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Abdullah bin Saud succeeded his father Saud bin Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad al Saud in 1814 and ruled until 1818. While the House of Saud had many successes under Saud, they had also managed to get into a war with the Ottoman Empire. As such, Abdullah was almost immediately faced with the prospect of having to face an army under the command of Muhammad Ali. Ali's forces quickly retook Mecca and Madinah. The Saudi forces were heavily outnumbered and outequipped, so they retreated to the Nejd. However, Ali followed them there and laid siege to the traditional Saudi capital of Al'Dariyah for two years, finally taking it in 1818. This brought the downfall of the First Saudi State and saw the Ottomans reintroducing their influence into Arabia with the building of numerous garrisons.
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