Qasr Al-Hukm
oldest surviving heritage landmark in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Al-Hukm Palace (Arabic: قصر الحكم, romanized: Qaṣr al-Ḥukm, lit. 'Governance Palace') or The Ruling Palace, originally Ibn Dawwas Palace, and also known as the al-ʽAdl Palace (Arabic: قصر العدل, romanized: Qaṣr al-ʿAdl, lit. 'Justice Palace'), so called from the public square it overlooks from the south, is a historic palace and a popular cultural heritage landmark in the ad-Dirah neighbourhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located directly opposite to Imam Turki bin Abdullah Grand Mosque in the Qasr al-Hukm District. It is the historic site where tribal leaders and members of the Saudi royal family have been pledging allegiance to the country's political leadership. It was built in 1747 by Dahham ibn Dawwas alongside the city wall to safeguard the walled town from invaders and intruders. In the 1820s, Turki bin Abdullah, after gaining control of Najd, shifted the royal family's center of power from Diriyah to the walled town of Riyadh due to the former's severe destruction in a brutal siege during the Ottoman–Wahhabi War of 1818 as well as the town’s Ottoman sacking in 1821.
Once the administrative headquarters of the fortress-city within the erstwhile walls, it was built by Daham bin Dawwas in 1747 and is the oldest structure in Riyadh that was razed and rebuilt on numerous occasions over the course of time. It was also the official residences of several royals of the first and second Saudi states and today serves as the main office of the governor of Riyadh.
History
Establishment and the First Saudi State
Qasr al-Hukm traces its origins to the reign of Deham bin Dawas al-Shalaan in 1747, the-then ruler of Riyadh oasis who built a fortified palace for himself. He abandoned the palace and fled Riyadh for Bani Khalid-ruled al-Hasa when Muhammad ibn Saud's forces advanced towards the city in 1773.
During Second Saudi State
Following the defeat of the First Saudi State in the aftermath of the Ottoman–Wahhabi war in 1818, the palace was inhabited by Mishari bin Muhammad bin Muammar, who ruled as Riyadh's emir under the Ottoman-backed Egyptian tutelage until 1824, when Turki bin Abdullah al-Saud recaptured the city and rebuilt the palace after reinstating the Second Saudi State.
As Diriyah was dilapidated by the Egyptian forces in 1818, as a result, Qasr al-Hukm was eventually made the new center of power for the House of Saud by Turki bin Abdullah.
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