What is happening in Arabia in 1871CE
The Saudi-led Wahhabi kingdom soon descended into chaos in fratricidal fighting within the ruling family, allowing another family, the al-Rasheed’s, to rise to power. These captured the Saudi capital of Riyadh and conquered a large in northern Arabia.
In Yemen, the British captured the port of Aden in 1839, as a base from which to protect shipping from pirates. The British have also persuaded the Ottomans and the Gulf sheikdoms to help them suppress the Indian Ocean slave trade. With a view to this, as well as to combat piracy and promote trade, the British have entered into more, and tighter, treaty relationships with the coastal sheikdoms of the Gulf. Since 1861 the sheikdom of Bahrain has been a British protectorate.
In 1856 the Omani empire was divided between two brothers, with one ruling from Zanzibar, on the East African coast, and another ruling from Oman. In Oman, the ruling family’s preoccupation with maritime interests had loosened their ties with the inland tribes, and these became increasingly restive. The ruling family forged close links with the British, who have supported them in their attempts to control the interior of the country.
Leave a Reply