Did Ibn Saud’s militants cause 400,000 casualties? Myths and evidence about the Wahhabi conquests, 1902–1925

Abstract

ABSTRACTNo fewer than 15 recent books repeat the claim that Ibn Saud’s militants killed or wounded 400,000–800,000 people during the Wahhabi conquest of the Arabian Peninsula between 1902 and 1925. In this paper, I uncover the origins of this disturbing statistic and challenge its validity. On the basis of primary-source data—especially the reports of British agents and observers working in the Arabian Peninsula at the time—I argue that the number of people killed and wounded during the Wahhabi conquests, while still great, has been wildly exaggerated, and I propose a more realistic casualty estimate.