'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part IA & IB. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎1163] (1318/1782)

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as the state religion and encouraged Wahhabi propagandists. He showed
favour to the Bedouin tribes, and utilised them to break the strength
of the towns and villages,—a process which, of necessity, was soon
reversed under his sons. Towards the end of his reiffn he be^an to build
a new quarter in Hail town exclusively for the residence of himself
and his relations with their dependents.
To the end of his days 'Abdullah appears to have remained a loyal
and contented feudatory of the Wahhabi Amir Faisal, whom in 1843,
after his return from Egypt, he assisted to recover his power in Najd;
and no tribute seems to have been required of him by the Amir except
an annual gift of horses.
"'Abdullah was probably unfriendly to the Egyptians ; and the loss of
an Egyptian detachment in the Nafud Desert, where they perished of
thirst,—probably one of the Egyptian garrisons withdrawn from Najd
about 1840 — was, if local tradition may be trusted, deliberately arranged
by the Mahfudh through his brother ^Obaid. It is believed that George
Augustus Wall in, the able Swede who visited Hail in 1845, and again
in 1848 a year after 'Abdullah's death, was sent there by Muhammad
'Ali, Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. of Egypt, to investigate the rising power of Jabal Shammar
or, possibly, with some more definite political aim.
Relations of
'Abdullah
with the
Wahhabis.
Relations
'Abdullah
with Egypt.
of
i ; .
TAL AL-BIN-'ABDULLAH,
1847-67.
'Abdullah left three sons, Talal, Mat'ab and Muhammad, of whom the
eldest, Talal, was about 20 years of age. Talal's succession was unop
posed ; he profited throughout his reign by the loyal support of his uncle
'Obaid and of his brother Mat'ab ; and under him the boundaries of Jabal
Shammar continued to extend. One of his first expeditions was against
Khaibar and was conducted by the formidable 'Obaid, with whom Mat'ab
was associated in the command to temper his severity; Khaibar fell and
was placed under a governor sent from Hail. About 1848 the people of
Qasim after secret negotiations, transferred their direct allegiance from
Riyadh to Hail, where Qasimi refugees from Wahhabi tyranny had
become accustomed to find a refuge ; and the Wahhabi Amir for a time
acquiesced, though unwillingly, in the new arrangement. Operations
against Taimah, directed by Talal in person, were successful and enabled
him to round off his western frontier» inally, in 1855, he completed the
work begun at Jauf-al-' Amir m his father s reign by proceeding thithei
in person, subduing the oasis, and placing it under a Shammar governor
and three sub-governors of his own nomination.
The internal policy of Talal was progressive and pacificatory. He
relied on the settled population and addressed himself to the task of
curbing the Bedouins, whom his father had unduly encouraged. ^ Life
and property, both on the roads and in the villages, were secure in his
day. His chief pleasure was in the construction of palaces, markets,
shops, streets and fortifications ; he introduced foreign merchants—many
of them Shi'ahs, for Talal was not a strict Wahhabi—from Basrah and
Mashhad 'Ali, and even from Madinah and Yaman; and he tried, it is
Expansion of
Jabal Sham
mar under
Talal. 1847-
55.
Domestic
policy of
Talal.
;