Wikipedia

Ikhwan revolt

The Ikhwan revolt was an uprising in the Arabian Peninsula from 1929 to 1930 led by the Ikhwan against Ibn Saud. In late 1927, the tribesmen of the Otaibah, Mutayr and Ajman launched cross-border raids into parts of Mandatory Iraq, challenging the authority of Ibn Saud.[2] The relations between the House of Saud and the Ikhwan rebels gradually deteriorated into an open bloody feud by January 1929.[1] The main rebel forces were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla, on 29 March 1929.[3] Ikhwan tribal rebels and troops loyal to Ibn Saud clashed again in the Jabal Shammar region in August 1929,[1] and Ikhwan tribesmen attacked the Awazim tribe on 5 October 1929.

Ikhwan revolt
Part of the Unification of Saudi Arabia

Flag of Ikhwan
Date1929–1930
Location
Nejd, Iraq, Kuwait
Result Saudi victory
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Ikhwan Faisal bin Sultan Surrendered
Ikhwan Sultan bin Bajad †
Ikhwan Meqaid al-Duhainah †		 Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Ibn Saud
Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Fawzi al-Qawuqji
Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Eqab bin Mohaya
Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Faisal bin Abdulaziz
Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Mubarak Al Azmi †
Strength
47,000[1] 30,000[1]
Casualties and losses
500 in Battle of Sabilla[1]
450 in Jabal Shammar		 200 in Battle of Sabilla[1]
500 in Jabal Shammar
About 100 killed in the raids
700 killed in Sabilla
1,000 killed in Jabal Shammar
250 killed in raid on Awazim tribe
2,000 killed in total[1]

Faisal al-Duwaish, the main leader of the rebellion and the Mutair tribe, fled to Kuwait in October 1929 before being detained by the British and handed over to Ibn Saud.[4] Al-Duwaish would die in Riyadh on 3 October 1931 from an apparent heart condition.[4] Government troops had finally suppressed the rebellion on 10 January 1930, when other Ikhwan rebel leaders surrendered to the British.[1] In the aftermath, much of the Ikhwan leadership was killed or imprisoned,[5] while the remaining rebels were gradually incorporated into regular Saudi units.Sultan bin Bajad, one of the three main Ikhwan leaders, was killed in 1931.[1]

Background

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At the beginning of the 20th century, Arabia was characterised by tribal wars, which eventually led to political unification under the leadership of Al Saud. The main tool behind these campaigns was the Ikhwan, the Wahhabist-Bedouin tribal army led by Sultan bin Bajad and Faisal Al Dawish.[6][7] Operating from the Arabia core in Nejd, and aided by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War, the Ikhwan had helped conquer most of the territory that later became Saudi Arabia by the end of 1925. On 10 January 1926 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud declared himself King of the Hejaz and, then, on 27 January 1927 he took the title of King of Nejd (his previous title had been 'Sultan’).

The Ikhwan were not only a tribal army, but also a religious movement rooted in Wahhabism. Many Ikhwan members regarded aspects of Bedouin custom and urban society as incompatible with Islamic practice. Their religious orientation contributed to the movement’s cohesion and military effectiveness, but it increasingly brought them into conflict with Ibn Saud as he shifted from territorial expansion toward diplomatic engagement, border control, and administrative consolidation. [8]

Historians have interpreted the revolt as both a religious dispute and a conflict over political authority during the transition from tribal-military mobilization to centralized rule.[9]. During the unification campaigns, the Ikhwan had operated as semi-autonomous tribal military forces loyal to Ibn Saud, while retaining considerable local influence. By the late 1920s, however, Ibn Saud increasingly sought to centralize authority and subordinate tribal forces to a more structured state apparatus.[10]

Growing tensions also emerged over foreign policy and frontier control. Many Ikhwan leaders opposed Ibn Saud’s negotiations with British-backed governments in Iraq and Kuwait and viewed agreements establishing fixed borders as incompatible with their interpretation of Wahhabism and jihad. [11] The Ikhwan also opposed the introduction of new technologies, including the telegraph, automobiles, and telephones, which some considered religiously objectionable innovations.[12]

British involvement further intensified tensions. British authorities sought to prevent raids into Iraq, Transjordan, and Kuwait, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) carried out aerial operations against Ikhwan fighters following raids into British protectorates. British support for IBn Saud aligned with broader efforts to stabilise British-aligned governments in the region. [13] These interventions reinforced Ibn Saud’s diplomatic approach while simultaneously fueling Ikhwan accusations that he had become overly accommodating toward British regional interests.

Prelude

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A main reason behind the eruption the revolt was the establishment of an Iraqi police fort in Busaiya, an area used as grazing lands by the [Mutayr|Mutayri] tribe's. After Ibn Saud failed to prevent its construction through diplomatic means, Ikhwan fighters from the Mutayr tribe raided Busayya in late 1927, publicly demonstrating their dissatisfaction with Ibn Saud’s handling of the situation.[14] The Ikhwan viewed the Iraqi government as a threat and feared that Iraqi authorities intended to control scarce desert water resources and potentially construct a railway from Baghdad to Busayya.[15]

Mutayri tribesmen of the Ikhwan factions had also carried out raids into Kuwait, during which camels and livestock were seized. On both occasions, they looted camels and sheep. These raids provoked retaliation from Kuwaiti forces and the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and Kuwaitis. In January 1928, British RAF began launching attacks into Saudi-controlled territories, targeting tribes involved in the raids. In late February 1928, Britain paused the bombing campaign.[16][17] British air power significantly limited the ability of the Ikhwan to continue cross-border warfare without provoking large-scale retaliations. [18]

In November 1928, Ibn Saud convened a meeting in Riyadh known as Al Jam'iyah Al 'Umumiyah (the General Assembly or Riyadh Conference) in an effort to address growing tensions.[19] The gathering included roughly 800 individuals, among them tribal leaders, members of the ulema, and prominent Ikhwan figures.[19]

In January 1929, an Ikhwan raid on the Sheikhdom of Kuwait resulted in the killing of an American missionary, Dr. Bilkert, who was traveling by car with the philanthropist Charles Crane.[20] With no signs of Ibn Saud mobilizing his forces to rein in the Ikhwan and stop the raids, RAF resources were extended to Kuwait.[20] The incident further increased British pressure on Ibn Saud to restrain the Ikhwan.


Open revolt

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Battle of Sabilla

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Ikhwan Army

The largest confrontation of the revolt occurred at the Battle of Sabilla in March 1929.[5] The battle began in the early hours on 31 March 1929, and lasted approximately one hour. The battle started in the early hours on 31 March 1929.[19] Ibn Saud’s forces, equipped with machine guns and supported by modern transportation and communications technologies, defeated the Ikhwan forces decisively. [21]

The battle has been described as one of the last major confrontations between traditional camel-mounted tribal raiders and increasingly modernised state military forces, thus having historic importance. [22] It had become a scene of destruction for the technologically underdeveloped Ikhwan rebels, against the cavalry and machine-guns of Ibn Saud's army. In the aftermath of the battle, approximately 500 Ikhwan rebels were kileed, while Ibn Saud's forces reportedly lost around 200.[1]

Battle of Jabal Shammar

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Ikhwan-affiliated tribesmen and loyal Saudi troops clashed again in the Jabal Shammar region in August 1929, resulting in the deaths of some 1,000 men.[1]

Attack on Awazim tribe

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Despite their losses, the remaining Ikhwan rebels continued their rebellion by attacking the Awazim tribe in Arabia on 5 October 1929, resulting in the deaths of some 250 individuals.

Final accords

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Faisal Al Dawish fled to Kuwait in October 1929, and government troops finally suppressed the rebellion on 10 January 1930, when Ikhwan rebel leaders surrendered to the British.[1]

Aftermath

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The suppression of the Ikhwan revolt marked a turning point in Saudi state formation. The defeat of the Ikhwan removed the main internal challenge to Ibn Saud’s authority and strengthened the position of the merging centralised monarchy. [23] The revolt demonstrated the difficulty of maintaining a semi-autonomous tribal military forces within a state increasingly defined by fixed borders, diplomatic agreements, and centralised administration.

Following the revolt, surviving Ikhwan fighters were incorporated into regular military units, while tribal raiding across international frontiers was significantly reduced.[24] While the Ikhwan leadership was killed or imprisoned. Among them Sultan bin Bajad, who was one of the three main Ikhwan leaders, he was killed in 1931.[1] While Faisal Al Dawish died in prison in Riyadh on 3 October 1931.[1]

The consolidation of Ibn Saud’s authority contributed to the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in September 1932, when the two kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 University of Central Arkansas, Middle East/North Africa/Persian Gulf Region[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ Harold, Dickson. [Kuwait and her Neighbors], "George Allen & Unwin Ltd", 1956. pp. 300–302
  3. ↑ "Battle of Sibilla (Arabian history)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 29 March 1929. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 Dickson
  5. 1 2 Wilfred Thesiger. (1991). 'Arabian Sands' by Wilfred Thesiger, pp. 248-249
  6. ↑ King Abdul Aziz Information Resource Archived 13 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 19 January 2011
  7. ↑ Wilfred Thesiger. (1991). 'Arabian Sands'.
  8. ↑ Madawi Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 61–63.
  9. ↑ Mordechai Abir, “The Consolidation of the Ruling Class and the New Elites in Saudi Arabia” (London: Taylor & Francis Group, 1987), pp. 151-152.
  10. ↑ Madawi Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, pp. 64–66.
  11. ↑ John S. Habib, Ibn Saud's Warriors of Islam: The Ikhwan of Najd and Their Role in the Creation of the Saudi Kingdom, 1910–1930 (Leiden: Brill, 1978), pp. 106-108.
  12. ↑ David Commins, The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia (London: I.B. Tauris, 2006), pp. 84-88.
  13. ↑ John S. Habib, Ibn Saud's Warriors of Islam, pp. 143–144.
  14. ↑ Daniel Silverfarb (May 1982). "Great Britain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia: The Revolt of the Ikhwan, 1927-1930" (PDF). The International History Review. 4 (2): 228. JSTOR 40105200.
  15. ↑ Daniel Silverfarb (May 1982). "Great Britain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia: The Revolt of the Ikhwan, 1927-1930" (PDF). The International History Review. 4 (2): 228. JSTOR 40105200.
  16. ↑ Daniel Silverfarb (May 1982). "Great Britain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia: The Revolt of the Ikhwan, 1927-1930" (PDF). The International History Review. 4 (2): 229. JSTOR 40105200.
  17. ↑ Peter W. Wilson, Douglas Graham. (1994). Saudi Arabia: the coming storm . M.E.Sharpe: p.45
  18. ↑ Priya Satia, Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 245–248.
  19. 1 2 3 Talal Sha'yfan Muslat Al Azma (1999). The role of the Ikhwan under 'Abdul'Aziz Al Sa'ud 1916-1934 (PDF) (PhD thesis). Durham University. pp. 180–211. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  20. 1 2 Leatherdale, Clive. Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925–1939: the Imperial Oasis. p.115.
  21. ↑ John S. Habib, “Ibn Saud’s Warriors of Islam”, pp. 205-210.
  22. ↑ Madawi Al-Rasheed, “A History of Saudi Arabia”, p.66
  23. ↑ Madawi Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, pp. 66–68.
  24. ↑ John S. Habib, Ibn Saud's Warriors of Islam, pp. 220–223.
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