HISTORY OP THE WAHABEES. 293 



that territory in quest of pasturage. The earliest 

 and most formidable of their opponents was Erar, 

 sheik of El Hassa. The first army which he sent 

 against them, in 1757, was defeated. Again he 

 made his appearance in person, at the head of 4000 

 men, with four pieces of artillery, and laid siege to 

 Deraiah ; but he was again repulsed, and compelled 

 to retreat in great disorder. The death of Ibn Saoud, 

 in 1765, left Abdelazeez sole commander of the sec- 

 tarian army; and by his bravery and indefatigable 

 efforts their victories were pushed to the remotest 

 provinces of Arabia. Mekrami, sheik of Nejeran, 

 from being an enemy became a devoted follower ; 

 the Sheriff of Abu-Arish was also reduced to obedi- 

 ence, and by their means the new doctrines were 

 spread from the coast of Bahrein to the confines of 

 Mocha and Aden. As the cattle and spoils of the 

 unconverted were unceremoniously seized by the 

 Wahabees, a title by which they now became known, 

 numbers turned proselytes to save their property, 

 and testified the sincerity of their faith by attacking 

 and plundering their neighbours. 



After many hard struggles the whole of the Nejed 

 had embraced the reformed doctrines. It had also 

 assumed a new political condition ; and instead of 

 being divided as formerly into a number of small 

 independent territories or clanships, perpetually at 

 war with each other, it became the seat of a formi- 

 dable power, under a chief whose authority, like 

 that of the first caliphs, was supreme both in civil 

 and spiritual affairs. Yet hostilities had not been 

 declared ; nor did the Wahabees encroach upon the 

 rights of the two governments nearest to them, 

 Bagdad and Hejaz. The pilgrim-caravans passed 



