in 1744, in the desert region of nejd, muhammad bin saud, founder of the al saud dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader muhammad ibn abd al-wahhab. muhammad ibn abd al-wahhab was the founder of the wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of sunni islam. this alliance formed in the 18th century provided the ideological impetus to saudi expansion and remains the basis of saudi arabian dynastic rule today. the first "saudi state" established in 1744 in the area around riyadh, rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of saudi arabia, but was destroyed by 1818 by the ottoman viceroy of egypt, mohammed ali pasha. in 1824, a much smaller second "saudi state", located mainly in nejd, was established in 1824, but by 1891 its al saud rulers were driven into exile in kuwait.