 1919, however, when a large Ikhwan army succeeded in capturing Al Asimah, the capital governorate of the Sheikhdom. Amidst the chaos that ensued in the town of Kuwait, the British political agent and five British soldiers were killed at the hands of the Ikhwan, attracting ire from London.

Though the group of Ikhwan which had performed this raid had acted outside of orders from Ibn Saud, rather than forcing them to back down, the Emir took the capture as an opportunity to negotiate Kuwait’s annexation. Attempts at diplomacy from Riyadh were only met with fury from London, with the Foreign Office demanding Nejd’s withdrawal, or Britain would dismantle the Treaty of Darin. When no response was received from Ibn Saud, Britain began readying a force to recapture Kuwait from the Ikhwan invaders. The region was to remain under the control Ibn Saud’s troops for months to come as a diplomatic stalemate developed.

In Hejaz, bleak news emerged from Mecca in October 1919, Sharif Hussein had succumbed to the destructive Spanish Flu and had passed away. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Ali bin Hussein, as the King of Hejaz and Sharif of Mecca. In London however, many viewed this turn of events as somewhat relieving. Ali’s father had previously been vehemently opposed to signing the Treaty of Versailles on account of included clauses of providing for a Jewish National home, among other clauses that he viewed as contradictory to the McMahon-Hussein correspondence. Ali, on the other hand, seemed reluctantly willing to accept the treaty, knowing the strain his father’s refusal had been causing in Anglo-Hashemite relations and the promise of increased payments and military assistance in the event of signing the Treaty.

Ali’s decision certainly proved to be fruitful for Hejaz, when Ibn Saud, entering a full year since the tense stalemate had begun in Kuwait, finally decided to move on the long-disputed Al Khurma oasis on the border with Hejaz. However, when a camel charge by the Ikhwan came up against recently resupplied forces of the Hashemite dynasty with new machine gun emplacements, what has been described as a slaughter ensued. After the disastrous charge on the first day of the battle for Al Khurma, the forces of Nejd had already been greatly weakened, and within just another day they were set to rout. Ali had been victorious, and Ibn Saud humiliated.

With the costly defeat at Al Khurma, and just two weeks later a bloody battle in Kuwait between British-aligned tribal levies and the Ikhwan that ultimately forced Nejd out of the region, the situation was dire for Riyadh. Nejd’s woes were further compacted with the assassination of Ibn Saud at the hands of disgruntled Ikhwan troops, who had viewed the two humiliations as a failure to materialise key Wahhabi goals. Turki bin Abdulaziz, Ibn Saud’s eldest son, ascended to the throne and quickly aimed to make peace with both the Hashemites and the British so as to attempt to crush what had escalated into a full-scale Ikhwan rebellion against the House of Saud. The 1920 Second Treaty of Darin forbade the expansion of Nejd passed its now defined boundaries, and forced the new Emir to respect both the claims and protectorates of the United Kingdom and Hejaz.

The Emirate of Asir

The Emirate of Asir, a little-known state on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, has prospered from the failure of Nejd’s attempts at expansion, as it had been directly in Riyadh’s crosshairs for years. Now with its independence from the House of Saud secured, a new threat became apparent, Imam Yahya of Yemen to the south. The Imam, and other Yemeni rulers before him, had claimed parts of Asir for decades, and now sought to materialise such claims. Yahya’s bellicose aims had been troubling for the British, as there existed rumours that he would also strive to bring the historical region of greater Yemen under his domain, including Aden and other parts of South Yemen which for years had been under British influence. The Imam’s army marched into the strategic port of Hudaydah in March 1923, swiftly capturing it from the small Asir garrison.

Britain feared that unchecked Yemeni expansion would seriously threaten their holdings in Southern Arabia in future, and an agreement formed between London and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi to supply and assist his forces in defence. These efforts succeeded in slowing the Yemeni advance and bringing the conflict to a stalemate. Within two months, and under pressure from Britain, Imam Yahya signed an agreement that awarded him both recognition from London and the port of Hudaydah, but which also defined the Asir border to the north, depriving Yemen of access to more of the coast and the significant inland town of Najran.