ABSTRACT
The land known as the Kingdom of Sa'udi Arabia covers the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, containing the Central Province of the Najd, the Western Provinces of the Hijaz and 'Asir, the Northern Province of Hail, and the Eastern Province of al-Ahsa. 'Abd al-'Aziz set out to consolidate his control over the tribes and villages of the Najd, steadily gaining territory first in the heart of Najd and gradually outward. The outbreak of World War I added yet another dimension to 'Abd al-'Aziz's fortunes, as it distracted the Great Powers and preoccupied his principal rival to the west, Sharif Husayn, the Hashimi amir of the Hijaz who spearheaded the Arab independence movement against the Turks. When the power center of Islam shifted from Mecca to Damascus and Baghdad and later to Istanbul In the centuries of Ottoman rule, the Hijaz became a vilayet, or province of the Ottoman empire.
