Conquest of al-Hasa

Conquest of al-Hasa
Part of the Unification of Saudi Arabia
Date April 1913 Location al-Hasa, Arabia Result Emirate of Riyadh (Saudi) victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Emirate of Riyadh Ikhwan
Commanders and leaders
Nadim Bey	Abdulaziz Ibn Saud
Units involved
Ottoman garrison	Ikhwan militia
Strength
1,200	8,000

The Conquest of al-Hasa was achieved by the forces of Ibn Saud with support from the Ikhwan in April 1913. The oasis of al-Hasa was conquered from an Ottoman garrison, which had controlled the area since 1871.

The Turks were worried by the strong forces that Ibn Saud had gathered in the area of pastures and wells between Riyadh and Kuwait. Jamal Pasha, the governor of Baghdad, threatened to send two battalions to Najd, saying that they would march from one end to the other. The emir of Riyadh answered daringly that he would soon make Jamal Pasha’s task easier by decreasing the distance the battalions had to cover before meeting him. Nadim Bey, the Turkish Mutasarrif of al-Hasa, sent his representative to Ibn Saud to discover his intentions. Ibn Saud claimed that he was going only to attack a tribe in Kuwait. Simultaneously he sent people to Hufuf to purchase a large amount of rice and dates. Through his agents in al-Hasa, the ruler of Najd learned of the location of the Turkish garrisons and established contacts with the local population. The Russian consulate in Basra reported back:

"The attack on Hufuf began at night. The Najdis used the trunks of palm trees, ropes and ladders, all prepared beforehand. The town soon fell, as did the Kut citadel, with the exception of the Ibrahim mosque in the fortress, where the Mutasarrif and a part of his garrison ensconced themselves. There were 1,200 Turks in Hufuf at the time."

The mosque was mined, and the people inside were warned that the mines would be detonated and the mosque stormed unless they surrendered. The Mutasarrif decided to lay down his arms. The men of the garrison were led out of the town by an escort headed by Ahmad ibn Sunayyan, a distant relative of Ibn Saud. The Turks left for Bahrain by sea.

The Shia religious community leaders of al-Hasa negotiated a surrender and recognition of the Saudi political authority in exchange for leniency and religious freedom, which was granted at the time by Ibn Saud.

The Ottomans swiftly acknowledged the loss of al-Hasa, and recognized al-Hasa and Nejd as being under the rule of Ibn Saud.

Ottoman attempt to regain Al-Ahsa

In Bahrain, the British blamed the Turks for submitting to Ibn Saud and warned them of the consequences of the wrath of the supreme Ottoman authorities. They encouraged them to return to Al-Ahsa and enticed them with support and assistance. The Ottoman soldiers were deceived by the British’s advice and promise, so they chartered ships and returned to the port of Al-Uqair. They were confronted by a company headed by Bin Nader from Ibn Saud’s forces and clashed with them in a bitter fight that resulted in a number of deaths and the capture of thirty Ottoman soldiers. The news reached Ibn Saud while he was in Al-Ahsa, so he went out to Al-Uqair and released the Turkish prisoners. He sent the rest of the soldiers to Bahrain and wrote to the ruler of Bahrain and to the English political advisor there blaming them. They answered him: “The Turkish soldiers left Bahrain, heading to Basra, and we do not know who they were.”

See also

• List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
• List of wars involving Saudi Arabia