NEJD, a kingdom of Arabia, occupying the core of that ancient land-block. The old block has been uptilted on the west, consequently Nejd tends to slope very gradually from west to east. The name itself implies an upland, and this is its distinc tine character as compared with the adjoining coastal districts of Hejaz and El Hasa, representing the shelving down of the pla teau on the west and east respectively. In general elevation Nejd varies from 5,000 ft. on its western border to 2,500 in Kasim in the north-east, and somewhat less in the south-east. In the north Jebel Shammar, and in the east J. Tuwek and J. 'Arid rise about 1,50o ft. above the general level, but, on the whole, Nejd may be described as an open steppe, of which the western and southern portion is desert, or at best pasture land only capable of sup porting a nomad population; while in the north and east, owing to greater abundance of water, numerous fertile oases are found with a large settled population. (See ARABIA.) Nomadic tribes, following their flocks and herds over the steppe, have roamed over the territory from time immemorial, raiding the settled dwellers of the oasis in times of difficulty or scarcity. The four most prominent tribes of Bedouin are the Shammar, Harb, 'Ateba and Muter. The first-named represent that part of the great Shammar tribe which has. remained in its ancestral home on the southern edge of the Nafud (the northern branch long ago emigrated to Mesopotamia) ; many of its mem bers have settled down to town life, but the tribe still retains its Bedouin character. The Harb are probably the largest of the Bedouin tribes in the peninsula, and are divided into a number of sections. Their territory is the steppe between Kasim and Medina. The 'Ateba territory extends from near Mecca along the road leading thence to Kasim. The Muter occupy the desert from Kasim northwards towards Kuwet.
Nejd became nominally a dependency of the Turkish empire in 1871, when Midhat Pasha established a small garrison in El Hasa, and created a new civil district under the government of Basra, under the title of Nejd, with headquarters at Hofuf. Its real independence was not, however, affected, and the emirs, Mo hammed Ibn Rashid, at Hail, and Abdallah Ibn Sa'ud, at Riad, ruled in Western and Eastern Nejd respectively, until 1892, when the former, by his victory at 'Aneza, became emir of all Nejd. His successor, Abdul Aziz Ibn Rashid, was, however, unable to maintain his position, and in spite of Turkish support, sustained a severe defeat in 1905 at the hands of Ibn Sa'ud, who thus be came the dominant power in Nejd. By 1914 Ibn Sa'ud, with
his Wahhabi followers had wrested the province of Hasa from the Turks, and his power thus reached the Persian gulf. Remain ing inactive during the World War of 1914-18, Ibn Sa'ud in 1920 had captured and annexed Abha and other parts of Asir, leaving only the coastal strip. In 1921, Hail and the dominion of the amir of Jabal Shammar were in his possession, and by the end of 1925 he had overthrown the new Hashimite kingdom of the Hejaz. He was proclaimed at Jidda, in 1926, as king of Hejaz and sultan of Nejd. Thus, from his Nejd capital at Riyadh, Ibn Sa'ud rules over Desert Arabia.
His administration is patriarchal and his law the Sharia, ad ministered by Wahhabi officials. A few simple taxes. on cattle and possessions are collected. The chief administrative regions of the sultanate are Hasa; Aridh, with the town of Riyadh; Wadi Dawasir ; Aflaj ; Kharj; Sudair ; Mahmal; Washm; Qasim; Jabal Shammar, with the town of Hail; Jauf ; and numerous scattered oasis-groups, each ruled by an amir. Of the towns, Hufuf has a population of about 30,00o; Hail, Riyadh, Hauta, Anaiza, Buraida, Jauf, Mubarraz, Shagra and Sakaka have populations between 10,000 and 20,000. The entire population of Nejd is estimated at three millions. Besides the population of the towns men tioned above, and the nomadic tribes, there are many villages in hollows of the valleys that cut into parts of the high calcareous tableland. Travellers tell of countless numbers of these hollows, wherein is concentrated the fertility and much of the population of Nejd ; gardens, houses, cultivation and villages lie hidden from view among the depths while one journeys over the dry flats, till one comes suddenly on a mass of emerald green beneath.
The products of Nejd include dates, wheat, barley, hides, wool, fruit, saman (clarified butter), camels, sheep, horses, etc. The export of camels to Syria and Egypt is important. Tea, coffee, sugar, rice and piece-goods are imported. (See also under ARABIA.) Anne Blunt, Pilgrimage to Nejd (London, 1880 ; C. M. Doughty, Arabia Deserta (Cambridge, i885) ;. C. innerHi!ber, Journal dun voyage en Arabie (Paris, 1891) ; J. Euting, in inner Arabien (Leyden, 1896) ; E. Nolde, Reise each inner Arabien (Bruns wick, 1895) ; H. St. J. B. Philby, The Heart of Arabia (2 vols., 1922).