The Battle of Jarrab was a territorial battle between the

Al Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), and ...

and their traditional enemies, the Al Rashid on 24 January 1915. It was a proxy battle of

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 ...

between 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, ...

-supported Saudis and the Ottoman-supported Rashidis. Rashidi forces led by young

Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid ( ar, سعود بن عبدالعزيز الرشيد, Suʿūd ibn ʿAbdulʿazīz Āl Rašid; 1898 – 1920) was the tenth Emir of Jabal Shammar between 1908 and 1920. Biography It is likely that he was born in 1898 ...

defeated the forces of

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

. The main significance of the battle was the death of Ibn Saud's British Military Advisor,

Captain William Shakespear Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear (29 October 1878 – 24 January 1915), was a British civil servant and explorer who mapped uncharted areas of Northern Arabia and made the first official British contact with Ibn Sa'ud, future king of ...

. The reason for the defeat of Ibn Saud's forces is given by both Arabic and British sources as the withdrawal of the

Ajman tribe Al-Ajman or al-'Ijman ( ar, العُجمان, singular Ajmi ar, العجمي) is an Arabian tribal confederation in the Arabian Peninsula, with Ajman spread across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Origin Al-Ajman is a ...

led by

Dhaydan bin Hithlain Dhaydan bin Hithlain (died May 1929) was one of the leaders of the Ajman tribe and Amir of the hijrah (settlement) of Al Sarrar. His full name was Dhaydan bin Khalid bin Hizam bin Hithlain. Alexei Vassiliev also calls him Zaidan. Biography The ...

from the battlefield. The defeat and the death of William Shakespear diminished the relationship between Ibn Saud and the British changing the course of 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 t ...

against the Ottoman Empire. It also resulted other negative conclusions for Ibn Saud, including a year-long struggle with the Ajman tribe, namely the

Battle of Kanzan The Battle of Kanzan was a territorial battle between the Al Saud and their long-term enemies, the Ajman tribe, which began in June 1915 and lasted for nearly six months. The reason for the battle was the disloyalty of the tribe to the Al Saud ...

, and the decrease in his newly emerged prestige.

References

Literature

*''Travellers in Arabia'', Eid Al Yahya, Stacey International (2006). (9780955219313).
*''The Historical Journal'' 14 (3) (September 1971), pp. 627–633. * H. St. John Philby. (1930). ''Arabia'', London. 1915 in Saudi Arabia Jarrab Jarrab {{SaudiArabia-stub