Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad

Family Background

Turki’s father was Abdullah bin Muhammad, who was himself the son of Muhammad bin Saud (founder of the First Saudi State) and the younger brother of Abdul-Aziz. This made Turki the first cousin once removed of Abdullah bin Saud, the latter being both Abdul-Aziz's grandson and the last ruling imam of the First State.

Ascent

Turki fought in the defense of Diriyah against the Egyptians and escaped when this city was seized by Ibrahim Pasha in 1818, marking the end of the First Saudi State He spent the next two years in hiding due to the ensuing persecution of the Al Saud, with the luckless Abdullah bin Saud being sent to Constantinople to be executed by the Turks. Turki briefly collaborated with Mohammad bin Mushari bin Muammar (Ibn Muammar), an Arab client of Muhammad Ali, who aspired to rule Najd himself. However, when Mushari bin Saud-the last imam’s brother- escaped from Egyptian captivity to reassert Saudi rule, Turki joined him and was appointed governor of Riyadh. Ibn Muammar quickly crushed the revolt, however, and imprisoned Mushari. Turki retaliated by capturing Ibn Muammar and his son (also named Mushari). An attempt to exchange both men for Mushari bin Saud before the latter was returned to Egyptian custody failed, resulting in the execution of Ibn Muammar and his son. Turki was then forced back into hiding. By this time, many senior members of the House of Saud had been killed, exiled, or imprisoned, leaving Turki as one of the few within the family willing and able to assume leadership.

Reign

In 1823, Turki reemerged to form an alliance with Sawaid, the ruler of Jalajil in Sudair, and had soon established himself in Irqah. He made further incursions into Najd, in which he seized major settlements such as Durma and Manfuhah in order to isolate Riyadh and its Egyptian garrison. By August 1824, Riyadh itself came under siege and fell a few months later; Turki designated it as the new Saudi capital as Diriyah had been devastated and largely depopulated by the Egyptians during their occupation. Though he had succeeded in reestablishing a viable Saudi polity, Turki chose to remain a nominal vassal of the Ottomans rather than challenge them openly, due to what had happened to Abdullah bin Saud.

This in no way inhibited his attempts over the next several years to consolidate his hold in Najd, with Kharj, Qasim, and Jabal Shammar all having submitted to Saudi rule by 1828 despite clashes with the local Bedouin. With Hejaz and the Red Sea remaining in Egyptian hands, further expansion was directed eastwards. The conquest of the Eastern Province was achieved in 1830, in response to a Bedouin invasion from this region led by the Banu Khalid. Efforts to extend Saudi influence along the Persian Gulf littoral, however, met with mixed success. The mere threat of invasion was enough to subdue Oman in 1833 yet Bahrain revolted in the same year (having agreed to pay tribute three years prior), a situation that remained unresolved at the time of Turki’s death.

Assassination

In spite of his success in returning the House of Saud to power, Turki could not avoid falling victim to the ambitions of his relatives within this dynasty. On May 9, 1834, as the imam was leaving the mosque, he was ambushed and slain by three assassins working for his cousin Mushari bin Abdul Rahman. It was Mushari who then emerged “with an unsheathed sword”, insisting that he, and not Faisal (who was away on campaign against Bahrain), was the new imam. Faisal, however, had no intention of accepting his father’s killer as imam, and hurried back to Riyadh, reaching the city by the end of May. Although Mushari was defeated and executed within a matter of weeks, it would take almost a decade of fighting against other would-be usurpers before Faisal succeeded in establishing his authority as Turki’s successor as the head of the House of Saud.

Legacy

The Second Saudi State would endure until 1891.

In addition, Turki was the progenitor of four branches of the House of Saud:

The Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque is named in his honour.