In 1913 Emir
Abdulaziz Al-Saud of
Riyadh captured the
Sanjak of Hasa from the Ottomans to become the new neighbor to the Emirate of Kuwait. According to the
Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, Kuwait's border extended south to Manifa (about 200 km from Kuwait city), but the
newly expanded Saudi state did not recognize the Convention since the Ottoman province annexed to Najd. In 1919 Sheikh
Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah intended to build a commercial city in the south of Kuwait. This caused a diplomatic crisis with Najd, but Britain intervened, dissuading Sheikh Salim from building the city. In 1920, an attempt by the
Ikhwan to build a stronghold in southern Kuwait led to the
Battle of Hamdh, involving 2,000
Ikhwan fighters against 100 Kuwaiti
cavalrymen and 200 Kuwaiti
infantrymen. The battle lasted six days and resulted in heavy but unknown casualties on both sides resulting in the victory of the Ikhwan forces and leading to the battle of Jahra around the Kuwait Red Fort. The
Battle of Jahra happened as the result of the
Battle of Hamdh. A force of 3,000 to 4,000
Ikhwan, led by
Faisal al-Duwaish, attacked the
Red Fort at Al-Jahra, defended by 1,500 men. The fort was besieged with the Kuwaiti position precarious; had the fort fallen, Kuwait would likely have been incorporated into Ibn Saud's empire. After the Battle of Jahra, Ibn Saud's warriors, the
Ikhwan, demanded that Kuwait follow five rules: evict all the
Shias, adopt the
Ikhwan doctrine, label the Turks "
heretics", abolish smoking,
munkar and prostitution, and destroy the American missionary hospital. Kuwait is known for its
religious tolerance. "The Sunni people of Kuwait are tolerant to others and not over-rigid to themselves; Wahhabism is carefully proscribed, all the efforts of Najd have never succeeded in making one single
proselyte at Kuwait." ==Aftermath==