Middle East Treasure: Arabia
- Hermione
- Nov 14, 2016
- 4 min read
Arabia in the 19th century was one of the most important countries in the Middle East, it has a big territory and many natural resources, but that doesn´t mean tit was all sugar, spice and everything nice, on the contrary, it was a huge struggle to keep the country stable, with both internal and external problems.
I would like to start of with government, once you read about the way Arabia was governed, you can understand why the economy and the society:
The first saudi state was established in 1744, and lasted until 1818:
In the early 18th century, the Arabian Peninsula was a complete chaos, politically unstable and religiously weak. The First Saudi State began when Imam Muhammad ibn Saud, its first leader, met Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahab, together they formed an alliance with the intention to reform Arabia and bring back the Islamic faith.
The first Saudi state had another 3 rulers: Imam Abdul Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Saud, Imam Saud ibn Abdul Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Saud and Abdullah bin Saud, whom helped the state reach a great political status with Islamic principles.
Some of the outcomes from the First Saudi State were the unification of the Arabian Peninsula,the achievement of security and stability through the imposition of the Islamic Law, the emerge of scientists, the creation of lots of institutions and a great progress in economy and knowledge, however, this happiness didn´t last very long because the First Saudi State ended in 1818, when Ottoman troops invaded the Arabian Peninsula.
Despite the destruction caused by the Ottoman troops, the citizens remained loyal to the Saud family, who founded the First Saudi State, and after a failed attempt to create a Second Saud State, they succeeded in 1824, when the Second Saudi State was established with Riyadh as its capital, this liberated Najd from the armies of Muhammad Ali, and continued on the same foundations from the First Saudi State: the application of the Islamic Law, and development of security and stability. The administrative and financial systems from the First Saudi State also remained, and arts and science prospered in this period.
During the Second Saudi State, 9 rulers assumed the power, nonetheless,it ended in 1891, when the Saudi family was exiled to Kuwait.
A Third Saudi State also known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was built, it began in 1902 with King AbdulAziz, and it started the modern Saudi state, he established a solid government based on the Quran. After the death of King AbdulAziz, the kingdom remained through his sons.
Now, in terms of economy in Arabia in the 19th century:
During the 19th century the Arabian peninsula developed at a extremely slow rate, and some small states were dependant on Britain and Turkey, however, the external influences were so weak they could not change their social and economic development.
With the feudal mode of production their internal market started growing slowly, but, at the end of the 19th century European countries like Britain moved in as the Ottomans weakened and placed colonies in most of the Arabian coasts, interested in trade.
As a result, Arab culture started adopting Western art and style and rejecting Ottoman influence. Some countries like Syria combined European and Ottoman art, while some others just kept Ottoman influences in architecture. Lebanon for example was among the first countries to adopt cultural, social, and political life based on Christianity, even though most of the countries were into Islam initially.
Economic and religious struggles caused both internal and external problems:
The problems against the Ottoman empire during the 1800´s had a great influence in the beginning of the Arab nationalism as a politically-aimed movement, with the Tanzimat reforms pushing policies of Turkification, many Arabs began demanding equality. This helped the development of Arabs, since they were allowed to serve the army and become more politically active, however, the ottoman-enforced ideas of Watan and qaum made the corruption of the Turkish rulers more evident thereby helping the growth of Arab nationalism as well.
Also, many Arabs seeked a return to Islam, giving more power to the Arabs, instead of the Turks.
All of this led to many battles like the Ottoman return of Mecca in 1813 also known as the Battle of Mecca, which took place after the Capturing of Jeddah, which took place during the Ottoman-Saudi war.
The Ottoman Empire had a big impact over Arabia in the 19th century, as in 1818, when the Ottoman Troops, directed by Muhammad Ali Pasha, took over the Arabian Peninsula, causing the end of the First Saudi State and a lot of devastation in the Peninsula.
At the end of the 19th Century, WWI started to take place, this made Arabia a conflicted place:
The entry of the Ottoman Empire to the WWI in November 1914 gave the final spark for the outright revolt. Through their control of Egypt and the port of Eden the British were well informed about the unrest brewing in Ottoman Arabia. Just before the war broke out, Sharif Hussein ibn Ali sent one of his sons, Emir Abdullah ibn Hussein, on a secret mission to Egypt to contact the British military commander-in-chief there, Lord Kitchener. The response wasn't entirely bad or discouraging at all. When war came up the British positioned as the principal backers of the Hashemite cause.
British shipments of weapons and money continued to be sent by Egypt to Arabia throughout 1915, allowing Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali to expand his tribal alliances and build up his forces while waiting for the best moment to strike, He also made contact with the main Arab nationalists movement in Syria, the urban-based al-Fatat group, which expanded the potential of the rebellion. By combining Arabic nomad Clans to field large numbers of fighting men with the arab nationalist agenda of al-Fatat, Hussein Ibn Ali who assured that the revolt they started would have far-reaching consequences.
If you want a brief summary of this, check out our audio:
References
Arabian Peninsula and Eastern Mediterranean, 1800–1900 A.D. (n.d.). The Met. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/10/wap.html
Chapter XXVI, Arabia in 1870-1914. (n.d.). Marxists. Retrieved from
First, Second and Third Saudi State. (n.d). The Saudi Network. Retrieved from:
History of the Kingdom. (n.d.). Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from
Marques de Carvalho, N. (2012). Zionism and Arab Nationalism. E-International Relations
Students. Retrieved from
The Ottoman Empire. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2016, from
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