With the rise of the House of Saud, the Arab world had another contender for power in the Persian Gulf. After several attempts of the Saud family to take over the area, the Saudi found itself in conflict with various tribal clans that go back to the days of the Ottoman Empire.

During the first rise of the House of Saud, under Muhammad Ibn Saud, attacked and captured the cities of Mecca and Medina, clearly in the Hashemite locus of control. Years later, with World War I at the beginning of World War I, because the British approached Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, to join them in their cause in attacking the Ottoman Empire in the hopes of distracting the Turks in their aid of the Germans during the war. However, once the British withdrew their support of Hussein bin Ali after the First World War, Ibn Saud immediately went after Hussein bin Ali’s land of the Hejaz. Continue reading →