Course no.

6: The Arabian Peninsula 1880-1914

The Arabian Peninsula 1880-1914

Cultural map of the Arabian Peninsula

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 Course no. 6: The Arabian Peninsula 1880-1914

Table of contents
I. Arabia until around 1880 ................................................................................................................. 2
1) Indigenous and Ottoman political entities at the beginning of the century ................................. 3
2) Rivalries between Powers around Arabia.................................................................................... 5
a) Establishment of a British zone of influence ............................................................................... 5
b) Anglo-Ottoman rivalries ............................................................................................................. 8
II The Arabian Peninsula and neighboring areas .................................................................................. 10
1) Provinces and regions under Ottoman control .............................................................................. 12
a) The Hejaz. ................................................................................................................................. 12
b) Yemen ....................................................................................................................................... 12
c) The Ottomans in the Gulf .......................................................................................................... 12
2) Areas under British influence .................................................................................................... 12
3) The Nejd .................................................................................................................................... 13
4) The Horn of Africa: between European domination and indigenous resistance ....................... 14
Other maps : .......................................................................................................................................... 15
Tribal maps :...................................................................................................................................... 16

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 Course no. 6: The Arabian Peninsula 1880-1914

I. The Arabian Peninsula until around 1880

At the beginning of the 19th century, Arabia was made up of independent principalities, with
the exception of the Hejaz and the holy places of Islam, which remained under the nominal
authority of the Ottomans who relied locally on the sheriffs of Mecca. During the first three
quarters of the 19th century, there was a profound change which resulted in the division of the
peninsula into two zones of influence, one Ottoman the other British, in particular because of
the rivalries around the major communication routes which increased with the development of
steam navigation in the 1830s, then the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

1) Indigenous and Ottoman political entities at the beginning of the century

The Hejaz, since the 16th century, was an Ottoman province, but with a special status. It was
placed under a double authority: that of the sheriffs of Mecca, one of whom bore the title of
emir and therefore exercised political authority over the holy cities and the Bedouin tribes
who agreed to recognize his authority, that of the Ottoman pasha established in Jeddah, an
important port and commercial center in the Red Sea. Yemen had been an independent
Imamate of the Ottomans since 1635. The imam, established in Sanaa, relied on the Zaydi
peasant tribes of the highlands and controlled most of Yemen, at the exception of the region
of Aden and Hadramout divided into autonomous sultanates. The center of Arabia was
occupied by the Wahhabi Emirate. It was formed from the middle of the 18th century under
the impetus of the Wahhabism politico-religious movement. It had been started by a preacher
Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab who called for a return to an original Islam, that of the times
of the Prophet, to the uniqueness of God and showed himself fiercely hostile to the worship of
the saints. His doctrine was based on a rigorous interpretation of the sources of Islam. He had
allied himself with a tribal chief, Muhammad Al Sa'ud, which ensured him the adhesion of a
number of Bedouin groups. Controlling the Nejd, the movement spread with the rhythm of the
raids carried out by the rallied tribes. At the beginning of the 19th century, it threatened a
number of provinces under Ottoman authority, those of Basra, Baghdad and Damascus, and
especially the Hejaz and therefore the holy places. Moreover, considering Ottoman Islam as
deviant, Wahhabism posed a danger that was all the more serious as the Ottoman Empire,
which had not yet begun the reforms, did not have the means to respond effectively. The
Sultan of Istanbul therefore instructed his governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, to put an end to
the Wahhabi threat. The pasha of Egypt led a first expedition from 1811 to 1819.

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Map: Expansion of wahhabism

The rapid reconstitution of the Wahhabi emirate in the sands of Nejd led the troops of
Muhammad Ali to new interventions from 1834.

In the Gulf, emirates were formed around small port cities. The emirs were mostly from Nejd
and ensured their control over communities of pearl fishermen, merchants and sailors in a
Bedouin environment. In Kuwayt the power was in the hands of the Âl Sabâh, in Bahrayn, an
island partly populated by Shiites, it was the Âl Khalifa. The populations of Qatar, Dubai and
Ras al-Khayma had been won over by Wahhabism. Like the Bedouins of Nejd, they also
carried out raids in the name of Wahhabism, but the environment required, at sea. Oman,
populated mainly by Ibadite Muslims, was under the authority of a sultan established in
Muscat. He had a large fleet which he used not only for trade, but also for the construction of
a real maritime empire made up of ports and enclaves going from the Gulf to the island of
Zanzibar on the eastern coast of Africa.

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2) Rivalries between Powers around Arabia

a) Establishment of a British zone of influence
The English, by taking an interest in the Arabian Peninsula, had as their primary objective to
ensure the security of communications between Europe and Asia, in particular India. First,
local threats had to be dealt with. At the beginning of the 19th century, "acts of piracy"
multiplied against Indian ships then flying the English flag and sailing in the Gulf region and
the Arabian Sea. They were the victim of corsairs coming from the Gulf and acting under the
influence of Wahhabism. In 1820, the British decided to carry out military action against the
ports of the so-called "Pirate Coast", in particular those of Ras al-Khayma, Shardja and Abu
Dhabi.

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An 1892 map of the Pirate Coast. The term was first used by the English around the
17th century and acquired its name from the raiding activities that Al Qawasim
pursued against British merchantmen. The charge of piracy has been disputed by
historians and archivists in the UAE in particular. A counter-argument has been
proposed which is that reports of the Al Qasimi pirate raids were exaggerated by the
East India Company in order to provide a casus belli for them to stop the untaxed trade
between the Arabs states and India1.
They ended up imposing a perpetual truce on the various emirates, hence the name “Trucial
Coast” subsequently given to this region. It put an end to the maritime wars which opposed
between the emirates and threatened at every moment to call into question the free navigation
at sea (see map of the British in the Gulf). Subsequently, the English also wanted to remove
from the region any other power likely to be interested in it. They were wary of Russian
expansionism from the Caspian towards the Gulf and the Arabian Sea. But between 1838 and
1840, they feared above all the expansionism in Arabia of Muhammad Ali. After reducing
the Wahhabis in the Nejd, his troops were approaching east of the Gulf. The commissioning
of a regular shipping line between Suez and Bombay also required the installation of a coal

1
Al Qasimi, Muhammad (1986). The Myth of Piracy in the Arabian Gulf. UK: Croom Helm.

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depot near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. In 1839, the English negotiated with the Sultan of Lahej
the acquisition of the port of Aden which became a British colony administered from India.

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Map : Protectorate of Aden 1839-1967 : Neighbouring states of Aden and 'indirect rule' :

b) Anglo-Ottoman rivalries
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 revived the rivalries between powers. From then on,
the Red Sea became an essential issue, but the Gulf did not stay away from a hushed struggle
being played mainly between Ottomans and English, each trying to extend its zone of
influence or direct control. From 1870 the Ottomans made a return to the region. They
reaffirmed their presence in the Gulf by placing Kuwayt under their control and integrating it
into the province of Basra. A little further south, in the east of present-day Saudi Arabia, they
regained control of the al-Ahsa region and placed Qatar under their protectorate. The
Ottomans also appeared in the western part of Arabia. From 1872, they reoccupied Yemen
and resettled in Sanaa. To stop the Ottoman advance in this region and preserve Aden, the
English tried to extend their influence in the hinterland of Aden and signed between 1886 and
1888 a series of protectorate agreements with the principalities of the region. By providing
diplomatic representation and the defense of these territories, they effectively prohibited any
other power from setting foot there. Other powers also settled in the region. The French
settled in Obock on the Somali coast, before making it the future territory of Djibouti. The
Egyptians of Khedive Isma'il temporarily settled in Harar in Ethiopia and in Berbera between
1870 and 1875. Subsequently, from 1885, the Italians settled in Eritrea. Around 1880, Arabia
was divided into two zones of influence, one British stretching from the Strait of Bab al-
Mandab by the southern side to the southern part of the Gulf including Oman, the another
Ottoman from Hejaz to Yemen and from Kuwait to Qatar.

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II The Arabian Peninsula and neighboring areas

Arabia, around 1875, was divided into an area of Ottoman influence (to the west Hejaz, Asir,
and Yemen and to the east Kuwait, Ahsa and Qatar) and an area of British influence (South
Arabia and the principalities of the Gulf).

But other powers are manifesting themselves nearby: from Iraq the Germans, through Iran
the Russians towards the Gulf, the French at the outlets of the Red Sea with their installation
around the Gulf of Tadjoura, future territory from Djibouti. Consequently, the English
strengthened their grip on the region, widened and delimited their zone of influence. The
Ottoman presence will be challenged, in Yemen by the outbreak of a revolt led by a Zaydi

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imam, in Hejaz by the emir of Mecca, in Ahsa by Wahhabi state, reestablished in the center of
Nejd from 1901.

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1) Provinces and regions under Ottoman control

a) The Hejaz.
Authority is shared between a pasha residing in Jeddah and the sheriff based in Mecca. He
belongs to the clan of the Hashemites (one of the many clans of sheriffs or descendants of the
Prophet established in Mecca). In 1908 Sharif Husayn b. Ali becomes the new emir of
Mecca, but relations between the emir and the power in Istanbul are quickly strained after the
installation of the CUP in power in Istanbul. At the same time, Sharif Husayn acquired a
certain prestige throughout the Muslim world, among some Muslims dissatisfied with the
orientations of the Young Turks and the sidelining of Abdül Hamid in 1909.

b) Yemen
(Future North Yemen) was reoccupied by the Ottomans from 1872. They had been expelled
from it in 1635. Following the opening of the Suez Canal, the Ottomans were anxious to
extend their influence along an essential sea route, like the European powers present in Aden,
Djibouti, Somalia and soon in Eritrea. From 1904, the Ottomans were confronted with a
bloody revolt in Yemen. The Zaydi imam Yahya Hamîd al-Dîn manages to gather around
him a good part of the population in a revolt that is both nationalist insofar as he demands
political independence, and religious insofar as he refutes the legitimacy of the Sunni Sultan
Caliph. In 1911, the Ottomans reached an agreement with the imam, which put an end to the
revolt. Yahiya Hamid al-Din obtains a very large autonomy over most regions of Yemen.

c) The Ottomans in the Gulf

The Ottomans again regained control over certain areas, in 1871 over al-Ahsa (eastern Saudi
Arabia), in 1872 over Qatar.

2) Areas under British influence

Ottoman activism in South Arabia, in the hinterland of Aden and in the Gulf emirates,
Russian and then German projects for a rail outlet on the Gulf around Basra encouraged the
English to strengthen their presence. In 1899, they settled in Kuwayt which they placed under
their protectorate. A protectorate is a territory in which the initial political and administrative
structures are maintained in place. The foreign power is content to take charge of the external
relations of this territory and to ensure its defence. The essential objective of a protectorate is
to shield it from the possible influence of another power, but the initial political and
administrative structures continue to function, under the more or less direct control of
protective power. The English signed a series of protectorate agreements: in 1880 with the
Sheikh of Bahrain, in 1891 with the Sultan of Oman, in 1892 with all the emirs of the coast
of Truce (the current State of the Arab Emirates united). The British provide defense

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assistance, obtain trade facilities, tolerate contact between the protected principality with a
foreign power only with their consent. In South Arabia (future South Yemen) we are also
witnessing the extension of British influence over all the entities along the coast and in the
hinterland. The British again signed a series of protectorates between 1886 and 1903. Aden,
which remains a colony (therefore political power and administration are assured exclusively
by European powers), becomes a very cosmopolitan city populated by Arabs, Somalis,
Indians and Europeans.

3) The Nejd
The emirate of Al Saud, which had developed in Nejd during the second half of the 18th
century based on the Wahhabi movement, was able to reconstitute itself in the middle of the
19th century after its temporary disappearance due to the interventions of Muhammad Ali in
the area. Quickly weakened by internal quarrels, the Al Saud were eliminated from Nejd in
1887. They then took refuge in Kuwayt. In 1902 the young Abd al-Aziz b. Saud, by force,
manages to seize Riyadh. Then he gradually widened his domain by succeeding in rallying the
tribes to him, in the name of the ideal of a renewed Wahhabism. He settled a number of them
in agricultural colonies by forming groups of Ikhwan (literally brothers, a designation that
should mask tribal affiliations in the name of a higher ideal), linked together by Wahhabism.
They serve as a spearhead for conquests. In 1913, they managed to expel the Ottomans from
Ahsa or Hasa, a region located on the Gulf.

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4) The Horn of Africa: between European domination and indigenous resistance

Due to its strategic position on the sea routes to India and the Far East, it attracted the interest
of European powers. Near Arabia, on the African coast of the Red Sea, we witness the
Egyptian withdrawal following the Mahdi revolt in Sudan in 1881. The English then settled in
Berbera on the north coast of the territory populated by Somali tribes. They will be
confronted with a revolt led in the name of jihad by the one they nicknamed the Mad Mullah
(1899-1920). The Italians colonize the southern part (Mogadishu) of the territory of the
Somalis from 1889, they also set foot on the Ethiopian coast in the Red Sea (Eritrea) but
encounter Ethiopian resistance. The army of the Negus (Emperor of Ethiopia) inflicted a
crushing defeat on the Italians in Adowa in 1896. The French, present in Obock since 1859,
created Djibouti. They control a territory populated by Affars and Issas and build a railway
line to Addis Ababa.

Throughout the Orient, during the period 1880-1914 we witness a considerable extension of
the influence of the European powers, either in the form of a direct takeover, but this remains
exceptional (Djibouti, Eritrea, Aden, Cyprus), or in the form of indirect control: de facto
protectorate in Egypt, protectorate of right (southern Arabia, Gulf Emirates), another form of
indirect control over areas of influence within the Ottoman Empire. Economic, political and
cultural penetration is accelerating everywhere. At the same time, we are witnessing a
profound transformation of societies: adoption of a European way of life by the elites
(costumes, furniture), symbolically visible by the introduction of a European time (public
clocks, European calendar). But at the same time, the Ottoman leaders showed a firm desire to
preserve the Empire, threatened from the outside by European ambitions which no longer

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made the preservation of its integrity a necessity. This empire is also threatened from within
by the reinforcement of identities built on ethnic and cultural bases. It is the failure of
Ottomanism, this desire to bring together all subjects around power, beyond ethnic and
confessional divisions. In turn, the ruling elites opt, in a perspective of unification, for the
strengthening of central power, it is the pan Islamism of Abdül-Hamid, then the authoritarian
centralism CUP. The Ottoman Empire will not resist, it will burst under the effect of the
development of multiple nationalisms (Arab, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish), favored by the
First World War and encouraged by the power games.

Other maps :

Arabia and Egypt Map, 1883

Showing Aden, Kamaran, Perim and Mosha Islands
And British Consuls and Agents

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Tribal maps :

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