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Emirate of Diriyah إِمَارَةُ الدِّرْعِيَّةِ (Arabic) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1744–1818 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of the first Saudi state in 1810. Legend: | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Emirate | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Diriyah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Emir | |||||||||||||||||||||
• 1744–1765 | Muhammad bin Saud | ||||||||||||||||||||
• 1765–1803 | Abdulaziz bin Muhammad | ||||||||||||||||||||
• 1803–1814 | Saud bin Abdulaziz | ||||||||||||||||||||
• 1814–1818 | Abdullah bin Saud | ||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||
• Diriyah established | 1744 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1744 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1818 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Diriyah Riyal | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||||||||||||||
Thefirst Saudi state (Arabic:الدَّوْلَةُ السُّعُودِيَّةُ الْأُولَىٰ,romanized: ad-dawla as-suʿūdiyya al-ʾūlā), officially theEmirate of Diriyah (Arabic:إمارة الدرعية,romanized: ʾimāra ad-dirʿiyya),[1] was a state that existed between 1744 and 1818,[2][3][4] when the emir of aNajdi town calledDiriyah,Muhammad I, and the religious leaderMuhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab signed apact to found a socio-religious reform movement to propagate theWahhabi religious doctrine under the political leadership of theHouse of Saud.[5][6]
TheHouse of Saud and its allies quickly rose to become the dominant power in Arabia by first conqueringNajd, and then expanding their influence over the eastern coast fromKuwait down to the northern borders ofOman. Saud's forces also captured the highlands ofAsir, while Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahhab wrote letters to people and scholars to joinjihad. After many military campaigns, Muhammad bin Saud died in 1765, leaving the leadership to his son, Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad. Saud's forces went so far as togain command of theShiaholy city ofKarbala,Ottoman Iraq, in 1801. Here they destroyed theshrine of the saints and monuments and killed over 5,000 civilians.[7] In retribution, Abdulaziz was assassinated by a young Shia in 1803, having followed him back to Najd.
Muhammad bin Abd Al Wahhab died in 1792. In 1803, eleven years after his death, the son of Abdulaziz bin Muhammad,Saud bin Abdulaziz, sent out forces to bring the region ofHejaz under his rule.[8]Taif was the first city to be captured, and later the two holy cities ofMecca andMedina. This was seen as a major challenge to the authority of theOttoman Empire, which had exercised its rule over the holy cities since 1517.
The task of weakening the grip of the House of Saud was given to the powerful viceroy ofEgypt,Muhammad Ali Pasha, by the Ottomans. This initiated theOttoman–Saudi War, in which Muhammad Ali sent his troops to the Hejaz region by sea. His son,Ibrahim Pasha, then led Ottoman forces into the heart of Najd, capturing town after town. Saud's successor, his sonAbdullah I, was unable to prevent the recapture of the region.[9] Finally, Ibrahim reached the Saudi capital at Diriyah. He placed it undersiege for several months until it surrendered in the winter of 1818. Ibrahim then shipped off many members of theHouse of Saud to Egypt and the Ottoman capital,Constantinople (modern dayIstanbul). Abdullah I was later executed in the Ottoman capital, with his severed head later thrown into the waters of theBosporus, marking the end of what was known as the first Saudi state.[9] However, both the followers of theWahhabi movement and the remaining members of the House of Saud stayed committed. They founded theSecond Saudi State that lasted until 1891. Before the unification of modern Saudi Arabia, several emirates and kingdoms were established in the region, eventually paving the way for the formation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[9]
In 2022, the Saudi government designated 1727, the year Muhammad I assumed leadership of Diriyah, as the official beginning of the first Saudi state. They also designated February 22 as an annual holiday,Saudi Founding Day, to celebrate its founding.[10][11]
The first Saudi state was the Emirate of Diriyah, established in 1744
The first two Saudi states (1744-1818 and 1821-91)
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