Chapter 4
Al-Sarif and the First Attempt on Riyadh
1318 AH
Mohammad ibn Rashid died in 1315 AH. By 1318 AH Ha’il was ruled by his nephew, Abdulaziz ibn Mutib ibn Rashid. He used the presence of Yusuf Al-Ibrahim to put pressure on Mubarak Al-Sabah. Mubarak tried to settle things peacefully, but the efforts failed, and war followed.
Two fronts
Mubarak Al-Sabah marched out and gave Abdulaziz command of part of his army. Abdulaziz proposed a different plan: while Mubarak fought Ibn Rashid, he would open a second front in Riyadh, so that Ibn Rashid would have to fight on two fronts. Everyone agreed. It was said that he had 1,000 men, supplied from Al-Sabah’s army. Imam Abdulrahman went with Mubarak and advised him on tactics, such as dividing the army to face the Bedouin and the settled forces separately, but Mubarak did not follow his advice.
Riyadh had a weak point. Mohammad ibn Rashid had demolished part of its walls so that no one could shelter there out of his reach. This let Abdulaziz enter Riyadh at once in 1318 AH. The people of Riyadh joined him, since Al Saud had always been their Imams. He surrounded Al-Masmak fort, besieged Ibn Rashid’s garrison inside for forty days, and began digging a tunnel to break in.
Who commanded Ibn Rashid’s garrison in Al-Masmak during this siege is disputed. Some say it was Abdulrahman ibn Dab’an, others Ajlan, who arrived a year after Ibn Dab’an.
The defeat at Al-Sarif
At Al-Sarif the two armies were very differently built. Mubarak’s army of Kuwaitis and tribes had little organisation or experience of battles that size. Ibn Rashid’s army was experienced. It even kept reserve units, called Al-Hejlan, that joined the battle late to secure victory. The numbers were similar, differing by only a few thousand. The Ottomans did not yet fight alongside Ibn Rashid, though they supplied him. The main reason for the defeat was the lack of cohesion in Mubarak’s army.
When news of the defeat reached Abdulaziz, he withdrew. Ibn Rashid’s victorious army would come next. Al-Masmak could not hold Abdulaziz’s men, and fortifying Riyadh would take time. He went back to Kuwait, determined to return.