Ancient history inscription and two ibexes (1st century BC – 1st century AD),
Qaryat al-Faw The Najd region is home to
Al-Magar, which was an advanced prehistoric culture of the
Neolithic period whose center lay in modern-day southwestern Najd. Al-Magar was possibly one of the first cultures in the world to practice widespread agriculture and the domestication of animals, particularly horses, before climate changes in the region resulted in
desertification.
Radiocarbon dating of several objects discovered at Al-Magar indicate an age of about 9,000 years. In November 2017, hunting scenes showing images of what appear to be domesticated dogs resembling the
Canaan dog and wearing leashes were discovered in Shuwaymis, an area about 370 km southwest of the city of Ha'il. Dated at 8,000 years before the present, these are thought to be the earliest known depictions of dogs in the world. —an animal belonging to the horse family, found at
Al-Magar. The piece itself, measuring 86 cms long by 18 cms thick and weighing more than 135kg., is a large sculptural fragment that appears to show the head, muzzle, shoulder and withers of a horse. In the 5th century AD, the tribes of North Arabia became a major threat to the trade line between
Yemen and
Syria. The
Ḥimyarites of
Sheba decided to establish a
vassal state that controlled Central and North Arabia. The
Kindites, mentioned in Greek sources as the
Chinedakolpitai (), gained strength and numbers to play that role and in AD 425 the Ḥimyarite king Ḥasan ibn 'Amr ibn Tubba’ made Ḥujr 'Akīl al-Murār ibn 'Amr the first King (
Ḥujr) of Kindah. They established the
Kingdom of Kinda in Najd in central Arabia, which was unlike the organized states of
Yemen: its kings exercised an influence over a number of associated tribes more by personal prestige than by coercive settled authority. Their first capital was Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil, today known as
Qaryat al-Fāw. The
Ghassānids,
Lakhmids and Kindites were all
Kahlānī and
Qaḥṭānī kingdoms which thrived in Najd. In the 5th and 6th centuries AD, the Kindites made the first real concerted effort to unite all the tribes of Central Arabia through alliances, and focused on wars with the
Lakhmids. Al-Ḥārith ibn 'Amr, the most famous of their kings, finally succeeded in capturing the Lakhmid capital of
al-Ḥirah in southern modern-day Iraq. Later, however, in about 529, al-Mundhir recaptured the city and put King Ḥārith and about fifty members of his family to death. In 525, the
Aksumites invaded Ḥimyar, and this had a knock-on effect with the Kindites, who lost the support of the Ḥimyarites. Within three years the Kingdom of Kinda had split into four groups: Asad, Taghlib, Qays and Kinānah, each led by a prince of Kindah. These small principalities were then overthrown in the 530s and 540s in a series of uprisings of the
Adnani tribes of Najd and
Hijaz. In 540, the
Lakhmids destroyed all the Kindite settlements in
Nejd, forcing the majority of them to move to
Yemen. The Kindites and most of the Arab tribes switched their alliances to the
Lakhmids.
Islamic history In the 7th century,
Muhammad carried out military expeditions in the area. The first was the
Nejd Caravan Raid against the
Quraysh, which took place in 624. The Meccans led by
Safwan ibn Umayyah, who lived on trade, left in summer for Syria for their seasonal trade business. After Muhammad received intelligence about the Caravan's route, he ordered
Zayd ibn Haritha to go after the Caravan, and they successfully raided it and captured 100,000
dirhams worth of booty. The
Invasion of Nejd happened in
Rabi‘ Ath-Thani or
Jumada al-Awwal, 4 AH (October, 625 AD). Some scholars say the
expedition of Dhat al-Riqa took place in Nejd as part of this invasion.
Ridda wars After Prophet Muhammad's death, previously dormant tensions between the Meccan
immigrants, the
Muhajirun, and the Medinan converts, the
Ansar, threatened to split the
Ummah. Other Arabian tribes also wished to revert from Islam to local leadership and split from Medina's control; in some places, people such as
Al-Aswad Al-Ansi and
Musaylima claimed
prophethood and started to establish leaderships in opposition to Medina. The
Ansar, the leaders of the tribes of Medina, met in a hall or house called
saqifah, to discuss whom they would support as their new leader. When Abu Bakr was informed of the meeting, he,
Umar,
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and a few others rushed to prevent the Ansar from making a premature decision. During the meeting Umar declared that Abu Bakr should be the new leader, and declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr, followed by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, and thus Abu Bakr became the first
caliph. Apostasy and rebellion in central Arabia were led by
Musaylima in the fertile region of
Yamamah. He was mainly supported by the powerful tribe of
Banu Hanifa. At Buzakha in north central Arabia, another claimed prophet,
Tulayha, a tribal chief of
Banu Asad, led the rebellion against Medina, aided by the allied tribes of
Banu Ghatafan, the
Hawazin, and the
Tayy. At Najd,
Malik ibn Nuweira led the tribes of
Banu Tamim against the authority of Medina. On receiving intelligence of the Muslims' preparations, Tulayha too prepared for a battle, and was further reinforced by the contingents of the allied tribes. Before launching
Khalid ibn Al-Walid against Tulayha, Abu Bakr sought ways and means of reducing the latter's strength, so that the battle could be fought with the maximum prospects of victory. Nothing could be done about the tribes of
Banu Asad and
Banu Ghatafan, which stood solidly behind Tulayha, but the
Tayy were not so staunch in their support of Tulayha, and their chief,
Adi ibn Hatim, was a devout Muslim. Adi was appointed by Abu Bakr to negotiate with the tribal elders to withdraw their contingent from Tulayha's army. The negotiations were a success, and Adi brought with him 500 horsemen of his tribe to reinforce Khalid's army. Khalid next marched against another apostate tribe,
Jadila. Here again,
Adi ibn Hatim offered his services to persuade the tribe to submit without bloodshed. Bani Jadila submitted, and their 1000 warriors joined Khalid's army. Khalid, now much stronger than when he had left Zhu Qissa, marched for
Buzakha. There, in mid-September 632, he defeated Tulayha in the
Battle of Buzakha. The remaining army of Tulayha retreated to
Ghamra, 20 miles from Buzakha, and was defeated in the
Battle of Ghamra in the third week of September. Several tribes submitted to the
Caliph after Khalid's decisive victories. Moving south from Buzakha, Khalid reached
Naqra in October, with an army now 6000 strong, and defeated the rebel tribe of
Banu Saleem in the
Battle of Naqra. In the third week of October, Khalid defeated a tribal chieftess, Salma, in the
battle of Zafar. He refused to give
zakat, hence differentiating between prayer and zakat. Nevertheless, Malik was accused of rebellion against the state of Medina. He was also to be charged for his entering in an anti-Caliphate alliance with the anti-Islamic prophetess Sajjah. Malik was arrested along with his clansmen. Malik was asked by Khalid about his crimes. Malik's response was "your master said this, your master said that", referring to Abu Bakr. Khalid declared Malik a rebel apostate and ordered his execution.
Khalid bin Walid killed
Malik ibn Nuwayra.
Ikrimah ibn Abi-Jahl, one of the corps commanders, was instructed to make contact with Musaylima at
Yamamah, but not to engage in fighting until Khalid joined him. Abu Bakr's intention in giving Ikrimah this mission was to tie Musaylima down at Yamamah. With Ikrimah on the horizon, Musaylima would remain in expectation of a Muslim attack, and thus not be able to leave his base. With Musaylima so committed, Khalid would be free to deal with the apostate tribes of north-central Arabia without interference from Yamamah. Meanwhile, Abu Bakr sent
Shurhabil's corps to reinforce Ikrama at Yamamah. However,
Ikrimah attacked Musaylima's forces in early September 632 and was defeated. He wrote the details of his actions to Abu Bakr, who, both pained and angered by the rashness of Ikrimah and his disobedience, ordered him to proceed with his force to
Oman to assist
Hudaifa; once Hudaifa had completed his task, to march to
Mahra to help
Arfaja, and thereafter go to
Yemen to help Muhajir. Meanwhile,
Abu Bakr sent orders to Khalid to march against Musaylima. Shurhabil's corps, that was stationed at Yamamah, was to reinforce Khalid's corps. In addition to this Abu Bakr assembled a fresh army of
Ansar and
Muhajireen in Medina that joined Khalid's corps at
Butah. From Butah Khalid marched to Yamamah to join with Shurhabil's corps. Though Abu Bakr had instructed Shurhabil not to engage Musaylima's forces until the arrival of Khalid, shortly before the arrival of Khalid, Shurhabil engaged Musaylima's forces and was defeated too. Khalid joined with the corps of Shurhabil early in December 632. The combined force of Muslims, now 13,000 strong, defeated Musaylima's army in the
Battle of Yamamah, which was fought in the third week of December. The fortified city of Yamamah surrendered peacefully later that week. Migrations continued throughout the centuries back and forth from Nejd to Iraq and the Levant, with many Najdi tribes reaching Khorosan and the Maghreb.
Modern history In the 16th century, the
Ottomans added the
Red Sea coast (the
Hejaz,
Asir and tried to add
al-Ahsa) to the Empire and claimed
suzerainty over the interior. It was an attempt to
thwart the Portuguese from attacking the Red Sea (hence the Hejaz) at its short-term peak around 1810 Ottoman control over these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority. The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the
Al Saud, began in
Najd in central Arabia in 1744, when
Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam. This alliance formed in the 18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today. The first "Saudi state" established in 1744 in the area around
Riyadh rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman
viceroy of Egypt,
Mohammed Ali Pasha. A much smaller second "Saudi state", located mainly in Nejd, was established in 1824 by
Turki bn Abdullah. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the
Al Rashid. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile in
Kuwait. At the beginning of the 20th century, the
Ottoman Empire continued to control or have suzerainty over most of the peninsula. Subject to this suzerainty, Arabia was ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers, with the
Sharif of Mecca having pre-eminence and ruling the
Hejaz. In 1902,
Abdul Rahman's son, AbdulAziz—later to be known to the west as
Ibn Saud—recaptured control of Riyadh, bringing the Al Saud back to Najd. With the aid of the Ikhwan, Ibn Saud captured
al-Ahsa from the Ottomans in 1913. (1902–1934) In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting the Ottomans in
World War I), the Sharif of Mecca,
Hussein bin Ali, led a
pan-Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state. Although this revolt failed in its objective,
the Allied victory in World War I resulted in the end of Ottoman suzerainty and control in Arabia. Ibn Saud avoided involvement in the Arab Revolt and instead continued his struggle with the Al Rashid. Following the latter's final defeat, he took the title
Sultan of Najd in 1921. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25 and on 10 January 1926, Ibn Saud declared himself King of the
Hejaz. A year later, he added the title of King of Nejd. For the next five years, he administered the two parts of his dual kingdom as separate units. In 1932 the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the modern-day
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. == Geography ==