THEIR ORIGIN, HISTORY, TENETS, AND INFLUENCE. 317 
government we can go to the pages of Palgrave and Sir 
Lewis Pelly; the Wahabis still remember their distinguished 
visitors. 
In their day the boundaries of the Wahabi state embraced 
Hassa Uarik, the whole of Nejd, Asir, and Kasim—one broad 
belt of zealots from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. But 
in 1870 the aged and blind Feysul was assassinated, Dis- 
sension broke out regarding his successor. And the result 
was Turkish interference and loss to the Wahabi state. 
Hassa became a Turkish province, at least nominally, and 
Hofhoof, the capital, has since been occupied by a Turkish 
garrison. From the Yemen side also Asir was annexed to 
Turkey and the rebellious Arabs crushed under the yoke of 
taxation. 
Meanwhile, a new Arabian kingdom of a different and 
more liberal character sprang up in northern Nejd under 
Telal. Gradually but surely it became independent and at 
last superior in power to the Wahabi state. Saood, the last 
of the Wahabi dynasty, finally paid tribute to the ruler at 
Hail, and Mohammed bin Rashid so strongly established 
himself and so far extended his influence that as a political 
power the Wahabi state has ceased to exist. Abd-ul-Aziz, 
the nephew of Ibn Rashid,and his old-time favourite, now rules 
Nejd and its dependent-provinces. Even Riadh is under his 
green and purple banner. There is little probability that a 
new Wahabi revolt will take place, or be successful if it 
should. 
Il. Tae WanAsi Doctrrines.—The name of Wahiabis was 
given to the followers of Mohammed bin Abd ul Wahab by 
their opponents ; since they would not call them Mchammedis, 
they used the patronymic. But that name always was and 
still is displeasing to them. In India they generally call 
themselves Ahi-i-Hadith or the People of Tradition. In Nejd 
their earliest name was Firket-el-Najiet, i.e., the sect of those 
who are saved. They alyo sometimes took the name of 
Muwahidin, i.e., Unitarians. In the eastern Punjaub districts 
they call themselves Mujahidin, i.e., those who believe in the 
jihad or war-for-Islam. 
In considering the distinctive religious tenets and practices 
of the Wahabis we must never lose sight of the fact that 
they themselves claim (and claim rightly) to possess all the 
doctrines of primitive Islam in their original purity ; and that 
Abd ul Wahab contended not for new views but for first 
principles. It was his aim to demolish utterly everything 
