1. Four regions—Hejaz, Najd, Al-Ahsa (East Arabia) and Asir (South Arabia) make up Saudi Arabia, with a total area of approx. 2,150,000 sq kms, making it the fifth largest Asian country and second largest nation in the Arab world
2. The Saudi royal family or the Al Saud was a clan that emerged from the central Arabian area of Nejd in 1744 as Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the dynasty, enters into a coalition with religious leader Mohammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and adopts his movement, “Wahhabiyya’
3. With the religious warriors of Abdul Wahhab, known as “Ikhawan”, Al Saud manages to expand his control rapidly over other parts of the region, with Riyadh as centre of his operation
4. By 1773 it completes control over central and southern Najd and in the late 1780s adds northern Najd to its territory. Al-Hasa falls to Saudis in 1792 and it gains control of Taif in 1802 and of Medina in 1804. These areas were then not under direct Ottoman...
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