Shammari - House of Al Rashid

House of Al Rashid

(See also; Rashidis)

The House of Rasheed (Arabic: آل رشيد Āl Rashid or Alrasheed) were a historic Shammar dynasty on the Arabian Peninsula. They were the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud in Nejd. They were centered in Ha'il, a city in northern Nejd that derived its wealth from being on the route of the Hajj.

The Al Rasheed derived their name from the grandfather of Abdullah, the first Rasheedi amir of Ha'il, who was named Rasheed. The Rasheedi emirs cooperated closely with the Ottoman Empire. However, this cooperation became problematic as the Ottomans lost popularity.

As with many Arab dynasties, the lack of a generally accepted rule of succession was a recurrent problem with Rasheedi rule. The internal dispute normally centered on whether succession should be horizontal (i.e. to a brother) or vertical (to a son). These divisions within the family led to bloody infighting. In the last years of the nineteenth century six Rasheedi leaders died violently. Nevertheless The Al Rasheed family continued to rule and fight together against Ibn Saud.

Saudi Arabia- The first twenty years of the 20th century on the Arabian Peninsula featured a long-running series of wars as the Saudis and their allies sought to unite the peninsula. While the Al Rasheed rallied the majority of other tribes to their side, the effort proved futile, and by 1921 Ha'il was captured and given to Ibn Saud's army by the British command. Some members of the Rasheed family left the country and went into voluntary exile, mostly to Iraq. By the 1990s only a handful were still outside Saudi Arabia.