Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Saud

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Family name hatnote Template:Infobox royalty Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Saud (Template:Langx ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin Muḥammad Āl Suʿūd; 1720–1803)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> was the second ruler of the Emirate of Diriyah. He was the eldest son of Muhammad bin Saud<ref name=durh/> and the son-in-law of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab. Abdulaziz ruled the Emirate from 1765 until 1803.<ref name=je>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=pak9/> He was nicknamed by his people as the savior of his time (mahdi zamanihi in Arabic) due to his fearless activities.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Early life

Abdulaziz was born in 1720<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> and was the eldest son of Muhammad bin Saud.<ref name=cbal>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref name=bak97>Template:Cite thesis</ref> He was educated by Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab and became a Wahhabi scholar.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Long before the death of his father Abdulaziz was announced the next ruler of the state at the request of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab.<ref name=durh/> From 1750 Abdulaziz was the chief military commander of the Emirate due to his father's old age.<ref name=gss84>Template:Cite thesis</ref> In 1763 he led a military campaign of the Emirate attacking the regions under the rule of the Bani Khalid Emirate.<ref name=albees>Template:Cite thesis</ref> It was the first military attack of the Emirate outside the Nejd.<ref name=albees/> These attacks were followed by those against the Sudair and Jalajil tribes who did not join the religious movement of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab.<ref name=albees/> Next Abdulaziz raided the Ajman tribe who were the natives of the Najran region.<ref name=albees/> In the latter attack the forces of Abdulaziz were defeated losing nearly one thousand men.<ref name=albees/>

Reign

The reign of Abdulaziz bin Muhammad began in 1765 when his father died.<ref name=albees/> Abdulaziz's Bay'ah (Arabic: Pledge of allegiance) ceremony was supervised by Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab.<ref name=cole23>Template:Cite book</ref> Although his father was titled as Emir, Abdulaziz was given the titles of both Emir and Imam.<ref name=durh/> However, the latter title was not granted immediately after his succession to the throne, but it was given later.<ref name=cole23/> Imam as a title was a reflection of Abdulaziz's religious education by Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab<ref name=durh/> and his deeply religious personality.<ref name=nawaf/> His younger brother, Abdullah, unsuccessfully challenged the rule of Abdulaziz.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Abdulaziz's father, Muhammad bin Saud, initiated attacks against the ruler of Riyadh, Dahham bin Dawwas, in 1747.<ref name=khan>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, following the battles for nearly 25 years only in 1773 Riyadh was captured by Abdulaziz and became part of the Emirate.<ref name=pak9>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref name=khan/><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Their military success and orthodox approach to religion won them great support in the area. Their standing was also boosted by Abdulaziz's practice of holding open meetings where tribal elders could meet with him, allowing access to their ruler. During his reign Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab was his major advisor and dealt with all major activities, including treasury.<ref name=durh>Template:Cite thesis</ref> However, following the capture of Riyadh Abdulaziz bin Muhammad himself began to control the budget of the state due to the significant increase in revenues.<ref name=durh/><ref name=bak97/> From 1789 Abdulaziz's supremacy was recognised by all Najdi people.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> As early as 1790 Abdulaziz's forces started their attacks in the region near the Euphrates in southern Iraq.<ref name=jfw74>Template:Cite thesis</ref> The region was the settlement of the Shammar tribe, originally from Najd, and they were defeated two times in 1791.<ref name=jfw74/> Muslat bin Mutlaq Al Jarba, son of the tribal leader Mutlaq bin Muhammad, killed in the battle which led to the migration of the tribe to southern Mesopotamia.<ref name=jfw74/>

The expansion continued with the capture of Qatif in 1794<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> and Hasa in 1795<ref name=jacg>Template:Cite book</ref> where Shiites were dominant.<ref name=nadsaf>Template:Cite book</ref> Abdulaziz's attacks against Hasa which had been under the rule of Banu Khalid began in 1792.<ref name=khan/> From 1797 the relations between Abdulaziz and the Ottoman authorities both in Baghdad and in Mecca became tense.<ref name=khan/>

In 1802 Hejaz, namely Taif and Khurma, was captured,<ref name=nawaf>Template:Cite thesis</ref> and the people, particularly men, living there were slaughtered.<ref name=jacg/><ref name=nadsaf/> In Taif Abdulaziz's forces took women and children as slaves.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They also demolished the heterodox texts and innovative household equipment such as mirrors and window frames and robbed the wealth of the local people.<ref name=ben>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Zubayr and other settlements in the region witnessed similar violence, too.<ref name=ben/>

In 1802 Bahrain was invaded and captured by the ruler of Muscat.<ref name=abdulw/> Abdulaziz bin Muhammad recaptured it in addition to Qatar and appointed there a governor, Abdullah bin Ufaysan, there.<ref name=abdulw/> The rulers of Bahrain, Abdullah and Salman, together with their families were sent to Diriyah where they were all detained.<ref name=abdulw>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Therefore, the Wahhabi influence also extended to Qatar and Bahrain.<ref name=mza/> However, due to the Ottoman attacks in Hejaz Abdulaziz bin Muhammad did not manage to fully consolidate his power in Bahrain and had to reduce his forces there which allowed the Al Khalifa to reestablish their rule.<ref name=abdulw/> Abdulaziz's governor, Abdullah bin Ufaysan, was detained by the Al Khalifa.<ref name=abdulw/> In 1803 Mecca was taken by Abdulaziz's forces, and the religious figures in the city declared their alliance to Wahhabis.<ref name=nadsaf/> The attacks of the Saudi forces reached Syria, Iraq and Yemen where Abdulaziz managed to establish his authority.<ref name=mza>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Sack of Karbala

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In 1802 Abdulaziz bin Muhammad's forces led by his heir and son Saud attacked Karbala and Najaf in Iraq.<ref name=hasa>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Unlike other attacks the goal of Saudi forces was not to rule or control the region.<ref name=hasa/> They massacred thousands of the Shia population, stole enough precious loot to load 4,000 camels, and destroyed the dome over the shrine of Imam Hussain. they destroyed it because according to the hadith of Prophet Muhammad We cannot built anything over graves. <ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=aip19>Template:Cite journal</ref> They also stole the gold, jewels, and rare minerals in the shrine.<ref name=aip19/> This incident also had another and much more significant effect: it added a sectarian nuance to the Sunni-Shia divide in the Muslim world.<ref name=aip19/>

The observations of Lieutenant Francis Warden, a British military official, about the attack are as follows:<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

They pillaged the whole of it [Karbala], and plundered the Tomb of Hussein...slaying in the course of the day, with circumstances of peculiar cruelty, above five thousand of the inhabitants...

Personal life and death

Abdulaziz married to the daughter of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab and the daughter of Uthman bin Mu'ammar, the ruler of Uyayna.<ref name=pak9/><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> He had four sons: Saud, Abdul Rahman, Abdullah and Umar.<ref name=gss84/> Of them Saud was born through Abdulaziz's marriage to the daughter of Uthman bin Mu'ammar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Abdulaziz was much more adhered to the Wahhabi cause and more aggressive than his father.<ref name=ever/> However, like his father he dressed in a plain way, and his armaments were not decorated unlike those of the Mamluk and Ottoman rulers.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Shortly after his capture of Mecca Abdulaziz returned to Diriyah where he was assassinated by a Kurdish man who was a darwish when Abdulaziz was leading Asr Salat in the mosque of Turaif in November 1803.<ref name=pak9/><ref name=nadsaf/><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> The motive of the assassin was to take revenge against him due to the killing of his sons in the Karbala attack.<ref name=hasa/> The British newspaper London Times dated 12 March 1804 reported the following about the assassination:<ref name=ever>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Abdulaziz ibn Muhammad was assassinated by Ibadgi Osman, a Mussulman of the sect of Ali. He had profaned the tomb of Ali, and thus excited the fury of the disciples of that prophet. Ibadgi Osman resolved to avenge the ashes of Ali. He crossed the desert of Arabia on a dromedary, entered the tent of Abdulaziz while he was at prayers, and plunged a cangiar into his breast crying, "Let this avenge the tomb of Ali, for thy profanations." The brother of Abdulaziz, hearing the noise, ran into the tent, where he found his brother bathed in his blood, and the assassin, who squatted himself down, saying his prayers, and calmly awaiting death. He attacked him; but Ibadgi Osman, who was the strongest of the two, got up and killed his assailant with the same cangiar which was still stained with the blood of his brother. The soldiers then entered, and cut the assassin in pieces with their sabers.

Abdulaziz was succeeded by his eldest son, Saud.<ref name=je/><ref name=cbal/>

Writings

A student of his father-in-law, Abdul Wahab, Abdulaziz followed his footsteps in writing on tawhid and the avoidance of grave-worshiping and other such related matters, his epistles being praised by Al-Shawkani, a scholar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>