The second case study is that of the emirate of Ibn Rashid, in the Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula, which has a number of characteristics of the tribal state. The emirate of Ibn Rashid emerged from the tribal confederation of the Shammar, who inhabited the double chain of granite mountains named after them: Jebel Shammar. In earlier periods one section of the
Musil 1928a-b; Palgrave 1866; al-Rasheed 1991 with references; and Wallin 1979.
Shammar had moved north to Mesopotamia in search of pasture. These northern Shammar lived as pastoralists and farmers and were notorious raiders (Burckhardt 1830: 17). The two sections remained in contact, and every year a major trade caravan traveled north from Hayil to the northern shammar.
The southern shammar confederation consisted of four independent tribes, each with its own tribal leader: the sinjara, the Abde, the Aslam, and the Tuman. These were subdivided into clans or subtribes, several of which are mentioned by travelers such as Wallin and Burckhardt. among the shammar lived the Beni Tamim, who inhabited the Jebel before the shammar and had allied themselves to them. They were farmers and had their own villages in the shammar territories.
In 1836, a change of power took place in the abde leadership. abdallah Ibn Rashid challenged the sheikh of the tribe, who was his cousin. abdallah was exiled and found refuge with the Ibn saud family in riadh. The Ibn saud were leaders of the Wahabi and ruled most of the peninsula. abdallah won the support of Faisal Ibn saud by helping him to save his throne, and he returned to Jebel shammar to claim the abde leadership. Eventually, with the help of a band of supporters, he overthrew his cousin. abdallah was an ambitious man, and he immediately started to expand the power of the abde.
At the same time, the arabian Peninsula was in political turmoil, with the Wahabi, the egyptians of muhammad ali, and the Ottoman empire fighting for control. The shammar felt the danger of being caught in the middle of it and looked for a strong leader. abdallah and his abde were successful raiders, who gave the shammar a feeling of confidence and power. In a relatively short period of time, he managed to rally not only the abde behind him, but also the other shammar tribes, the sinjara, the aslam, and the Tuman. They joined in the raids he organized and gradually adopted his leadership. Thus abdallah changed the structure of the confederation, which now had a paramount sheikh, something they had not had before.
Abdallah died in 1847. he was succeeded by his son Talal, with the support of the tribes. Talal continued to forge the confederation into a more state-like structure. he also adopted the title of amir. he was still sheikh of the abda, but this new title reflected his leadership over the whole confederation.
Hayil was traditionally the home village of the abde tribe. Talal now turned it into his power base. he finished the Barzan palace and he encouraged international trade, concentrating it in the town. his liberal attitude encouraged not only shiite muslims, but also jews and christians, to settle and trade in hayil. he rebuilt settlements that had been destroyed during the war and expanded his dominions, partly by conquest, although his liberal politics and the prosperity and peace of his government brought other tribes and towns to ally themselves to the Ibn rashid. This process was facilitated by the tyrannical politics of the Wahabi. In a world where political power was based on alliances, tribes and towns could choose their protectors by simply paying or withholding tribute, and many preferred the rashidi leaders.
Succession was now firmly established within the rashid family, but apart from that, there were no rules to determine who would be the new amir. The succession of Talal became a bloody affair. his brother and successor mitab was murdered within a year by Talal’s eldest son, Bandar. Many members of the family left hayil and were offered refuge in Riyadh.
Another brother of Talal’s, Mohammad, was a successful caravan leader between hayil and Iraq. Trade with the Iraqi shammar was an important asset of the emirate in which both the settled population and the Bedouin were involved, either as producers and consumers of the trade goods, or as providers of camels. Because of his popularity among the Bedouin as well as the settled population, when Muhammad killed Bandar and pronounced himself amir,
EVELINE VAN DER STEEN
He had the support of both. He killed most of the possible contenders to his throne, practically all the male members of the family, a cruel, but within the context of the political situation, hardly surprising measure.
Mohammad’s rule was the longest in the history of the shammar emirate, lasting from 1869 to 1897, when he died of natural causes. It was also the period of the greatest expansion of the emirate. Its domain included most of Nejd, including the Saudi territory with the capital Riyadh, and to the north it extended toward Jauf. Even Palmyra paid tribute to the Rashidis. Under Talal and Muhammad the oasis of Hayil grew into one of the largest trade centers of the region.
Under the successors of Mohammad the emirate began to show the early signs of disintegration. The conquered territories never became integrated. They constituted a sphere of influence, a commonwealth rather than a unified state. International political developments did not favor the consolidation of the expanded emirate. In 1902 the Saudis recaptured Riyadh and regained the support of a number of tribes in the region between Riyadh and Hayil. At the same time, the tribes in the north, around Jauf, were being courted by the ruling family of the Rwala, the Ibn Sha’alan, to persuade them to desert the Shammar and put themselves under the protection of the Ibn Sha’alan.
For a short time, power in the ruling family of the Ibn Rashid was usurped by the Obeid branch, descended from the brother of the first leader, Abdallah, who commanded the support of a majority of the Shammar. During their reign the emirate lost several more districts. The original ruling branch of the Ibn Rashid tried to regain their power and a bloody struggle followed, as a result of which the Abde (the tribe to which the ruling family belonged) and the Sinjara put themselves under the protection of the Ibn Sha’alan.
The Great War further divided the emirate which, together with the continuing war with the Saudis and declining revenues from trade and the Hajj, eventually brought about the end. The Rashidis were thrown back on Hayil, deserted by most of the tribes. In 1921 they were expelled, and that was the end of their emirate.
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