Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Rashid

Muhammad was the third son of Abdullah bin Rashid, the founder of the Emirate, and the brother of the second Emir, Talal bin Abdullah, and the third Emir, Mutaib bin Abdullah.{{cite journal|author=Henry Rosenfeld|title=The Social Composition of the Military in the Process of State Formation in the Arabian Desert|journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|date=July–December 1965|volume=95|issue=2|pages=175,183

|jstor=2844424|doi=10.2307/2844424}} During the reign of his brothers, Muhammad functioned as the caravan leader securing the commercial activities of the Emirate and guiding the hajj. His caravan activities were between Hail and Iraq through which he acquired both wealth and popularity among locals.{{cite journal|author=Eveline J. van der Steen|journal=Al Rafidan

|year=2009|volume=30|title=Tribal States in History: The Emirate of Ibn Rashid as a Case Study|page=120|url=https://kokushikan.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=7314&file_id=189&file_no=1}}

When the Emir Mutaib bin Abdullah was killed by his nephew Bandar who became the emir of Jabal Shammar,{{cite book|author=Muhammad Suwaed|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8yhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20

|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-5451-0|page=20|location=Lanham, MD}} the older generation of the dynasty, including Muhammad and his uncle Ubayd left Hail for Riyadh.{{cite thesis|author=Michael John Baran|title=The Rashidi Amirate of Hayl: The rise, development and decline of a premodern Arabian principality|year=1992|id={{ProQuest|303993600}}|location=University of Michigan

|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303993600|pages=81-83,96,118,136|degree=PhD|isbn=979-8-207-23915-6}} The exile of Muhammad had very undesired effects on the commercial activities, so Bandar asked his uncle to return to Hail who accepted his offer and resumed his previous post. However, following his return to Hail, Muhammad killed Bandar bin Talal due to the intrafamilial disputes, and Bandar's brothers fled Hail.

File:Abdul Rahman bin Faisal bin Turki Al Saud.jpg, bringing an end to the Second Saudi State.]]

Soon after this incident Muhammad ascended to the throne in 1869.{{cite journal|author=Jeff Eden|title=Did Ibn Saud's militants cause 400,000 casualties? Myths and evidence about the Wahhabi conquests, 1902–1925|journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

|year=2019|volume=46|issue=4|page=525|s2cid=149088619|doi=10.1080/13530194.2018.1434612}} The Emirate of which base was in Hail expanded during his reign, and Muhammad managed to rule nearly two-thirds of Arabia, including Qassim, Unaizah, Buraidah and Riyadh in addition to the regions near the borders of Aleppo, Damascus, Basra and Oman. Hail became a significant commercial center and had population of nearly 20,000 during Muhammad's reign.{{cite journal|author=Guido Walter Steinberg

|title=Material Conditions, Knowledge and Trade in Central Arabia During the 19th and Early 20th Centuries|journal=EUI Working Paper|year=2002 |format=Working Paper|url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/1774|publisher=European University Institute|issn=1028-3625|hdl=1814/1774}} His success was partly due to the struggle between the Al Saud members, namely Abdullah bin Faisal and Saud bin Faisal.{{cite thesis|author=Hassan S. Abedin|year=2002|location=King's College London

|title=Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Great Game in Arabia, 1896-1946|page=43|degree=PhD|oclc=59173487|url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.397151}}

Muhammad recaptured Al Jawf region which was seized by Faisal Al Shalaan during the 1860s.{{cite journal|author=H. St. J. B. Philby|title=Jauf and the North Arabian Desert|journal=The Geographical Journal|date=October 1923|volume=62|issue=4|page=243|author-link=St John Philby|doi=10.2307/1781017|jstor=1781017}} However, the people of the region asked for protection from Abdullatif Subhi Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Syria, against the cruel rule of Muhammad in 1872.{{cite journal|author=Talha Çiçek|title=The tribal partners of empire in Arabia: the Ottomans and the Rashidis of Najd, 1880–1918|journal=New Perspectives on Turkey|date=May 2017|volume=56

|pages=109–110, 114|doi=10.1017/npt.2017.7|doi-access=free}} The Ottomans could not gain the full authority over the region, but installed an eighty-soldier troop there in 1873. The failure of the Ottomans was partly due to the fact that Muhammad was supplied military aid by the British and French authorities. In order to avoid any challenge from Muhammad, the Ottomans strengthened the alliance with him which in turn was very advantageous for Muhammad.

Muhammad became the single strong figure in Najd by 1884.{{cite thesis|author=Frederick Fallowfield Anscombe|title=The Ottoman Gulf and the Creation of Kuwayt, Sa'udi Arabia and Qatar, 1871-1914|id={{ProQuest|304117067}}|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304117067|page=90

|degree=PhD|location=Princeton University|year=1994}} In 1887 he annexed Najd{{cite thesis|author=Naila Al Sowayel|title=An historical analysis of Saudi Arabia's foreign policy in time of crisis: The October 1973 War and the Arab Oil Embargo|location=Georgetown University|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303848353|page=25|degree=PhD|year=1990|id={{ProQuest|303848353}}}} when Abdullah bin Faisal, Emir of Najd, was imprisoned in Riyadh by his nephews, sons of Saud bin Faisal, Muhammad attacked and captured the city to help Abdullah, but instead of reestablishing Abdullah's rule Muhammad appointed a Rashidi governor to the city.{{cite thesis|author=Bilal Ahmad Kutty|title=Political and religious origins of Saudi Arabia|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144515638.pdf|degree=MA

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605153741/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144515638.pdf|location=Aligarh Muslim University

|pages=83–85|year=1993|archive-date=5 June 2021}} The governor was Salim Al Sibhan who was one of the closest allies of Muhammad.{{cite book|author=Madawi Al Rasheed|title=A History of Saudi Arabia|isbn=978-0-521-64412-9|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BPCPg412BvkC|author-link=Madawi al-Rasheed|pages=25–26}} In addition, Muhammad liberated Abdullah bin Faisal, but took him to Hail as a hostage. He also brought three sons of Saud bin Faisal to Hail.{{cite thesis|author=Lawrence Paul Goldrup|title=Saudi Arabia 1902–1932: The Development of a Wahhabi Society|degree=PhD|year=1971|page=112

|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302463650|location=University of California, Los Angeles|id={{ProQuest|302463650}}}}

Four years later in 1891 Muhammad defeated the Al Saud forces who were the allies of Abdul Rahman, younger brother of Abdullah and Saud, in the battle of Mulayda which ended the Emirate of Najd and led to the exile of the Al Saud family.{{cite thesis|author=George Ogden Linabury|title=British-Saudi Arab Relations, 1902-1927: A Revisionist Interpretation|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302503094|location=Columbia University|page=17|year=1970|degree=PhD|id={{ProQuest|302503094}}}} Following the battle he captured Riyadh and ruled Najd.{{cite thesis|author=Abdulmuhsin Rajallah Al Ruwaithy

|title=American and British aid to Saudi Arabia, 1928-1945|degree=PhD|location=University of Texas at Austin|id={{ProQuest|303920456}}

|year=1990|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303920456|page=7}}

Muhammad married a woman from Aba Al Khail family. He had no child and adopted his nephew, Abdulaziz bin Mutaib. In addition to his native Arabic Muhammad had a good command of Persian and Turkish languages which he had learned while acting as a caravan leader.

On 28 November 1897 Muhammad died of natural causes in Hail.{{cite thesis|author=Bakor Omar Kashmeeri|title=Ibn Saud: The Arabian Nation Builder|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302645613|location=Howard University|page=97|degree=PhD|year=1973|id={{ProQuest|302645613}}}} He was succeeded by his adopted son and nephew Abdulaziz.{{cite web|author=Roby C. Barrett|title=Saudi Arabia: Modernity, Stability, and the Twenty-First Century Monarchy|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA620023|publisher=Joint Special Operations University|access-date=5 June 2021|format=Report|date=June 2015|page=30}}{{cite journal|author=Peter Sluglett|title=The Resilience of a Frontier: Ottoman and Iraqi Claims to Kuwait, 1871-1990|journal=The International History Review|date=December 2002|volume=24

|issue=4|page=790|doi=10.1080/07075332.2002.9640981|s2cid=153471013}}

{{Reflist}}

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{{s-hou|House of Rashid|}}

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{{s-bef|rows=1|before= Bandar bin Talal Al Rashid }}

{{s-ttl|title=Emir of the House of Rashid|years= 1869–1897}}

{{s-aft|after=Abdulaziz bin Mutaib Al Rashid}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rashid, Muhammad Abdullah}}

Category:19th-century monarchs in the Middle East

Category:1897 deaths

Category:Arab people from the Ottoman Empire

Muhammad Abdullah

Category:People from Ha'il

Category:Politicians from the Ottoman Empire

Category:Sons of monarchs

Category:Year of birth missing