Towards the latter part of the 18th century the sect became very numerous, powerful, and fanatical. In 1803 they laid siege to Mecca and Medina, and took them, slaughtering all who would not embrace their doctrines. They held these holy cities until tho year 1809, when the legions of Egypt and Turkey were poured in against them. After many sanguinary engage ments, tho Wahabees were defeated, but not exter minated. It was aping the political power of this sect that the Indo-British army and navy fought the battles of ltas-ul-Khyrna and Beni-bu Ali in 1819 and 1821. This sect has got adherents throughout all India, and some of its members seem early to have orgmaized a conspiracy against the British Government.
In 1865 Faisal-ibn-Saood died, an old man, and blind. IIe was a saintly personage, and had been a powerful ruler. During his long reign lie had restored the 1Vahabee power, and had become master of nearly two-thirds of the Penin sula. With his death there occurred one of those wars of succession which have always been the 'misfortune of Arabia. Their reforming views spread into British India. in the early part of the 19th century, and agitated all the Muliammadans, as well as the Government, and many Europeans have regarded the presence of the sect as a cause of danger. In this they have merely adopted the opinions of the non-reformers, and Wahabee has come to be applied to any devout Muhammadan, even good,devout men,leading pure and holy lives, earnestly seeking for the truth, cultivating litera ture assiduously ; but they are compelled by the multitude of ordinary people to retiee into the peaceful shade, as the purity of their lives begets for them the objectionable name of Wahabee. The sect is simply an extreme form of Musalman puritanism. Its holy war is directed inore against the supposed moral and ceremonial excrescences of modern Islam itself, than against the outside world of infidels. The supreme tribunals of Islant have unanitnously and solemnly declared that India, under its present tolerant and equal govern ment, is certainly not Dar-ul-harb (` the country of the enemy ') upon whose rulers war should be waged by the faithful ; and consequently no Indian Waltabee, who has not utterly broken with the orthodox portion of his church, can bo dia. loyal on merely religious grounds. It is doubtless the case that the tendency of the Walt abee preach ing is to encourage sedition, or at least a feeling of disloyalty ; the history of the world teaches us that iconoclastic fanaticism is always apt to spread from religion into politics. Ilut the Indian Wahabee who is disloyal to the Ilritish Indian Government would probably be equally disloyal if his sovereign were the Sultan of Turkey, the Khedive of Egypt, or the Grand Sheriff' of Mecca. There are a good many Ennui in Eastern Bengal, who are.to all in tents aud purposes Waliabees, and their ignorance has on occasion been roused into sedition, and even into open disturbance, by the combined action of fanaticism and jxwerty. It is true, however, that there him existed an active propaganda of fanatic Wahabee Mullahs at great Musalman centres. Still, these fanatics are distinctly regarded as 'melt by the vatit bulk of the Musalinan community throughout India, who are generally peaceable and industrious citizens, and look on the fanatics with dislike tempered only by indifference. Tho Musalman community themselves would be the last to say that it does not behove the Government carefully to look after this fanatic organization.
In India tho sect are undoubtedly the most intelligent of the Muhammadan races and sects, but the Wahabee aro still numerous in Northern and Eastern Arabia.
Mr. William 'rayler, in 1857, was the Com missioner of Patna at the very outset of the revolt, and he placed the leading mulvies (among whom was the notorious Ahmad-Allah) under precautionary surveillance, thereby para lyzing the entire body. Bewail Mowla Baksh, the deputy magistrate, devoted himself in loyal co-operation with him, and seven years afterwards received the Star of Iudia. Wilayat Ali Khan, the most influential citizen of Patna, cast in his lot from the very first with the British authorities. and did inestimable service, for which he received neither commendation nor reward. Kazi-Rainzan Ali and many others behaved well. In the middle of the century, acting from I'atna as their head quarters, tho Wahabees eugaged for many years in treasonable practices, sending men and arms and treasure beyond the frontiers for the purpose of raising and waging a jahad or religious war against the British. Notwithstanding the events of the inutiny, the Wahabee mulviea or preachers in Patna redoubled their exertions to collect recruits and money for a jailed. Emissaries were sent to all parts of the country to preach and induce men to join in the undertaking. Thousands of quiet villagers from Lower and Eastern Bengal flocked t,o Patna, where they were entertained for a few days at Sadikpur, and thence sent forward in bands of eight or ten through Ainbala to the 3fulka Sittana IIills. Then followed the Frontier War in 1863, under Brigadier Chamberlain, which cost the British Indian Government much trouble, no small amount of treasure, and many valuable lives, there having fallen in that short campaign 847 European and native officers and men. Even whilst the war was being waged, the Wahabeo mulvies at Patna were sending, in large quan tities, gold molturs and hoondies for tho support of the rebels; and although the rebellion was crushed, temporary failure but stimulated them to renewed exertions, openly preaching sedition in every village of the most populous diAricts, un settling the minds of the Muhammadan population, and obtaining an influence for evil a.s extraordinary as it was certain. Generally they repudiate the mune of Wallabee. Most of the beef-butchers of Hyderabad, Madras, and Bangalore are of this sect. Contrasting the practice of Islam in these days with the pure deism inculcated by the Koran, Sir John 3falcolm justly- remarks :— "rho followers of the prophet of Arabia have relaxed from the principles of their religion, and have granted a species of adoration not only to Ent and his innnediate descendants, but to a number of learned or pious men who have been canonized as saints. The feelings of gratitude and veneration which the conduct of individuals first created, have grown by excessive indulgence, and by the ardour of passions excited by contrary opinions, into sacred reverence and .devotion. Their very garments have become relics of In estimable value ; and in the course of tune the same properties have been assigned to them as are supposed to have belonged to their possessors.' From this common progress of superstition hardly one of the numerous sects into which the Muham madan religion is divided, can be deemed exempt. —Hist. of Persia, 377 ; Niebultr's Tr ii. 131 ; Jahan Numa, p. 523 ; Wellsted's 7'r. i. 5 ; Burton's Mecca, Hi. 272 ; Playfair's Aden ; Badger, imams of Oman, p. 63 ; Palgrare's Arabia, i. 865.