| The Ikhwan was the Wahhabi religious
militia which formed the main military force of the Arabian ruler
Ibn Saud and played a key role in establishing him as ruler of
most of the Arabian Peninsula, in his new state of Saudi Arabia.
The Ikhwan were made up of Bedouin that had converted to
Wahhabism. After the conquest of the Hijaz in 1926 brought all of
the current Saudi state under Ibn Saud's control, the monarch
found himself in some conflict with elements of the Ikhwan. He
succeeded in crushing the Ikhwan's resistance in 1929, following
which the militia was reorganised as the Saudi Arabian National
Guard. |
