"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎١‎٤‎٦] (١٧٨٢/١٢٦٩)

1146
the Russian Consul-General from Bushehr; this official had arrived on
board the Russian cruiser " Boyarin," which was visiting- the port in
company with the French cruiser " InfernetIt wag reported from
Kuwait that the Hussian Consul-General on this occasion offered to help
'Abdul 'Aziz with money and arms, and the statement received some
corroboration from an independent source. The interview in question
took place at the beginning of March 1903.
covered by Ibn-Rashid, meanwhile, occupied himself in chastising some of the
the Wahha- outlying nomad tribes who were favourable to the cause of Ibn-Sa' ud
bis, 1903. an d he endeavoured to enlist upon his own side the services of the Muntafik
outlaw Sa'dun Pasha. On the night of the 3rd of April 1903 he
made an attempt to retake Riyadh, where the Amir 'Abdur Rahman was
now firmly established; but he was repulsed with loss. A few days later
the Wahhabi Abdul'Aziz, who after his visit to Kuwait had been
recruiting followers at Nta', made a counter-attack upon Ibn-Rashid's
Bedouins, inflicting considerable injury. The year 1903 ended with the
capture of Zilfi, and the consequent recovery of the district of Sadair, by
this active scion of the Al Sa'ud.
petition for Ibn-Rashid now redoubled his efforts to obtain the active assistance
granted "by of the Turk 8 i and on the 7 th of January 1904 he wired to the Grand
the Porte, Wazir at Constantinople, soliciting the orders of the Porte and represent
ing that Ibn-Sa'ud was seeking to form relations with the British
Government, and that he would probably be furnished by them with guns
and ammunition. His petition must have been granted, for in April he
was supplied with some specie, rifles and ammunition from Baghdad; and
orders were issued for the concentration of a Turkish force at Samawah
On the Euphrates.
Washam ami In the illterim the successes of 'Abdul 'Aziz had grown even more
Wahha b bi«, the ^ and decisive - 0n the 7th of February 1904, at Faidhah in Wadi-
1904. as-Sirr, he attacked and defeated a force under Husain Jarrad, Ibn-
Rashid s governor of Qasinij killing the governor himself, whose standard
and seal he despatched to Kuwait in token of victory. A number of
other Shammar notables lost their lives in this encounter; and Southern
Is ajd, bv the submission of the district of Washam, was at last recovered
in its entirety, Abdul Aziz, Ibn-Sa'ud, next fell upon Qasim, a
district inclined to independence but generally, through force of cir
cumstances, in semi-vassalage either to Hail or to Riyadh. The town of
Anaizah Mas entered on the 22nd of March, not without assistance from
Sympathising citizens; and Majid, a son of Ibn-Rashid's cousin Hamud,
vho was encamped outside the place to defend it, was defeated on the same