1.
Medina
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Medina, also transliterated as Madīnah, is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also the capital of the Al Madinah Region. The city contains al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which is the place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It served as the base of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed. Medina is home to the three oldest mosques, namely the Quba Mosque, al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, Muslims believe that the chronologically final surahs of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad in Medina, and are called Medinan surahs in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs. Similar to Mecca, non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the core of Medina or the city centre by the national government. The Arabic word al-Madīnah simply means the city, before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib. The word Yathrib has been recorded in Surat al-Ahzab of the Quran, an alternative name is al-Madīnah an-Nabawīyah or al-Madīna-tu an-Nabī. As of 2010, the city of Medina has a population of 1,183,205, in addition to its Arab inhabitants, during the pre-Islamic era Yathrib was inhabited by Jewish tribes. Later the citys name was changed to al-Madīna-tu n-Nabī or al-Madīnatu l-Munawwarah, Medina is celebrated for containing al-Masjid an-Nabawi and also as the city which gave refuge to him and his followers, and so ranks as the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca. Muhammad was buried in Medina, under the Green Dome, as were the first two Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, who were buried next to him in what used to be Muhammads house. Medina is 210 miles north of Mecca and about 120 miles from the Red Sea coast and it is situated in the most fertile part of all the Hejaz territory, the streams of the vicinity tending to converge in this locality. An immense plain extends to the south, in every direction the view is bounded by hills and mountains. The historic city formed an oval, surrounded by a wall,30 to 40 feet high, dating from the 12th century CE. Of its four gates, the Bab-al-Salam, or Egyptian gate, was remarkable for its beauty, beyond the walls of the city, west and south were suburbs consisting of low houses, yards, gardens and plantations. These suburbs also had walls and gates, almost all of the historic city has been demolished in the Saudi era. The rebuilt city is centred on the vastly expanded al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the graves of Fatimah and Hasan, across from the mosque at Jannat al-Baqi, and Abu Bakr, and of Umar, the second caliph, are also here. The mosque dates back to the time of Muhammad, but has been twice reconstructed, because of the Saudi governments religious policy and concern that historic sites could become the focus for idolatry, much of Medinas Islamic physical heritage has been altered. Medinas importance as a religious site derives from the presence of al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the mosque was expanded by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I
2.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
3.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
4.
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
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Though not a modern nationalist, he is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt because of the dramatic reforms in the military, economic and cultural spheres that he instituted. He also ruled Levantine territories outside Egypt, the dynasty that he established would rule Egypt and Sudan until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser. Muhammad Ali was of paternal Albanian descent, his uncle was Mustafa Pasha. He was the son of the tobacco and shipping merchant named Ibrahim Agha. His mother was Zainab, the daughter of Husain Agha and his paternal great-grandfather Ibrahim Agha was from the Albanian city Korçë. Muhammad Ali was the nephew of the Ayan of Kavalla Husain Agha, when his father died at a young age, Muhammad was taken and raised by his uncle with his cousins. As a reward for Muhammad Alis hard work, his uncle gave him the rank of Bolukbashi for the collection of taxes in the town of Kavala. He later married Ali Aghas daughter, Emine Nosratli, a widow of Ali Bey. In 1801, his unit was sent, as part of a much larger Ottoman force, the expedition landed at Aboukir in the spring of 1801. The French withdrawal left a vacuum in Egypt. Mamluk power had weakened, but not destroyed, and Ottoman forces clashed with the Mamluks for power. During this period of turmoil Muhammad Ali used his loyal Albanian troops to work both sides, gaining power and prestige for himself. As the conflict drew on, the local populace grew weary of the power struggle, in 1801, he allied with the Egyptian leader Umar Makram and Egypts Sheikh of Al-Azhar University. During the infighting between the Ottomans and Mamluks between 1801 and 1805, Muhammad Ali carefully acted to gain the support of the general public. In 1805, a group of prominent Egyptians led by the ulema demanded the replacement of Wāli Ahmad Khurshid Pasha by Muhammad Ali, in 1809, though, Ali exiled Makram to Damietta. According to Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, Makram had discovered Muhammad Alis intentions to seize power for himself, Sultan Selim III could not oppose Muhammad Ali’s ascension. By appearing as the champion of the people Muhammad Ali was able to forestall popular opposition until he had consolidated his power, the Mamluks still posed the greatest threat to Muhammad Ali. They controlled Egypt for more than 600 years, and over time they extended their rule systematically south along the Nile River to Upper Egypt
5.
History of the Middle East
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Home to the Cradle of Civilization, the Middle East has seen many of the worlds oldest cultures and civilizations. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh. Mesopotamia was home to powerful empires that came to rule almost the entire Middle East—particularly the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC. From the early 7th century BC and onwards, the Iranian Medes followed by Achaemenid Persia, in the 1st century BC, the expanding Roman Republic absorbed the whole Eastern Mediterranean, which included much of the Near East. From the 3rd up to the course of the 7th century AD, from the 7th century, a new power was rising in the Middle East, that of Islam. The dominance of the Arabs came to a end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the Seljuq Turks. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, large parts of the Middle East became a warground between the Ottomans and Iranian Safavids for centuries starting in the early 16th century. By 1700, the Ottomans had been out of Hungary. The British also established effective control of the Persian Gulf, in 1912, the Italians seized Libya and the Dodecanese islands, just off the coast of the Ottoman heartland of Anatolia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Middle Eastern rulers tried to modernize their states to more effectively with the European powers. A turning point in the history of the Middle East came when oil was discovered, first in Persia in 1908 and later in Saudi Arabia and the other Persian Gulf states, and also in Libya and Algeria. A Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil and the decline of British influence led to a growing American interest in the region, during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence. The British, the French, and the Soviets departed from many parts of the Middle East during, the struggle between the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine culminated in the 1947 United Nations plan to partition Palestine. Later in the midst of Cold War tensions, the Arabic-speaking countries of Western Asia, the departure of the European powers from direct control of the region, the establishment of Israel, and the increasing importance of the oil industry, marked the creation of the modern Middle East. The wealthiest economies in the region per capita are the small countries of Persian Gulf, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and similar changes in other Muslim-majority countries throughout the 1980s, the Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought a global security refocus from a Cold War to a War on Terror. Starting in the early 2010s, a revolutionary wave known as the Arab Spring brought major protests, uprisings. Clashes in western Iraq on 30 December 2013 were preliminary to the Sunni pan-Islamist ISIL uprising, geographically, the Middle East can be thought of as Western Asia without the Caucasus but with Egypt, which is the non-Maghreb part of Northern Africa
6.
Yanbu
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Yanbu al Bahr, also known simply as Yanbu, Yambo or Yenbo, is a major Red Sea port in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah, Yanbus history dates back at least 2,500 years, when it was a staging point on the spice and incense route from Yemen to Egypt and the Mediterranean region. The Invasion of Dul Ashir took place in Yanbu, two or three months after Prophet Muhammads return from Buwat, he appointed Abu Salamah Ibn Abd al-Assad to take his place in Medina while he was away commanding another raid. Between 150 and 200 followers joined this operation to al-Ushayra, Yanbu in either the month of Jumada al-awwal or Jumada al-Thani and they had 30 camels that they rode upon by turns. When they arrived at al-Usharayh, they expected to raid a rich Meccan caravan heading towards Syria led by Abu Sufyan, Prophet Muhammad already had the knowledge of this caravan’s departure from Mecca and waited for about a month for this caravan to pass. But the Meccan caravan had already passed, in this operation, Prophet Muhammad entered into an alliance with Banu Madlaj, a tribe inhabiting the vicinity of al-Ushayra. He also concluded another treaty that was made with Banu Damrah previously, all those treaties established good political connections for him. Yanbu served as a supply and operational base for Arab and British forces fighting the Ottoman Empire during World War I, on July 27,1916 the Ottoman garrison surrendered in the Capture of Yanbu to the Arab revolutionary forces. It remained a port town until 1975, when the Saudi government designated it as one of the countrys two new industrial centers. Extensive government and private development have taken place at the port and surrounding area, the city is divided into three primary sections, which are located about fifteen minutes away from each other. Yanbu is the second largest Saudi Arabian city by the Red Sea, the downtown area of Yanbu Al-Balad contains most of the population. The area contains a few chain restaurants, as well as some coffee shops. The Holiday Inn Hotel is located at the edge of this area, Arabian Homes also have a gated private residential community catering to the expat population located next to the Holiday Inn. Most of the residents tend to be lower and middle-class Saudi citizens, currently, the government is attempting to improve the old, historical area in downtown Yanbu, as many historical buildings are located there. Many, unfortunately, are still in a state of disrepair. Currently, most of the residents are local tribes, mostly from Johainah, Horob, there are many foreign nationals which include of Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indian, Indonesia, Philippines, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Nepali, Kazakhstan and a Nigerian family. Some of the local Saudis work on their own farmers and trade in sheep, Yanbu Al-Sinaiya is the industrial city, established in 1975 by royal decree to create a Royal Commission to manage the effort to build a new modern city. It is the most southern part of Yanbu city, Yanbu Al-Sinaiya is divided into two parts, the industrial area to the south, and a residential area directly north and adjacent to the industrial area
7.
Battle of Jeddah (1813)
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The Battle of Jeddah was fought in 1813 at the west Arabian port of Jeddah as part of the Ottoman–Saudi War. The Ottoman army of Tusun Pasha arrived from Medina, and a new army led by his father Mohammed Ali Pasha arrived from Egypt, the Egyptian forces recaptured the city immediately, and the Ottoman-appointed Sharif was sent to Constantinople as a prisoner. A few days later, these forces captured Mecca itself, Battle of Jeddah History of Saudi Arabia
8.
Battle of Mecca (1813)
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Ottoman return of Mecca 1813 also known as the Battle of Mecca happened several days after the recapture of Jeddah during the Ottoman–Saudi War. Diriyahs army and its 1,000 men in Mecca surrendered to Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Tusun Pasha, facey, William & Grant, Gllian, Saudi Arabia by the First Photographers. ISBN 0-905743-74-1 Captain G. S. Froster, A trip Across the Peninsula – Rehla Abr Al-Jazeera
9.
Emirate of Diriyah
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The Emirate of Diriyah was the first Saudi state. In 1744, both Muhammed bin Abd Al Wahhab and Muhammad bin Saud took an oath to achieve their goal. Furthermore, Sauds forces brought the highlands of Asir under their suzerainty, while Muhammed bin Abd Al Wahhab wrote letters to people, after many military campaigns, Saud died in 1765, leaving the leadership to his son, Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad. Sauds forces went so far as to command of the Shia holy city of Karbala in 1801. Here they destroyed grave markers of saints and monuments and killed over 5000 civilians, Muhammed bin Abd Al Wahhab died in 1792. In 1803, eleven year after Wahhabs death, the son of Abdul Aziz Bin Muhammad, Saud bin Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad bin Saud, taif was the first city to be captured, and later the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. This was seen as a challenge to the authority of the Ottoman Empire. The task of weakening the grip of the House of Saud was given to the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. This initiated the Ottoman–Wahhabi War, in which Muhammad Ali sent his troops to the Hejaz region by sea and his son, Ibrahim Pasha, then led Ottoman forces into the heart of Nejd, capturing town after town. Sauds successor, his son Abdullah bin Saud, was unable to prevent the recapture of the region, finally, Ibrahim reached the Saudi capital at Diriyah and placed it under siege for several months until it surrendered in the winter of 1818. Ibrahim then shipped off many members of the clans of Al Saud and Muhammed Ibn Abd Al Wahhab to Egypt, before he left he ordered a systematic destruction of Diriyah, whose ruins have remained untouched ever since. Muhammad bin Saud 1726–1744, 1744–1765 Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad 1765–1803 Saud bin Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad bin Saud 1803–1814 Abdullah bin Saud 1814–1818, ottoman–Saudi War Second Saudi State Saudi Arabia List of Sunni Muslim dynasties Facey, William, Hawkins, Philip. Dirʻīyyah and the first Saudi state
Ottoman Empire
First Saudi State
