House of Rashid | |
---|---|
Country | Emirate of Jabal Shammar |
Parent house | Shammar |
Titles | Emir of Jabal Shammar |
Founded | 1836 |
Founder | Abdullah bin Rashid |
Final ruler | Muhammad bin Talal |
Dissolution | 1921 in Ha'il (Conquest of Ha'il) |
Al Rasheed, the House of Rashid, or the House of Rasheed (Arabic: آل رشيد Āl Rashīd; pronounced [ʔæːl raˈʃiːd]) were a historic Arabian House or dynasty that existed in the Arabian Peninsula between 1836 and 1921, rulers of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar and the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud, rulers of the Emirate of Nejd. They were centered in Ha'il, a city in northern Nejd that derived its wealth from being on the route of the Hajj pilgrimage and was a city known for its trading, which absorbed many of the travelers that were bound to Mecca. The rulers of Ha'il were the sons of Abdullah bin Rashid, founder of the dynasty.
The Al Rasheed derived their name from their forebear Abdullah ibn Rasheed. The first "amir" (Prince) Abdullah Ibn Rasheed was the first to begin the establishment of the Emirate of Ha'il. The Rasheedi amirs cooperated closely with the Ottoman Empire. However, this cooperation became problematic as the Ottoman empire lost popularity.
In 1890, Al Rasheed occupied Riyadh. Then they defeated Al Sauds and forced them to go into exile, first in Bahrain, next to Qatar and finally to Kuwait.
As with many Arab ruling dynasties, the lack of a generally accepted rule of succession was a recurrent problem with the Rasheedi rule. The internal dispute normally centered on whether succession to the position of amir should be horizontal (i.e. to a brother) or vertical (to a son). These internal divisions within the family led to bloody infighting. In the last years of the nineteenth century six Rasheedi leaders died violently. Nevertheless, The Al Rasheed Family still ruled and fought together in the Saudi–Rashidi Wars.