The campaign of Ali Al-Kahiya or the campaign of Ali Al-Kikhia was a campaign that took place in the year 1213 AH/1798 AD and was led by Ali Pasha Al-Kakhiya or Al-Kahiya to invade Al-Ahsa in the year 1798 AD in preparation for the march towards Diriyah. This campaign came out in the wake of the collapse of the Thuwaini bin Abdullah Al-Saadoun campaign to stop the Wahhabi attacks against the cities. And in the valley of southern Ottoman Iraq, especially the pastures of Emirate of Muntafiq, after the assassination of Sheikh Thuwaini. In the year 1798 AD, Minister Sulayman Pasha the Great prepared a large campaign of men and weapons and supplemented it with units from the Shammar tribes led by Sheikh Faris bin Muhammad al-Jarba and Ali al-Kahiya. However, the campaign failed in its mission after a peace was established between the two parties.
The Start of The campaign (1798)
After the Wahhabis Spirits became so strong that they posed a real threat to the Ottoman Sultanate, the Sublime Porte asked Minister Sulayman Pasha the Great to eliminate the Wahhabi threat. The minister assigned this task to Sheikh Thuwaini Al-Saadoun after he returned the sheikhdom of Al-Muntafiq to him in the year 1796 AD. Thuwaini took advantage of that opportunity and announced a general mobilization. The Arabs of Al-Muntafiq and the people of Az Zubayr and Basra gathered at him, and then the governor provided him with an army that he met in Al-Jahra. Thuwaini headed his campaign south towards Al-Ahsa. However, Al-Saadoun's campaign was not able to achieve its goal, because he was assassinated by one of Bani Khalid’s slaves in a window near the sea on Wednesday, June 28, 1797 AD / Muharram 4, 1212 AH. The ranks of the Iraqi campaign became turbulent, and their turmoil increased after the withdrawal of Barak Al-Sardah from Bani Khalid. He joined Ibn Mishari's army, and the Iraqi army collapsed and was forced to retreat. The Al Saud forces chased it and seized much of its equipment, cannons, ammunition, and a lot of spoils
The impact of the killing of Sheikh Thuwaini Al-Saadoun was significant in Baghdad and the Sublime Porte. In Baghdad, his assassination caused panic and anxiety because the state relied on his skills in repelling the Wahhabi advance towards Iraq. Nasser bin Abdullah, Thuwaini’s brother, tried to reconcile the defeat of the army, as he wanted to return the ball to the Wahhabis, but Minister Sulayman Pasha the Great abandoned that idea and returned the sheikhdom of Al-Muntafiq to Hamoud Al-Thamer after he realized the enormity of what had happened. In Najd, the absence of Thuwaini was a great opportunity because he posed a threat to them, and the disintegration of his army gave a boost to morale. The Wahhabis attacked the outskirts of Al-Muntafiq in Ramadan 1212 AH/1797 AD and went to the village of Umm Al-Abbas, which is close to the Shuyoukh market, and plundered it. Hamoud Al-Thamer pursued them, but they escaped and returned to their homes. Which prompted the governor to prepare another campaign in 1798 AD, led by his daughter’s husband, “Ali Pasha al-Kahiya,” to invade Al-Ahsa in preparation for the march towards Diriyah.
The campaign (1798)
On Rabi’ al-Akhir 22, 1213 AH/October 2, 1798 AD, Sulayman Pasha the Great prepared a third major campaign and handed over its leadership to his deputy, Ali Pasha. The campaign consisted of Eighteen thousand with four thousand to five thousand Camels supported by an artillery column that was not very efficient, then an untrained force was added to it, an untrained force equivalent to twice the trained force from the Aqeel and Ubaid tribes and from the Shammar tribe led by Fares al-Jarba, and al-Muntafiq, led by Hamoud bin Thamer al-Saadoun. They were joined by the tribes of Al-Baij, Al-Zaqarit, Al-Qash’am, the people of Al-Zubayr, their prince Ibrahim Al-Thaqib, and groups from Al-Dhafeer. Al-Kahiya Muhammad Bey, the leader of the Ubaid tribe, was accompanied by an advisor on desert affairs, and those armies arrived in Basra on January 2, 1799, AD, then Al-Zubair, Al-Rawdhatain, and Al-Jahra, and the expedition rented boats from the Sheikh of Kuwait, Abdullah Al-Sabah, to transport heavy equipment to Al-Uqair. Ten thousand camels carried water and other necessities, but their number was rapidly decreasing. The hardships of walking required many stops for many days. Given Ali Pasha's ignorance of military affairs and his poor treatment of the tribal leaders on whom he had to depend, many predicted the campaign's failure and collapse even before it took action.