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| d. Arabia |
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(See 1799–1800) |
| SAUDI ARABIA: THE WAHHABI DYNASTY (1735-) |
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| 1801 |
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| The Wahhabis sacked the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala in Iraq, burial place of Imam Husayn, the Prophet's grandson. Their plunder of the shrine and massacre of the population created outrage among Muslims everywhere. | 1 |
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| 1803 |
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| The WAHHABIS CAPTURED MECCA, challenging directly the Ottoman sultan's claim to the guardianship of the holy cities. The emir of Mecca fled. | 2 |
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| 1803–14 |
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| Sa’ud ibn Abd al-Aziz ruled as Saudi emir after the assassination of his father (Oct. 1803). He continued his father's militant policies of expansion. | 3 |
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| 1804 |
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| The Wahhabis captured Medina. They destroyed the mausolea and monumental tombs in the cemeteries, which they considered to be polytheistic, and desecrated the Prophet's tomb. | 4 |
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| 1806–56 |
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| Sa’id ibn Sultan ruled Oman and Muscat. | 5 |
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| 1809–16 |
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| Ahmad al-Mutawakkil ruled as imam of Yemen after seizing power from his father, Ali al-Mansur. | 6 |
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| 1810 |
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| The Wahhabis established control over Qatar and Bahrain. | 7 |
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| 1812–59 |
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| Jabir ibn Abdallah ruled as sheik of Kuwait. | 8 |
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| 1816–35 |
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| Abdallah al-Mahdi ruled as imam of Yemen. | 9 |
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| 1818 |
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| END OF THE FIRST WAHHABI STATE. An Egyptian expedition ordered by the Ottoman sultan recaptured Medina (1812) and Mecca (1813), reinstated the annual pilgrimage halted by the Wahhabis, returned Hashimite control to the Hijaz, and destroyed the Saudi capital of Dar’iyya (1818). The Saudi emir Abdallah was beheaded. Egypt continued to hold the Hijaz and the coastlands of Yemen until 1840. | 10 |
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| 1820 |
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| Treaty between Britain and the Arab tribal peoples of the Persian Gulf, in which the latter pledged to cease all piracy and slave traffic. The agreement marked the formal beginning of British-Indian responsibility for policing the Persian Gulf. | 11 |
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