254 HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 



CHAPTER VII. 



HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 



Origin of the Wahabees — Their Founder, Abdel Wahab— Ac- 

 count of their Doctrines — Success of Ibn Saoud and Abdela- 

 zeez in Nejed — Siege and Plunder of Kerbela — Submission 

 of Mecca and Medina — Destruction of rehgious Monuments 

 — Murder of Abdelazeez — Accession of Saoud — His Charac- 

 ter — Government — Revenues — Military Tactics — Revival of 

 the pilgrimage — Predatory Incursions of the Wahabees — At- 

 tempts of the Turkish Government to suppress them — Expe- 

 dition from Egypt lands at Yembo — Defeat of Toussoun Bey 

 at Jedeidn — Recapture of Medina by the Turks — Thomas 

 Keith, a Native of Edinburgh, made Governor of the City — 

 Recovery of Mecca and Hejaz — Mohammed Ah takes the 

 Command in Person — Arrest and Death of Ghaleb — Repulse 

 of the Turks at Taraba — Capture of Gunfode — Death of 

 Saoud — Accession of Abdallah — Strength of the Turkish 

 Army — Defeat of the Wahabees at Bissel — Surrender of Ta- 

 raba and Beishe — Cmelties of Ali — His Return to Egypt — 

 Campaign of Toussoun in Nejed — Treaty of Peace with Ab- 

 dallah — Treachery of Ali and Renewal of Hostilities — Expe- 

 dition under Ibrahim Pasha— His success in Nejed— Siege 

 and Surrender of Deraiah^Death of Abdallah — Suppression 

 of the Wahabees and Destruction of their Capital — Reflec- 

 tions on the Character of their Government and Religion. 



One of the most remarkable revolutions which 

 Arabia has witnessed since the days of Mohammed, 

 was that effected by the Wahabees, a religious sect, 

 who evinced in their military enthusiasm all the 

 ardour and intolerance of the early Saracens. Their 

 founder, from whom they took their name, was Ab- 

 del Wahab, of the pastoral tribe of Tcmin, in Nejed, 

 and of the clan called El Wahabe, of which his 

 father was sheik. He was born in 1691 at the vil- 

 lage of El Ayeneh, in the province of El Ared. In 

 his youth he had visited Mecca, Medina, Biissora, 



