"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎١‎٧‎٢] (١٧٨٢/١٣٢٧)

1172
accession,
April 1903.
Relations
with Ibn-
Saud and the
Shaikh of
Kuwait.
Relations
with the
Porte.
Murder of
M at'ab-hm-
Abdnl 'A ziz,
J anuary
1907.
the remission of a year's taxes and the restoration of various personal
allowances that had been reduced or abolished by his father^ produced
an immediate and favourable impression upon his subjects. The princi
pality of Jabal Shammar was now, however, so impoverished that the
young- Amir could no longer find the annual tribute of 80 horses which
his predecessors had been accustomed to pay to the Sultan of Turkey.
After the death of 'Abdul 'Aziz the Wahhabis continued to press
their advantage against his successor, and in June 1906 the son of
Ibn-Sa'ud appeared at the very gates of Hail demanding tribute, but
he could not take the capital, and he was soon obliged by scarcity of
supplies to withdraw from its vicinity. The Shaikh of Kuwait, who had
apparently consented to negotiate with the Wahhabi ruler on behalf of
the late 'Abdul 'Aziz, agreed at the urgent request of the new Shammar
Amir, of his elderly relation Hamud and of others of the family, to
continue his efforts; and at length in July 1906, after discussions
between the principals or their agents in Qasim, a regular peace was
arranged, apparently on the basis that each Amir should keep what he
then held.
The Turks showed much sympathy with the Amir Mat'ab when he came
to power, but their own position in Qasim was so weak that they could
afford him no real assistance; and the Sultan accordingly confined
himself to condoling with the young chief on his father's death,
to recognising him as his father's successor, and to promising the
punishment of his father's murderers and the continuance to himself of
lis father s subsidy. In September 1906 Talib Pasha, an aide-de-camp
ot the Sultan, arrived at Hail with a Turkish decoration for the Amir;
mt m November 1906 the Turkish garrison, except a score or two of
"l 0 ."' ^ vas withdrawn from Qasim, and Turkish influence in Naid
virtually ceased to exist.
In the first week of January 1907 a fresh crime was added to the blood
stained annals of the A1 Rashid. Sultan-bin-Hamud, who had withdrawn
a 0 a , I! 1 * 90 ? . and . ha(1 subsequently returned to Hail, induced the
mir Mat ab to join him on a hunting expedition in the country, in
the course of which he treacherously shot him dead with his own hand ;
aii simultaneously Sultan's brothers, Sa'ud and Faisal and his cousin,
an killed Mash al and Muhammad, the brothers of the Amir, and Talal,
ie sou o t le Amir s cousin Naif. On their return to camp the murderers
gave out that Talal had killed the sons of 'Abdul 'Aziz and that they had
a ken immediate vengeance on him, but their story obtained no credence.
ii in an son ol 1 alal-bin-Naif was also put to death. Ry these crimes
not a single male descendant of ' Abdullah-bin-'Ali, the first Mahfudh of
Jabal Shammar, was left alive except an infant son of 'Abdul 'Aziz-bin-
I a . r i'_ u ! om ' 1 . s mo ther had apparently taken with her on a pilgrimage
o i a ma i. ie females of 'Abdullah's branch were next expelled, or
themseh-es vohmtardy emigrated, to Madinah, whither Hamud-bin-
jau , ie senior member of the Al Rashid family also betook himself,
v/? 6 7 ^ of A P ril HamM had lived in retirement at Hail
and 1 wh e / me 0 1 . Abdul 'Aziz, of whose policy he did not approve,
> A ] j i . 110 see * his advice ; but one of his daughters had married
and it «l Z m Z ^ TTf £ m0tlier 0f tlie Amir Mat,ab ancl his brothers ;
hi. graud^s bj his sous man ' S ^ WaS broken b >- the of