1517-1650 CE
From 1517 to 1650 CE, the Bedouins remained unconquered in the unconquerable desert — Ottoman governors controlled the coasts and cities, but the Rub' al Khali knew no master save the tribes who had crossed its sands since before Muhammad. They raided caravans and guarded pilgrims for payment, swore fealty to sultans they never saw, and lived by codes older than Islam in a world where the only law was hospitality and vengeance.