A.D. 1811 the Turks, who had quite lost their authority in Arabia,
requested Muhammad Ali of Egypt to put down the movement, and
reconquer the country. The first expedition, commanded by his son
Tussun, in its attempt to take Madinah, was nearly annihilated, but
succeeded the following year. Later on the campaign was conducted by
Muhammad Ali in person, and afterwards by his adopted son Ibrahim
Pasha, with considerable success. The final stronghold, ad-Diriyyah,
was captured in A.D. 1818, the Wahhabi chief captured, and sent first
to Egypt and then to Constantinople, where he was beheaded in December
of that year.

The Egyptian occupation of Arabia was followed by a renewal of the
Wahhabi movement, which eventually succeeded, in A.D. 1842, in driving
out the Egyptians, occupied as they were at the time with fighting the
Turks in Syria and Anatolia. Wahhabism was then re-established in some
parts, and independence in other parts, of the country; but on the
whole Wahhabism has never been very popular either in Arabia or India,
in which latter country it also has some followers. It may be regarded
as the latest sect of Islam, but does not make much progress.

Arabia may now be said to be under three different kinds of
government--_i.e._, partly under the Wahhabis, partly under the Turks,
and partly under independent rulers, while Aden has been held by the
English ever since its first capture in A.D. 1839. In other words, the
present position of Arabia may be more definitely described as
follows: Hasa, Hareek, the whole of Nejd, Kaseem, the provinces
adjoining Yaman on the north, and Aseer, forming a broad belt, and
stretching across the centre of the peninsula from the Red Sea to the
Persian Gulf, remain under Wahhabi influences. The Hijaz and some
sea-ports, such as Jedda and others, are at present absolutely under
the Turkish Government; while Bahrein, Oman and its capital Muscat,
and Yaman are more or less independent. Between Nejd and Syria a new
and promising kingdom has sprung up under Telal.

The time perhaps may come, and perhaps not far distant, when the Turks
will disappear altogether from Arabia, and Wahhabism and independent
tribes will alone remain. Another Muhammad or another Abdul Wahhab may
some day again appear, and bring together the tribes under one rule
for a time. It is doubtful, though, if ever the Arabs will again have
the power, talent, or enthusiasm to revive the glories of the Arabian
Empire,