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150 Years Ago in West Asia

In 1803, the warriors of the Saudi clan capture the Hejaz, the western coastal province of Arabia which included the holy cities of Medina and Mecca. The Saudis had become the dominant clan of the Najd, the desert heartland of Arabia, during the 18th century, after linking up with the Wahhabist movement. The Wahhabis were followers of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (died 1792), a Muslim scholar who called for a move back to a purer form of Islam. The Hejaz was the richest region in Arabia and was technically under the control of the the Turkish Ottoman empire. The Turks no longer had the resources to mount a major military campaign in Arabia, so the sultan gave the job to Mohammed Ali, the semi-independent commander of the Egypt garrison. He attacked in 1816 and Medina and Mecca fell almost immediately. The Saudi forces under the clan chief Abd Allah ibn Saud fell back to their desert capital, but after a two- year struggle surrendered to the better-equipped Egyptian forces in 1818.

In 1844, Siyyid Ali-Muhammad (1819-1850) founds a new religion called Baha'i in Persia. Ali-Muhammad was called the "Bab", which means "the gateway". Somewhat similar to the way Christianty grew out of Judaism, Baha'ism grew out of Islam. The Persian shah and the conservative Islamic clergy attempted to suppress the Baha'is. 20,000 people were killed, including Ali-Muhammad himself in 1850. Mirza Husayn Baha'u'llah and his supporters continued the Baha'i faith. Most Baha'is were forced to live in exile. The Baha'is believe in one God, and that there is a basic unity between all religions. For example, Baha'is believe that Abraham, Zoroaster, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha and Mohammed are all messengers of God. Other basic Baha'i beliefs are the equality of all people and world peace.

Nasir ad-Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty becomes emperor of Persia (today called Iran) in 1848 (he rules to his death in1896). After major territorial losses to the Russians in 1812 and 1828, he attempted to reform the Persian finances and army based on European models. He did achieve a degree of order and stability, but the reforms ultimately failed to protect Persia from Russia and Britain. Early in the 19th century, the Qajars began to face pressure from two great world powers, Russia and Britain. Britain's interest in Iran arose out of the need to protect trade routes to India, while Russia's came from a desire to expand into Iranian territory from the north. Then, in the second half of the century, Russia forced the Qajars to give up all claims to territories in Central Asia.

Nasir ad-Din in 1856 sends most of his new army to besiege the city of Herat, capital of western Afghanistan, a province lost by the Persians after the fall of the Safavid dynasty a hundred years before. The British invade Persia itself to stop Nasir. In 1857, a smaller part of the Persian army counter-attacks at the village of Koshab. A confused night battle is fought, and both armies retreat, but the Persians lose heart due to the heavy losses taken in the face of better British cannon and rifles. A second British invasion convinces the shah to make peace. Under the Treaty of Paris in 1857, Iran surrendered to Britain all claims to Herat and territories in present-day Afghanistan. In the next half of the 19th century, Russia and Britain, with overwhelming military and technological superiority, came came to dominate Iran's trade and interfered in Iran's internal affairs.

Medina

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