During Muhammad's era In Muhammad's time the
expedition of Muhammad ibn Maslamah took place here in
Muharram, July 627 AD/6AH. A platoon of thirty Muslims under the leadership of Muhammad bin Maslamah was despatched on a military mission. It headed for the habitation of the Qurata, a sept of the Bakr clan of the
Banu Kilab. The platoon attacked that sept and dispersed them in all directions. The Muslims captured war bounty and returned with the chief of the tribe of
Banu Hanifa, called Thumamah Bin Uthal al-Hanafi.
Post 1400 Although the location is sometimes identified with an ancient settlement mentioned by
Yaqut and
Al-Hamadani known as "Ghabra", the history of Diriyah proper dates back to the 15th century. According to the chroniclers of
Nejd, the city was founded in 1446–47 by
Mani' Al-Muraydi (), an ancestor of the Saudi royal family. Mani and his clan had come from the area of
Al-Qatif in eastern Arabia, upon the invitation of Ibn Dir' (), who was then the ruler of a group of settlements that now make up
Riyadh. Ibn Dir' is said to have been a relative of Mani' Al-Mraydi, and Mani's clan is believed to have left the area of Wadi Hanifa at some unknown date and were merely returning to their country of origin. Initially, Mani' and his clan, known as the
Mrudah, settled in Ghusaybah () and Al-Mulaybeed (). The entire settlement was named Al-Dir'iyah, after Mani's benefactor Ibn Dir'. Later on, the district of Turaif () was settled. The
Ottoman Empire viewed the Arab challenge with caution, especially after the loss of Mecca and Medina, and the removal of the Ottoman emperor's name from Friday prayers. An Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha was sent to recover lost territory. In 1818 the army entered Diriyah and after a six-month siege penetrated the defences on the
Turaif, totally destroyed the houses and cut down every tree in the palm groves. The Egyptians were estimated to have lost 10,000 men in the siege, and the Saudi forces 1,800. The town's original inhabitants left Diriyah after 1818, with the bulk of them moving to Riyadh. In
The Kingdom (first published in 1981), British author
Robert Lacey observed that the Al Saud had "left the shell of their old capital behind them, an enduring reminder of the frontiers of the possible" and compared the old Diriyah to "a sand-blown
Pompeii". This new city of Diriyah grew in size and is now a small but modern town and the seat of
its own governorate. The ruins remain a tourist attraction and are subject to a slow restoration project on the part of the Saudi government. ==Renovations and development plans==