emirate · Arabia and the Gulf

Emirate of Diriyah

1727 CE – 1818 CE · capital Diriyah

The first Saudi state, born of an alliance between the Al Saud and the reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, which conquered most of Arabia.

Origins

Muhammad ibn Saud became emir of the small oasis town of Diriyah in Najd in 1727. In 1744 he made a pact with Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a preacher calling for a return to strict monotheism: the Al Saud would support the reform movement, and the scholar would legitimise their rule.

Rule and society

The emirate expanded by war and conversion, taking Riyadh in 1773, defeating the Banu Khalid Emirate and conquering al-Hasa. It collected zakat from subject towns and tribes and destroyed shrines seen as idolatrous. Under Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz its forces sacked Karbala in 1802 and took Mecca in 1803 and Medina soon after, and raided Iraq, Syria and Oman.

Decline and legacy

The Ottoman Empire sent the army of Egypt under Muhammad Ali. Ibrahim Pasha besieged and destroyed Diriyah in 1818; the last emir, Abdullah ibn Saud, was executed in Istanbul. The Emirate of Nejd revived Saudi rule in 1824. The ruins of al-Turaif are a World Heritage Site.

Lineage

Emirate of DiriyahEmirate of Nejd 1824 CE – 1891 CE

Connections (5)

More states of Arabia and the Gulf →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Emirate of Diriyah. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-diriyah
MLA
“Emirate of Diriyah.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-diriyah. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Emirate of Diriyah.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-diriyah.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Emirate of Diriyah’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-diriyah (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻