How a religious movement nearly toppled an empire in the 19th century

In the early 1800s, a rising power in Central Arabia challenged the Ottoman Sultanate. Driven by a strict reformist doctrine, the Wahhabi movement expanded rapidly, seizing holy cities and forcing the empire to launch a brutal, years-long campaign of extermination to reclaim control.

The conflict was rooted in the ideological fervor of the Wahhabi movement, founded by Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahaab. Seeking to purge Islamic practices he deemed idolatrous, such as the veneration of saints, the movement established the Emirate of Diriyah. By 1765, its influence had spread across much of Najd. While the movement initially avoided direct confrontation with the Ottoman Empire, economic instability and religious friction eventually ignited a full-scale war.

The war's escalation was fueled by both religious and economic tensions. The Ottoman Empire was facing decline due to the Industrial Revolution, which flooded markets with cheap European goods and eroded traditional trade revenues. As the Wahhabis expanded, they seized control of Mecca and Medina by 1805, directly challenging the Sultan's legitimacy as the guardian of the holy sites. Violent incidents, including the 1802 sacking of Karbala and the 1801 plunder of a pilgrim caravan, made diplomatic reconciliation impossible.

The Ottoman response, orchestrated by the governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, was devastating. After an initial setback at the Battle of Al-Safra in 1812, where 5,000 Ottoman troops were killed, the campaign intensified. Between 1816 and 1818, Ibrahim Pasha led a war of extermination, besieging Diriyah and eventually razing the city to the ground. The conflict ended in 1818 with the execution of Emir Abdullah bin Saud in Istanbul, though the underlying religious and political tensions would persist for decades.

Source: Ottoman–Wahhabi war