The Mu'ammarid Imamate, also referred to as ibn Muammar's Imamate or Imamate of Diriyah, was a short-lived emirate created after the fall of the first Saudi state. It was based around the city of Diriyah and was briefly a vassal of Muhammad Ali, Ottoman governor of Egypt. The state did not last long as it was reconquered by the Saudis and incorporated into the Second Saudi State.الإمام تركي بن عبد الله: العبيكان الإمام تركي بن عبد الله: عرقة
Background When the Saudi government practically collapsed and after the fall of Dir'iya and the surrender of its leaders, the political unity formed by the reformist call faded, and Najd returned to chaos and disintegration in the form of independent entities. Some of the anti-Diriyah leadership elements returned to their countries, where they sought to regain their influence at the expense of existing leaders, and some of them succeeded in achieving this: Rashid bin Sulaiman al-Hujailan killed Abdullah bin Hujailan bin Hamad in Buraidah in revenge for his father, who was killed by Hujailan bin Hamad during the campaign of Saadoun bin Urayer on Buraidah in 1782.
In Huraymla, the conflict between the Al Hamad family and the Rashid family over the leadership of the country returned, and the leader of the Al Hamad family, Ibrahim bin Nasser Al Zeer Al Hamad, was killed by Nasser bin Mohammed bin Nasser Al Rashid, and he and his family seized the property of the Al Hamad family in Haremla and expelled them from it.
These conflicts also appeared in Al-Kharj, Al-Ahsa, Sedir, and other countries that were under the influence of Diriyah, and the Badia tribes, in the absence of a strong central authority, returned to the practice of looting, plundering, road blocking, and mutual raids between them.
The economic situation was no better, as trade between the Najd countries and with neighboring regions stopped due to insecurity and property looting by some soldiers of the invading armies and taxes that were imposed. Agricultural and animal production decreased as a result of a drought that prevailed in the region, which led to famine. The continuation of the political vacuum in Najd threatened security and created social, religious, and economic risks.
History of the emirate
Rise of Ibn Mu'ammar A unique local attempt was made to fill the political vacuum that occurred following the withdrawal of Ibrahim Pasha's forces from Najd by Muhammad bin Mishari bin Muammar, one of the prominent Najdi leaders and son of Mishari bin Muammar, the Emir of Uyaynah, and a descendant of one of the Najd families with an influential role in Najd before and during the reform call. One of the contributors to the defense of Diriyah when Ibrahim Pasha besieged it, he is one of the three notables of Diriyah who were assigned to negotiate with Ibrahim Pasha to reach a peace agreement, as that was on the seventh of Dhu al-Qi'dah in 1233 AH. He is also linked to the tribe of Imam Muhammad bin Saud by kinship, as his maternal uncle is Imam Abdul Aziz and his brother Abdullah.
In addition to that, Muhammad bin Mushari was very rich, Ibn Bishr said about him: “He had countless wealth and weapons.” An Ottoman document indicates that he possessed weapons and took out two cannons that he had buried in Diriyah during Ibrahim Pasha's siege of the city before it fell. Muhammad tried to unify Najd on the basis of the reformist call, and one of the Ottoman documents indicates that Muhammad bin Muammar, upon the start of his movement, moved his family and children to the land of Sadous where his brother Ibrahim's sons reside, an indication of his feelings of the difficulty and danger of his attempt. When he went to Riyadh, he agreed with some of the displaced from Ad Diriyah and with residents of Riyadh and his villages to support him, and put a banner at his door, and the people of Diriyah flocked to him, and gathered their children and families there, directing them to Diriyah where they began cultivating its land. This is the first step in the efforts of Muhammad bin Muammar in building a new state where he moved to and persuaded others to return to Diriyah, and helped the people with the necessary funds by depending on his vast wealth and using that wealth to secure protection for them.
This early information about Ibn Muammar's rule is identical with the context of the events, and it does not contradict the fact that he lived in Riyadh for a limited period and called on the people to return to Diriyah, with the governor of Riyadh opposing his movement after that, and its emir refused to join him.
When Sadleir spoke about Al-Diriyah during his passage in August 1819 AD corresponding to Shawwal 1234 AH, he mentioned that it is a ruined town, only its ruins remain, and there was no human being in it. His passage through Diriyah was shortly before the emergence of Muhammad bin Muammar, and the status of Diriyah made Ibn Muammar's task of rebuilding very difficult, and whatever that may be, Ibn Muammar moved to Diriyah and sought to repair the walls, houses, and castles destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha's forces, at his expense. When Ibn Bishr spoke of these efforts of Ibn Muammar, he said: When he came to the country of Diriyah, he sought to build it and showed re-invitation, and wanted to have the countries of Najd under his hand under the pretext of the imamate, so he wrote the countries and invited them with delegations to him and the meeting, so the people of a few countries obeyed him, and they dispatched to him in Diriyah, so he settled there and stayed in it.
Ottoman documents on his efforts indicated that he had begun building castles in Diriyah, and Muhammad Ali Pasha expressed his fear of Ibn Muammar's movement and asked for help from the Ottoman Sultan to suppress it, and it appears that Muhammad Ali and the Ottoman Empire did not want any regional power in this spot.
Ibn Muammar's efforts succeeded in rebuilding Diriyah again, as he was able to return a large part of its population, including a thousand and two hundred fighters. After restoring stability in Dir'iya, he began the other step in his rule: to contact the Najd countries and invite their leaders to pledge allegiance to him. The first to pledge allegiance to him came from the countries Manfouha, and he corresponded with him Some people of countries pledging allegiance.
And he achieved some success, which frightened the leaders of some countries from the expansion of his influence, and thus his threat to their countries, and these countries are: Riyadh, Huraymla and Al-Kharj, who sent to the ruler of Al-Ahsa Ibn Uriar and warned him of the intentions of Ibn Muammar, and that he would invade Al-Ahsa if he strengthened and advised him to attack before his affair got worse.
Muhammad bin Urayer sent a message to Ibrahim Pasha while he was in the city of Jeddah telling him about Ibn Muammar's intentions to attack Al-Ahsa, and Ibrahim sent a message to his father, Muhammad Ali, who sent a message to the Ottoman Sultan informing him of Ibn Muammar's movements, so the Sultan issued an order to suppress the movement. Majid bin Urayer led a major campaign against Najd in 1920, and the people of Riyadh, Huraymila, and Al-Kharj joined his forces, and those forces attacked Manfuhah, affiliated with Ibn Muammar, and a fight took place between them, and the confrontation between them ended in a peace.
One of the Ottoman documents indicates that Ibn Uriar raided Arqa killing thirty men, plundering a convoy that was coming from Riyadh to Dir'iya, and killing people from Diriyah. The document also indicates that Ibn Muammar had two cannons that he used to resist Ibn Urayer and surpass him.
It is understood from the document that a confrontation occurred between Ibn Muammar and Ibn Urayer, as Faisal Al-Duwaish mentioned that Majid fought them, and Ibn Bishr did not refer to any confrontation between them. Rather, he mentioned that Ibn Muammar gave gifts and deceived Majid bin Urayer with some correspondence and one of the documents indicates that the gift he gave to Ibn Uri`ir was two shields, and that the people of Diriyah, under his leadership, threatened Ibn Uri`ir and refused to meet him.
As a result of the drought and the failure of Ibn Urayer to achieve any spoils or to satisfy the ambition of the tribes accompanying him, they complained about the bad situation and let it down, then leaving without achieving any significant gains. The results of this campaign were opposite to its aims, as Ibn Muammar's status rose, and his thorn strengthened in Najd rather than weakening.
Perhaps among its results is the abandonment of most of the Najdi countries of their position against the Ibn Muammar movement, as the countries of Al-Arid, Al-Muhammal, Al-Washm and Sudair joined him.
Ibn Muammar took advantage of these gains in addition to his economic power and encouraged the commercial movement between the Najd and Diriyah provinces, and he corresponded with many Najdi countries and ordered them and urged them to send supplies to Diriyah. Trade convoys were activated from Sudair, al-Mahmal, Al-Washm and others to Diriyah, so food was available at reasonable prices which led to an increase in his popularity, and he was able to command in those countries, so many of his followers and supporters were there.
Meanwhile, Turki bin Abdullah and his brother Zaid came to Ibn Muammar in Ad-Diriyah, and they joined him. The previous document indicates that Turki came with his son and his brother Zaid and Omar bin Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad bin Saud and his children, and that he came with Turki about a hundred men from the people of the south as well. Omar brought convoys of food with him, and the document also indicates that the arrival of a Turk took place at the request of Ibn Muammar, that is, an envoy from before him "came to Turkey."
Huraymla, as mentioned, was among the countries opposed to the movement of Ibn Muammar, and the head of Harimela at the time was Hamad bin Mubarak bin Abdul Rahman bin Rashid, and between the Hamad and the Rashid family, a dispute that led to a confrontation between them on Friday 24 Jumad al-Awwal 1235 AH in which men were killed on both sides and the family of Rashid was fortified in His palace was sent by Al Hamad to Ibn Muammar in Al-Diriyah and they asked him for help, so he sent them a force led by his son Mishari and with him Zaid bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud, brother of Turki bin Abdullah, and he called forces from al-Mahmal and Sudair and besieged them for a week, then they sought safety from Mishari bin Muhammad bin Muammar. On behalf of his father, he secured them on their blood, what they had, and those who were in their service, so they descended from the palace and deported with them to Diriyah, and Ibn Muammar appointed bin Hamad as governor in Huraymla, and after this procedure, the Nejdi countries pledged allegiance to Ibn Muammar, so they wrote to him and delegated to him.
Return to Saudi rule After this success, Muhammad bin Muammar became the first figure prepared to establish the unified Najd political entity again, and in the meantime Mishari bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz appeared in northern Najd after he was able to escape from the captivity of Ibrahim Pasha’s forces at the Hamra village near Yanbu, where he was carried with his brothers and relatives to Egypt and the Ottoman document talked about the relationship between Muhammed bin Muammar and Mishari bin Saud, where it mentioned that Mishari bin Saud had gone to Jabal Shammar and stayed there, then he left for Dir'iyah after constant insistence from Ibn Muammar by his envoys.
On his way, he passed by Al-Qassim and its family honored him, and during his stay in Buraidah, Saleh bin Daghathir came to him from the people of Al-Diriyah and made an agreement with him.