The Sharifian Army ( ar, الجيش الشريفي, links=yes), also known as the Arab Army ( ar, الجيش العربي, links=yes), or the Hejazi Army ( ar, الجيش الحجازي, links=yes) was the military force behind the
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...
which was a part of the
Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 29 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire (including the majority of Kurdish tribes, a relative majority of Arabs, and Caucasian ''T ...
.
Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after procl ...
of the
Kingdom of Hejaz, who was proclaimed "Sultan of the Arabs" in 1916, led the Sharifian Army in a rebellion against the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
with the ultimate goal of uniting the
Arab people under an independent government. Aided both financially and militarily by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Husayn
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
's forces gradually moved north through the
Hejaz and, fought alongside the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
-controlled
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...
, eventually
capturing Damascus. Once there, members of the Sharifian Army set up a short-lived monarchy known as the
Arab Kingdom of Syria
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
led by
Faisal, a son of
Sharif Husayn
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proc ...
.
Background
For centuries in the
Hijaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provi ...
(the western region of
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
where the Muslim holy cities of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
and
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
are located), power was strongly centralized in the hands of the family of the
sharif
Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, f ...
. Members of this family, as descendants of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, were called
Hashemites
The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921 ...
in English. Unlike many areas of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, there were few competing political influences among the urban elite. The tribal chieftains served as intermediaries between their tribes and the sharif but rarely challenged his authority. The sharif's lone political rival was the Ottoman
vali (governor) of the region, who was responsible for ensuring Ottoman sovereignty over the region. A power struggle existed between the sharif and the vali; the authority to make decisions switched back and forth between the two over time. Overall, this political climate left a large amount of influence in the hands of the sharif, who in the early years of the 20th century was
Sharif Husayn
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proc ...
.
Dissatisfied with his limited power, Sharif Husayn began discussions with tribal leaders in the region,
Arab nationalists
Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and ...
, and the British
High Commissioner in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, Sir
Henry McMahon
Sir Arthur Henry McMahon (28 November 1862 – 29 December 1949) was a British Indian Army officer and diplomat who served as the High Commissioner in Egypt from 1915 to 1917. He was also an administrator in British India and served twice as ...
. Husayn knew that many Muslims believed that the Sharif of Mecca was the rightful claimant to the
caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, which was currently held by the family of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. The British support that was pledged in the
Husayn-McMahon Correspondence caused Husayn to emerge from these talks with a strengthened belief in his right to claim both the caliphate and sovereignty over Arab lands in the area. Furthermore, and more importantly, the promises made by the British to Husayn in the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence of 1915 and 1916 led Husayn to think that if he were to lead a successful revolt against the Ottomans, the British would help him establish an Arab Caliphate encompassing most of the
Arabian Peninsula stretching as far north as present-day
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. Although the British could not promise a few districts that they had already pledged to give the French, the pieces seemed to be falling into place for Sharif Husayn, and he prepared to launch the
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...
.
The revolt
In early June 1916, the Ottoman government was putting pressure on Sharif Husayn to supply Hijazi troops and to issue a call for jihad from
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
in support of the Ottoman participation in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In exchange for the troops, Husayn wanted greater autonomy, but the Ottoman authorities would not concede it. Ottoman officials were holding Husayn's son
Faysal and told Husayn that if he ever wanted to see his son again, he must send the troops. On June 9, 1916, the Ottomans sent Faysal to
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
to get the armed forces that Husayn had been organizing, but when he arrived, he escaped with his brother ‘Ali.
At the beginning of the revolt, the Sharifian Army consisted of these forces that had been assembled by Husayn and his sons under the guise that they were to fight with the Ottoman forces. After escaping, Faysal wrote a letter stating that if Husayn's demands for greater autonomy were not met their relations with the Ottomans would end. Rather than wait for a reply, the Arab Revolt was started with an attack on the Hijaz Railway by forces that consisted of members of local Arab tribes and Ottoman defectors. The following day the first shots of the revolt were fired in Mecca and within two days, the Sharifian Army was in control of Mecca. By June 16, the Sharifian Army, with the assistance of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, captured the important port of
Jeddah. By the end of the summer, the Arab forces under the control of Sharif Husayn had managed to overtake coastal cities as far north as
Yanbu
Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 (2 ...
and as far south as
Qunfudhah.
The Ottomans decisively won a battle for the first time when the Sharifian Army attacked Medina in October 1916. The Ottoman forces were entrenched in Medina with artillery that the poorly equipped Sharifian Army lacked. The Sharifian forces retreated and were forced to develop a new strategy in regard to Medina. Rather than attack the well-protected Ottoman army and suffer large casualties, the Arabs surrounded the city and cut it off from access to other Ottoman forces. For much of the war the Ottomans managed to keep the Hijaz Railway open to Medina and, through this, were able to continue to supply their men with weapons, ammunition, and other equipment until near the end of the war. The constant need for supplies in Medina played into the Sharifian strategy which was designed to have the Ottomans station troops along the railway and in Medina, wasting troops and supplies, while the Arabs continued up the coast of the Red Sea.
As the British and Sharifian forces sought a way to overtake the Ottoman forces at
Aqaba
Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
, the British decided to send
Captain (later
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
)
T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
(commonly referred to as “Lawrence of Arabia”) to help Faysal lead his forces. Lawrence's plan was to make the Ottomans think that the Arabs were planning on attacking
Damascus by creating a few diversions, including the destruction of a railroad bridge in
Baalbek. Upon arrival in Aqaba on July 6, 1917, the Sharifian forces brutally massacred about three hundred Ottomans before their superiors could get them under control. Another 150 Ottoman troops were taken prisoner and after a few subsequent small scale attacks by Ottomans, the Arab and British forces solidified control in Aqaba. From this point onwards, the Sharifian Army fought at the side of the British armed forces that were coming from British-occupied Egypt. The well executed
Battle of Megiddo included a small amount of Sharifian forces who marched into Damascus on October 1, 1918, with their revolt almost complete. The only city still under Ottoman control in the Hijaz was the city of Medina. Although they were cut off from the rest of the Ottoman world, forces inside of Medina continued to resist Sharifian forces until their lack of supplies forced them to surrender in January 1919.
Forces
The Sharifian Army consisted of about 5,000 regular forces and many thousands of irregular forces. Many of the regular forces were former Arab members of the Ottoman military who defected and joined the Arab Revolt. Irregular forces refer to largely untrained Arabs who joined the revolt for a short period of time when the fighting was taking place near their home. As the fighting stretched further from Mecca, many soldiers from around Mecca decided that they had done their part and returned home. The constant flow of British gold and weaponry into the hands of the Sharifian Army was the main driving force behind the Revolt. Many tribes would fight for whoever offered them the most money. Some tribal leaders would agree to fight for the British and accept their payment and weapons and soon afterwards begin fighting for the Ottomans because they offered to pay the tribes more. This fickleness showed that many of the tribes were not interested in Arab unity, the ultimate goal of Sharif Husayn, but rather just wanted to be paid. While this made things more difficult for the Sharifian Army, Faysal's strong negotiating skills won many tribal chieftains over, giving the Hashemites the support they needed to challenge the Ottomans.
The army was divided into four groups led by Sharif Husayn's sons, ‘Ali, ‘Abdullah, Faysal, and Zayd.
Nuri al-Said
Nuri Pasha al-Said CH (December 1888 – 15 July 1958) ( ar, نوري السعيد) was an Iraqi politician during the British mandate in Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He held various key cabinet positions and served eight terms as ...
and his brother-in-law Ja’far al-Askari, who had previously been a Colonel in the Ottoman Army, joined the Sharifian Army because of their strong belief in
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language a ...
and rose to become leaders within the Sharifian Army. The first few months of the revolt were led by ‘Ali and his forces which consisted of about 30,000 men, most of whom were irregular forces who only fought for a short period of time. By September 1916 these 30,000 were divided amongst all four of Husayn's sons who each now had at least 6,000 irregular forces under their control. The Sharifian Army consisted of about 4,000 regular forces by the beginning of 1917. The majority of these regular soldiers served under Husayn or ‘Ali. As the revolt continued, Faysal emerged as the most successful of the four brothers and most of the forces fell under his control. The fact that Faysal worked alongside Lawrence of Arabia gave him access to more British intelligence, which is a large part of the reason he was the most successful.
Aftermath
Following the
capture of Damascus
The Capture of Damascus occurred on 1 October 1918 after the capture of Haifa and the victory at the Battle of Samakh which opened the way for the pursuit north from the Sea of Galilee and the Third Transjordan attack which opened the way to D ...
at the end of the Arab Revolt, Faysal set up a
Kingdom in Syria and ruled there until the French won the
Franco-Syrian War
The Franco-Syrian War took place during 1920 between the Hashemite rulers of the newly established Arab Kingdom of Syria and France. During a series of engagements, which climaxed in the Battle of Maysalun, French forces defeated the forces of t ...
on July 24, 1920, and ousted him from the country. In 1920, the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
decided that the lands of the Ottoman Empire would be divided by a newly created
mandate system
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
. The country that received the mandate was responsible for guiding the new state formed by the mandate to its independence. The British received the
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
and
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
(Iraq) mandates and the French received the
Mandate of Syria and Lebanon. These mandates and their maps closely followed the divisions presented in the secret
Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. The
Balfour Declaration complicated things in the region because rather than including Palestine within the land promised to
Sharif Husayn
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proc ...
as part of the Arab kingdom because of the
Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, the British had
promised to create a Jewish state in the region. While the question of Palestine was never resolved, in Cairo, in 1921, the British decided to name Husayn's son
Abdullah
Abdullah may refer to:
* Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname
* Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village
* ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan
* '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...
as the emir in the newly created state of
Transjordan. The British left Husayn in control of the Hijaz and, since Faysal was deposed by the French from his Kingdom of Syria in 1920, helped Faysal come to power in Iraq, becoming
Faisal I of Iraq. Sharif Husayn continued to rule the Hijaz and on March 23, 1924, declared himself
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
. In that same year the
Saudis
Saudis ( ar, سعوديون, Suʿūdiyyūn) are people identified with the country of Saudi Arabia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. The Saudis are composed mainly of Arabs and primarily speak a regional dialect ...
ousted Husayn from the Hijaz and he lived the remainder of his life in exile, dying in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
in 1931.
[Paris, Timothy. ''Britain, the Hashemites and Arab Rule, 1920–1925 The Sharifian Solution.'' London: Frank Cass, 2003.] Many other officers from the Sharifian Army, including Nuri al-Said, Jafar al-Askari, Jamil al-Midfai, Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi, and
Jamal Baban, played a prominent role in King Faysal's Iraq. Nuri al-Said and Ja’far al-Askari both served terms as Prime Minister. Officers from the Sharifian Army continued to play an important role in Iraqi politics until the
1963 coup led by Colonel
Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr ' (1 July 1914 – 4 October 1982) was the fourth president of Iraq, from 17 July 1968 to 16 July 1979. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and i ...
.
See also
*
Sharif of Mecca
The Sharif of Mecca ( ar, شريف مكة, Sharīf Makkah) or Hejaz ( ar, شريف الحجاز, Sharīf al-Ḥijāz, links=no) was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and ...
*
Jordanian Army
The Royal Jordanian Army (Arabic: القوّات البرية الاردنيّة; ) is the Army, ground force branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF). It draws its origins from units such as the Arab Legion, formed in the Emirate of Transjord ...
- Successor
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
*Eldar, D. “France in Syria: the abolition of the Sharifian government, April–July 1920.” ''Middle Eastern Studies'' v. 29 (July 1993) p 487–504.
*Eldar, D. “French policy towards Husayn, Sharif of Mecca.” ''Middle Eastern Studies'' v. 26 (July 1990) p 329–50.
*
Fromkin, David
David Henry Fromkin (August 27, 1932 June 11, 2017) was an American historian, best known for his interpretive account of the Middle East, ''A Peace to End All Peace'' (1989), in which he recounts the role European powers played between 1914 an ...
. ''
A Peace to End All Peace
''A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East'' (also subtitled ''Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914–1922'') is a 1989 history book written by Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction fina ...
''. Avon Books. 1989.
*Goldstein, E. “British Peace Aims and the Eastern Question: the Political Intelligence Department and the Eastern Committee, 1918.” ''Middle Eastern Studies'' v. 23 (October 1987) p 419–36.
*H. A. R. Gibb. “Review of The Independent Arab by Hubert Young.” ''International Affairs'', Vol. 12, No. 3 (May, 1933), p 425–426.
*Haj, Samira. ''The Making of Iraq: 1900–1963: Capital, Power, and Ideology''. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1997.
*Johnson, Maxwell. “The Arab Bureau and the Arab Revolt: Yanbu' to Aqaba.” ''Society for Military History. Military Affairs'', Vol. 46, No. 4 (Dec., 1982), p 194–201.
*Karsh, E., et al. “Myth in the Desert, or Not the Great Arab Revolt.” ''Middle Eastern Studies'' v. 33 (April 1997) p 267–312.
*Leach, H. “Lawrence's Strategy and Tactics in the Arab Revolt.” ''Asian Affairs'' (London) v. 37 no. 3 (Nov 2006) p 337–41.
*Martin, Thomas. “Anglo–French Imperial Relations in the Arab World: Intelligence Liaison and Nationalist Disorder, 1920–1939.” ''Diplomacy & Statecraft'', Dec 2006, Vol. 17 Issue 4, p 771–798.
*McKale, D. M. “Germany and the Arab question in the First World War.” ''Middle Eastern Studies'' v. 29 (April 1993) p 236–53.
*R. H. Lieshout. “'Keeping Better Educated Moslems Busy': Sir Reginald Wingate and the Origins of the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence.” ''The Historical Journal'', Vol. 27, No. 2 (Jun., 1984), p 453–463.
*Teitelbaum, Joshua. “Sharif Husayn ibn Ali and the Hashemite vision of the post-Ottoman order: from chieftaincy to suzerainty.” ''Middle Eastern Studies'' v. 34 no. 1 (January 1998) p 103–22.
*Wilson, Jeremy. ''Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorized Biography of T.E. Lawrence''. Atheneum. 1990.
*Young, Hubert. ''The Independent Arab.'' Gorgias Press. London, 1933.
External links
History of the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
Military units and formations of World War I
Politics of Iraq
Arab nationalism in the Ottoman Empire
Arab nationalist militant groups
Military history of Saudi Arabia
Pan-Arabist organizations