"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٠‎٥‎٥] (١٧٨٢/١٢١٠)

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1055
dependent upon either. At one time Gbalib had the advantage, and
during a whole year he held possession of the desert village of Sha'arah
in Najd ; but again he narrowly escaped being surrounded by the
Wahhabis and escaped, with a few followers only, to Bishah, In 1799
Sa'ud, the son of the Wahhabi Amir, came to Makkah on pilgrim
age with a large number of armed followers, and in the next year he
repeated the visit: in the light of later events both of these journeys
should perhaps be regarded as military reconnaissances. In 1801 the
tribes in the vicinity of Taif fell under the influence of the Wahhabis
and were placed by the Amir in charge of a Bedouin Shaikh 'Othman-
al-Madhaifah, who was a brother-in-law of the Sharif Ghalib but had been
for several years at enmity with him.
In 1802 Taif itself, the "Garden of Makkah," situated only a
couple of days' journey to the east of the Holy City, was taken by
'Othman ; the inhabitants, including even children, were mercilessly
put to the sword ; and, before the end of the year, the harbour of
Qunfidah also, on the Red Sea coast, was lost by the Sharif to the
Wahhabis.
In April or May 180-3, after a defence of two or three months'
duration, Makkah succumbed to a loose investment by the Wahhabi
forces which had reduced the inhabitants to great straits for food and
drinkable water, and Sa'ud took possession of the city. During their
stay in Makkah, which was not long, the Wahhabis behaved with con
siderable moderation ; but tombs forming objects of pilgrimage were
razed to the ground ; a Wahhabi reformation of manners and morals
was instituted ; and, before the departure of the army, a W ahhabi
governor was installed in the person of 'Abdul Ma'in, a brother of the
Sharif Ghalib. Ghalib himself, when he found the surrender of Makkah
to be inevitable, had slipped away to Jiddah on the sea, and thither
the Wahhabis followed him, but they were unable to storm the fortifi
cations and after eleven days gave up the attempt. The bulk of the
Harb tribe, however, who had hitherto opposed them, now made sub
mission, and Yanbo' on the coast submitted ; but Madinah, though
beleaguered, still held out, and dysentery had begun in the invaders'
camp.
In July 1803, the bulk of the Wahhabi forces having
then returned to Najd, Ghalib came back from Jiddah, obtained the
surrender of two small Wahhabi garrisons that had been left behind in
Makkah, and resumed the government of the town ; but a little later
he submitted to the Wahhabi ruler and was granted favourable terms.
Capture of
Taif and
Qunfidah
by the
Wabhabis,
1802-03.
Capture of
Makkah by
the Wahhabip,
1803.
Peace and
restoration of
the Sharif of
Makkah,
1803.
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