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Rashidi dynasty

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Flag of the Emirate of Ha'il, 1835 to 1920
Flag of the Emirate of Ha'il, 1920 to 1921

The House of Rashid (آل رشيد Template:ArTranslit) were a historic dynasty of the Arabian Peninsula, and the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud in Nejd. They were centered in Ha'il, a city in northern Nejd that derived its wealth from being on the route of the Hajj.

The Al Rashid derived their name from the grandfather of Abdullah, the first Rashidi amir ("prince") of Ha'il, who was named Rashid.

The Rashidi amirs cooperated closely with the Ottoman empire. However, this cooperation became problematic as the Ottoman empire lost popularity.

One recurrent problem with the Rashidi rule was the lack of a generally accepted rule of succession. The internal dispute normally centered on whether succession to the position of amir should be horizontal (i.e. to a brother) or vertical (to a son). These internal divisions within the family led to bloody infighting. In the last years of the nineteenth century six Rashidi leaders died violently.

Over the first twenty years of the 20th century the Arab peninsula saw a long-running series of wars as the Saudis and their allies sought to unite the peninsula under their rule. While the Al Rashid rallied a number of other tribes to their side the effort proved futile and by 1921 Ha'il surrendered to Ibn Saud's army.

Some members of the Rashid family left the country and went into voluntary exile, mostly to Iraq. By the 1990s only a handful were still outside Saudi Arabia.

Amirs of the House of Rashid

Rashidi rule at its height
  1. Abdullah ibn Rashid (عبدالله بن رشيد, ‘Abdullah bin Rashid) (1836–48). Abdullah came to power after leading a revolt (together with his brother prince Obaid) against the ruler of Ha'il, Mohammad bin Ali, who was a fellow member of the Jafaar lineage. As a leader, Abdullah was praised for bringing peace and stability both to Ha'il and to the surrounding region. Abdullah demanded from his brother prince Obaid an ahd (covenant) according to which succession to the office of amir would remain in Abdullah's line.
  2. Talal ibn Abdullah (طلال بن عبدالله, Ṭalal bin ‘Abdullah) (1848–68). The son of Abdullah. Talal (or Telal) was known for his "urban" interests. During his rule the Barzan Palace in Ha'il was completed. He established regular trade connections with Iraq, and expanded the Rashidi sphere of influence:

    "The inhabitants of Kaseem, weary of Wahhabee tyranny, turned their eyes towards Telal, who had already given a generous and inviolable asylum to the numerous political exiles of that district. Secret negotiations took place, and at a favourable moment the entire uplands of that province—after a fashion not indeed peculiar to Arabia—annexed themselves to the kingdom of Shommer by universal and unanimous suffrage." (William Gifford Palgrave, 1865: 129.)

    Talal was considered relatively tolerant towards foreigners, including traders in Ha'il:

    "Many of these traders belonged to the Shiyaa sect, hated by all good Sonnites, doubly hated by the Wahabees. But Telal [sic] affected not to perceive their religious discrepansies, and silenced all murmurs by marks of special favour towards these very dissenters, and also by the advantages which their presence was not long in procuring for the town". (William Gifford Palgrave 1865: 130.)

    In the 1860s internal disputes in the House of Saud allowed a Rashidi/Ottoman alliance to oust them. The Rashidi occupied the Saudi capital of Riyadh in 1865 and forced the leaders of the House of Saud into exile. Talal later died in a shooting incident which has been termed "mysterious". Charles Doughty, in his book Travels in Arabia Deserta, writes that Talal committed suicide. Talal left seven sons, but the oldest, Bandar, was only 18 or 20 when his father died.
  3. Mitab bin Abdullah (متعب بن عبدالله, Mut‘eb bin ‘Abdullah) (1868–9). A younger brother of Talal, he was supported by senior members of the Rashid family and the sheikhs of the Shammar sections. After only a year he was shot and killed in the Barzan Palace by his nephew and next amir, Bandar. Doughty's version of the events is that Bandar and Badr, the second-oldest son, cast a silver bullet to kill their uncle because they knew he wore an amulet that protected him against lead.
  4. Bandar bin Talal (بندر بن طلال, Bandar bin Ṭalal) (1869). Ruled for only a short time before he was killed by his uncle, Mohammed, the brother of Mitab. Bandar reportedly married his uncle's widow and had a son by her.
  5. Mohammed bin Abdullah (محمد بن عبدالله, Mohammad bin ‘Abdullah) (1869–97) A confrontation outside Ha'il with his nephew, the young Amir Bandar, ended with Mohammed killing Bandar. Mohammed then continued his journey to Ha'il and announced himself as the new amir. In order to prevent the possibility of revenge, Mohammed gave orders for the execution of all of Bandar's brothers (the sons of Talal), Bandar's cousins (the children of Talal's sister), and their slaves and servants. Only one of Talal's sons, Naif, survived. In spite of the inauspicious beginning, his rule turned out to be the longest in the history of the Rashidi dynasty. His rule became "a period of stability, expansion and prosperity" (ref.: p.61, Al Rasheed). His expansion reached Al Jauf and Palmyra to the north, and Teima and Kheibar to the west. In 1891, after a rebellion, Abd al-Rahman bin Faysal bin Turki Al Saud left Riyadh. The Saud family, including the ten year old Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, went into exile in Kuwait.
  6. Abdul Aziz bin Mithab (عبدالعزيز بن متعب, ‘Abdul‘azeez bin Mut‘eb) (1897–1906). A son of Mitab, the third amir, he was adopted by his uncle Mohammed, the fifth amir, and brought up to be his heir. After Mohammed died of natural causes, Abdul Aziz succeeded him unopposed. However Rashidi rule was insecure as their Ottoman allies were unpopular and weakening. In 1904 the young Ibn Saud, the future founder of Saudi Arabia, returned from exile with a small force and retook Riyadh. Abdul Aziz died in the battle of Rawdat Muhanna with Ibn Saud in 1906.
  7. Mithab bin Abdul Aziz (متعب بن عبدالعزيز, Mut‘eb bin ‘Abdul‘azeez) (1906–07). Succeeded his father as amir. However, he was not able to win support of the whole family, and within a year he was killed by Sultan bin Hamud.
  8. Sultan bin Hamud (سلطان بن حمود, Sulṭan bin Ḥamud) (1907–08). A grandson of Obeid (the brother of the first amir), he was criticized because he ignored the ahd (covenant) between his grandfather and the first amir. He was unsuccessful in fighting Ibn Saud, and was killed by his own brothers.
  9. Saud bin Hamud (سعود بن حمود, Sa'ud bin Ḥamud) (1908–10). Another grandson of Obeid. Was killed by the maternal relatives of Saud bin Abdul Aziz, the 10th amir.
    Saud bin Abdul Aziz
  10. Saud bin Abdul Aziz (سعود بن عبدالعزيز, Sa'ud bin ‘Abdul‘azeez) (1910–20). A boy of 10 when he was made amir, his maternal relatives of the Al Sabhan family ruled as regents on his behalf until he came of age, based on the constitution of Emara. In 1920 he was assassinated by his cousin, Abdullah bin Talal (a brother of the 12th amir). Two of his widows remarried: Norah bin Hamoud Al Sabhan became Ibn Saud's eight wife, and Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim of the Abde section of the Shammar tribe became Ibn Saud's ninth wife and the mother of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
  11. Abdullah bin Mitab (عبدالله بن متعب, ‘Abdullah bin Mut‘eb) (1920–21). A son of the 7th amir, he surrendered to Ibn Saud.
  12. Mohammad bin Talal (محمد بن طلال, Mohammad bin Ṭalal) (1921). A grandson of Naif, the only surviving son of Talal, the 2nd Amir. Surrendered to Ibn Saud. One of the daughters of Mohammad bin Talal, Watfa, married Prince Musa'id bin Abdul Aziz, the fifteenth son of Ibn Saud. Prince Musa'id and Watfa became the parents of Prince Faisal bin Musa'id, the assassin of King Faisal.

There has been a tendency to attribute the development of the House of Al Rashid to trading and commercial expansion, but recently documents have come to light which emphasise the significance of external pressures and the Rashidi's interaction with foreign governments and leaders.[1]


References

Prominent Members of Rasheed Family at Present

Turki Faisal Al Rasheed

Saudi Businessman

Further reading

Many foreign travellers visited the Rashidi amirs at Ha'il and described their impressions in journals and books, including:

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