Editing History of Saudi Arabia (section)

==Umayyad and Abbasid periods==
After the fall of the Umayyad empire in 750 CE, most of what was to become Saudi Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule soon after the initial Muslim conquests, and remained a shifting patchwork of tribes and tribal [[emirate]]s and confederations of varying durability.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: History of Arabia">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia Encyclopædia Britannica Online: History of Arabia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503091224/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia |date=3 May 2015 }} retrieved 18 January 2011</ref><ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Saudi Arabia History">{{cite encyclopedia |author=Joshua Teitelbaum |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525348/Saudi-Arabia/214601/History?anchor=ref484613 |title=Saudi Arabia History |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=18 January 2013 |archive-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219020050/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525348/Saudi-Arabia/214601/History?anchor=ref484613 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Muawiyah I]], the first [[Umayyad]] caliph, took an interest in his native Mecca, erecting buildings and digging wells.<ref name="Houtsma1993p441" /> Under his [[Umayyad Caliphate#First Marwanids|Marwanid]] successors, Mecca became the abode of poets and musicians. Even then, Medina eclipsed Mecca in importance for much of the Umayyad period, as it was home to the new Muslim aristocracy.<ref name="Houtsma1993p441" /> Under [[Yazid I]], the revolt of [[Abd Allah bin al-Zubair]] brought Syrian troops to Mecca.<ref name="Houtsma1993p441" /> An accident led to a fire that destroyed the Kaaba, which was later rebuilt by [[Ibn al-Zubair]].<ref name="Houtsma1993p441" /> In 747, a Kharidjit rebel from Yemen seized Mecca unopposed, but he was soon defeated by [[Marwan II]].<ref name="Houtsma1993p441" /> In 750, Mecca, along with the rest of the caliphate, passed to the Abbasids.<ref name="Houtsma1993p441">{{cite book|author=M. Th. Houtsma|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&pg=PA441|access-date=12 June 2013|year=1993|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004097919|pages=441–442|archive-date=6 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506224104/https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&pg=PA441|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Sharifate of Mecca===
{{Main|Sharifate of Mecca}}
[[File:Arabia%2C Egypt%2C Nubia and Abyssinia 1883 map.jpg|thumb|Atlas map of 1883]]
[[File:Arabia 1914.png|thumb|The Arabian Peninsula in 1914]]

From the 10th century (and, in fact, until the 20th century) the [[Hashemite]] [[Sharif of Mecca|Sharifs of Mecca]] maintained a state in the most developed part of the region, the [[Hejaz]]. Their domain originally comprised only the holy cities of Mecca and Medina but in the 13th century, it was extended to include the rest of the Hejaz. Although the Sharifs exercised at most times independent authority in the Hejaz, they were usually subject to the [[suzerainty]] of one of the major Islamic empires of the time. In the Middle Ages, these included the [[Abbasids]] of [[Baghdad]], and the [[Fatimids]], [[Ayyubids]], and [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] of Egypt.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: History of Arabia" />