Battle of Riyadh

The Battle of Riyadh is the battle in which King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud recaptured Riyadh, and it marked the beginning of the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The battle began on the morning of January 15, 1902, when King Abdulaziz and his sixty-three men entered Al-Masmak Palace and declared King Abdulaziz’s rule.

After King Abdulaziz returned from his first attempt to recapture Riyadh in the Battle of Al-Sarif, he sought to persuade his father, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal, to allow him another attempt. Initially, his father refused, believing the circumstances were not favorable for such a move. However, King Abdulaziz insisted until he obtained his father’s approval. He then departed from Kuwait in the first half of 1901.

King Abdulaziz prepared mounts, weapons, and provisions, and set out with his men from Kuwait, moving through the desert to prevent news of his departure from quickly reaching Ibn Rashid. Their number was about forty men at the time. They reached a location called Al-Uyaynah – Uwaina Kanhir, northwest of Al-Ahsa, where around 1,400 fighters from local tribes joined him.

From Al-Uyaynah, King Abdulaziz advanced toward Riyadh, taking advantage of Ibn Rashid’s presence in Hafr Al-Batin as he prepared to attack Kuwait. The group arrived at Hafr Al-‘Atash, north of Riyadh, and King Abdulaziz dispatched some of his men into the city to gather information and assess the possibility of attacking Ibn Rashid’s garrison there. He arranged to meet them at Al-Hafayer, a water source about seventy-three km north of Riyadh. His men returned with reports that the time was not suitable to advance toward the city.

King Abdulaziz then moved with his men along the edges of Najd, raiding some tribes allied with Ibn Rashid, seizing spoils, and returning to Al-Ahsa to resupply his forces. After four days, he resumed raids in scattered areas near Riyadh, eventually reaching Hafr Al-‘Atash, where he divided the spoils among his men. He then advanced toward Riyadh, reaching Banban, a water source north of the city, in an attempt to enter it. However, conditions were not favorable, and he withdrew once again to Al-Ahsa, where he remained for about two weeks. During this period, King Abdulaziz’s reputation and movements spread widely, and his force grew to about 2,100 fighters, both cavalry and camel-mounted.

Ibn Rashid, troubled by King Abdulaziz’s activities, managed to persuade the Ottoman authorities in Al-Ahsa to prevent him from resupplying and residing there. This compelled King Abdulaziz to move toward Haradh. With the onset of winter, many of his fighters left to return to their tribes, leaving him with only about sixty men, including those who had originally accompanied him from Kuwait. He led them to a place called Yabrin, south of Al-Ahsa. In 1901, a messenger arrived from his father in Kuwait, requesting that he stop and return. King Abdulaziz gathered his men, read them the contents of the message, and gave them the choice to either return or remain with him. They chose to stay, and he instructed the messenger to report their decision and loyalty back to his father.

King Abdulaziz set out toward Al-Ahsa, sending one of his men ahead to gather provisions. He then led his companions southward to the edge of the Al-Jafurah Desert, where they remained for fifty days—from the beginning of November–December 1901—enduring harsh conditions that weakened their mounts. He later left Al-Jafurah and moved south toward the Haradh wells, reaching the Abu Jafan water source on the eve of Eid in January 1902. They stayed there for two days, and on the evening of the third day, he marched toward Riyadh, arriving at Dhila‘ Al-Shaqib at six o’clock in the evening on January 13.

At Dhila‘ Al-Shaqib, King Abdulaziz divided his men into two groups. The first, numbering twenty-three, remained behind to guard the supplies and camels. He led the remaining forty closer to Riyadh. Just before reaching the city walls, he split his men: the first group of thirty-three, led by his brother Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman, stayed outside the walls, while he advanced with the remaining seven into the city. They entered through a breach in the walls and stealthily made their way to the house adjacent to the ruler’s residence. At that point, King Abdulaziz sent his cousins, Abdulaziz Bin Jalawi and Fahd Bin Jalawi, to join the second group under his brother Muhammad’s command.

King Abdulaziz and the seven men with him infiltrated the house of Ajlan, gathering the servants in one room. King Abdulaziz learned that Ajlan spent the night in Al-Masmak Palace. He subsequently summoned his brother Mohammed and the forty men with him to Ajlan’s house, preparing for the confrontation at dawn, where a detailed plan of action was set.

The battle began at sunrise on the fifth of Shawwal, when Ajlan and his guards exited after the gates of Al-Masmak Palace were opened. At the same time, King Abdulaziz and his men emerged from the house. The two sides clashed in a fight that ended with the killing of Ajlan and several of his men, while the rest surrendered. At the conclusion of the battle, one of King Abdulaziz’s men ascended one of the fortress towers to proclaim to the townspeople—most of whom had been unaware of the battle due to the calculated discretion of King Abdulaziz—that sovereignty belongs to Allah first, then to Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud.

Following the Battle of Riyadh, the process of unifying Saudi Arabia began. King Abdulaziz devoted nearly three decades to this endeavor, culminating in the proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.