We do not know the date of Abduluziz's accession, bu: he held the reins of government till May 1803, when he was assassinated at Darail, his capital, when praying in a mosque, by an Arab, whose daughter he had long before carried off by force. No sooner was the Arab bereft of his daughter, than he sold his property, and, persevering in his thirst for revenge, he followed the motions of the seducer, till he seized his prey at the mosque of Darail.
The \Vahabee superstition made rapid strides over the whole peninsula, during the reign of this prince. Even some of the tribes of the Great Desert acknow ledged the new faith ; and when they pillaged the bury ing place of Hossein at Arbela, so highly venerated by the followers of Ali, they remitted a share of thc plun der to Abduluziz, for charitable purposes.
The present Imam of Sana, who succeeded his father in 1774, was deserted by the Sherriffe of Abou Arish, whom he had appointed Dola of Loheia. Encouraged by the success of this Sherriffe, the different Sheicks re nounced their allegiance to the Imam. They werc, how ever, soon reduced to subjection by the \Vahabee, who forcibly converted Abou Arish to the new faith, stripped him of his property, and commanded him to indemnify himself in Yemen. The subjugated Sherriffe obeyed the orders of the conqueror ; and recognising Suud, the son of Abduluziz, as his sovereign, he carried victory and desolation to the gates of Mocha.
The ambitious Wahabce now aspired to the posses sion of Mecca and Medina, the chief cities in the king dom. Galib, the present Sherriffe, was so unpopular among his subjects, from his cruelties and extortions, that even his brother-in-law, Mozeife, deserted to the \Vahabee. In January 1803, Abduluziz entrusted Mo zeife with the command of twelve thousand men, who, in several battles, defeated the cruel Slicrriffe. In Fe bruary, Mozeile laid siege to Tayil, which contained the fine palaces al;d gardens of Galib. It was defended by the Sherriffe in person for several days, till his sus picions were roused by the escape of his nephew Ab dullah to Mecca during the night. Dreading that Ab dullah would be proclaimed at Mecca, he set fire to his palace, and abandoned Tayif to the unbridled soldiery. Eight hundred males were put to the sword ; several of the houses were burned, and all of them plundered. All the holy tombs were destroyed, and even the splen did monument which was erected over the grave of Ebn Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet.
Mozeife being made governor of Tayif, Abduluziz appointed his eldest son Suud to the command of the ic to rio u s army. On the 26th of April, 1803, Suud marched to the walls of Mecca. Galib was panic-struck
at his approach ; retired during the night with his trea sures to Jidda, and left his brother behind him, to make 'the most favourable terms with the enemy. On the 27th of April, Mecca, which, for more than a thousand years, had never been stained with the foot of an ene my, surrendered to the brave Suud, who scrupulously fulfilled the terms of capitulation, and respected both the property and the persons of the inhabitants. Eighty splendid tombs, however, the glory and ornament of the city, and hallowed by the ashes which they inclosed, were levelled with the ground, and the monument of Cadiga, the wife of Mahomet, shared the same fate with the tombs of his descendants. The religious fury of the \Vahabee was next directed to the coffee-houses. The hookahs were piled up and' burned, and the use of coffee and tobacco was prohibited under the severest •penalties. In other respects, the conduct of the victors was marked with moderation. Suud confirmed the Cadi appointed by the Grand Seignior, and wrote to him the following letter :— cc I entered Mecca on the 4th day of Moharem, in the 1218th year of the Hegira, (1803.) I kept peace towards the inhabitants. I destroyed all the tombs which they idolatrously worshipped. I established the levy ing of all customs above 21 per cent. I confirmed the Cadi whom you had appointed to govern in the place, agreeably to the commands of Mahomet. I desire, that, in the ensuing years, you will give orders to the pachas of Shaun', Syria, Misr, and Egypt, not to come accom panied by the mahamel, (the richly ornamented cover ing for the Caaba,) trumpets and drums, into Mecca and Medina. For why ? Religion is not profited by those things. Peace be between us; and may the blessing of God be unto you! Dated on the 10th day of Zioharem." (3d. of May.) Suud marched his army against Jidda on the llth of May, and endeavoured to take the town by storm ; but the preparations of the Sherriffe, who had covered the walls with cannon from the vessels, frustrated every at tempt By cutting off the supplies of water, however, which destroyed many of the inhabitants in the course of nine days, Galib was compelled to offer Suud a sum of money to abandon the siege. It had just been agreed that he should receive a lac and 30,000 dollars, when intelligence of the death of his father induced him to return instantly to Darail. Mecca afterwards came the possession of the Sherriffe ; but Tayif, which is such a delightful spot, that the Arabs regard it as a part of Syria, which had been detached during the general de luge, remained under the power of Mozeife.