Search results
Ibn Saud was the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, Emir of Nejd, and Sara bint Ahmed Al Sudairi. The family were exiled from their residence in the city of Riyadh in 1890. Ibn Saud reconquered Riyadh in 1902, starting three decades of conquests that made him the ruler of nearly all of central and north Arabia.
Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud Crown Prince 2011 – 2012. Nayef was one of the so-called “Sudairi seven,” a powerful group of seven princes born to Ibn Saud’s favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi. In 1975, he was made Interior Minister. Nayef succeeded Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud as heir to the throne in October 2011.
Sep 11, 2020 · The Imam of the Grand Mosque of Makkah, Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Sudais on 11 June 2004 [ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images]
- Overview
- The young leader
- Role of religion in Ibn Saud’s policy
- Foundation of Saudi Arabia
Ibn Saud, (born c. 1880, Riyadh, Arabia—died November 9, 1953, Al-Ṭāʾif, Saudi Arabia), tribal and Muslim religious leader who formed the modern state of Saudi Arabia and initiated the exploitation of its oil.
The Sauds ruled much of Arabia from 1780 to 1880, but, while Ibn Saud was still an infant, his family, driven out by their rivals, the Rashīds, became penniless exiles in Kuwait. In 1901 Ibn Saud, then 21, set out from Kuwait with 40 camel men in a bold attempt to regain his family’s lands.
Britannica Quiz
Kings and Emperors (Part III) Quiz
Reaching their old family capital, Riyadh, the little group slipped into the town by night (January 1902). The Rashīdī governor slept in the castle but came out every morning after dawn. Ibn Saud lay hidden until the governor emerged. Then, rushing forward with his men, he killed him and seized the castle. This exploit roused the former supporters of his dynasty. They rallied to so magnetic a leader, and in two years of raids and skirmishes Ibn Saud reconquered half of central Arabia.
Ibn Saud decided, in the years before World War I, to revive his dynasty’s support for Wahhābism, an extremist Muslim puritan revival. Ibn Saud was in fact a devoted puritan Muslim. To him the Qurʾān was literally the word of God, and his life was regulated by it. Yet he was also aware that religious fanaticism could serve his ambition, and he deliberately fostered it, founding a militantly religious tribal organization known as the Ikhwān (Brethren). This fanatical brotherhood encouraged his followers to fight and to massacre their Arab rivals, and it helped him to bring many nomadic tribesmen under more immediate control.
He was able to persuade the religious leaders to declare it a religious duty of all Wahhābīs to abandon nomadism and to build houses at the desert wells. Thus settled, they could more easily be levied into his army. But the scheme was unrealistic: nomads who sold their flocks were often unable to cultivate and were reduced to penury. The destitution of the more fanatical tribes, however, made them more eager to raid, and Ibn Saud was not slow to suggest that they plunder the subjects of Ibn Rashīd.
Special offer for students! Check out our special academic rate and excel this spring semester!
Learn More
During World War I Ibn Saud entered into a treaty with the British (December 1915), accepting protectorate status and agreeing to make war against Ibn Rashīd, who was being supported by the Turks. But, despite British arms and a subsidy of £5,000 a month from the British government (which continued until 1924), he was inactive until 1920, arguing that his subsidy was insufficient. During 1920–22, however, he marched against Ibn Rashīd and extinguished Rashīdī rule, doubling his own territory but without significantly increasing his meagre revenue.
Ibn Saud now ruled central Arabia except for the Hejaz region along the Red Sea. This was the territory of Sharīf Ḥusayn of Mecca, who had become king of the Hejaz during the war and who declared himself caliph (head of the Muslim community) in 1924. Sharīf Ḥusayn’s son ʿAbd Allāh had become ruler of Transjordan in 1921, and another son, Fayṣal, king of Iraq. Ibn Saud, fearing encirclement by this rival dynasty, decided to invade the Hejaz. He was then at the height of his powers; his strong personality and extraordinary charm had won the devotion of all his subjects. A skillful politician, he worked closely with the religious leaders, who always supported him. Relying on the Ikhwān to eliminate his Arab rivals, he sent them to raid his neighbours, then cabled the British, whose imperial interests were involved, that the raid was against his orders. In 1924 the Ikhwān took Mecca, and the Hejaz was added to his dominions.
This battle opened a new era: thereafter Ibn Saud’s task was government, not conquest. In 1932 he formally unified his domains into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An absolute monarch, he had no regular civil service or professional administrators. All decisions were made by him or by those he personally delegated for a particular task. There was little money, and he himself was not interested in finance. In May 1933 Ibn Saud signed his first agreement with an American oil company. Not until March 1938 did the company strike oil, and work virtually ceased during World War II, so that Ibn Saud was again nearly penniless.
Saudi Arabia took no part in the war, but toward its end the exploitation of oil was resumed. By 1950 Ibn Saud had received a total of about $200,000. Three years later, he was getting some $2,500,000 a week. The effect was disastrous on the country and on Ibn Saud. He had no idea of what to do with all the money, and he watched helplessly the triumph of everything he hated. His austere religious views were offended. The secluded, penurious, hard, but idealistic life of Arabia was vanishing. Such vast sums of money drew half the swindlers in the Middle East to this puritan religious sanctum. Ibn Saud was unable to cope with financial adventurers. His last years were marked by severe physical and emotional deterioration. He died at Al-Ṭāʾif in 1953.
- John Bagot Glubb
King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Bin Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud (1877 - 1953) was the founder and unifier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its first king. He was titled the Sultan, Ibn Saud, and Mu'azi (comforter), and was known as Abu Turki.
All of these carry the surname "bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud" for men and "bint Abdul Aziz Al Saud" for women. Ibn Saud is the father of all the Kings of Saudi Arabia that have succeeded him. King Saud succeeded his father as regent of Saudi Arabia in 1953, three months after being appointed Prime Minister by his father.
People also ask
Who is bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud?
Who was King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud?
Who was Ibn Saud & mu'azi?
How did Jawhara bint Faisal help Ibn Saud?
Who is King Abdulaziz?
Who is Mohammed bin Salman?
Ridwan, Samsul Bahri Hasibuan, Usman Supendi and Ajid Thohir (2024) “The Wahhabi Movement and Abdul Aziz Al-Saud in the Formation of the Third Period Saudi Dynasty (Emirate of Riyadh 1901-1932 AD)”, al-Afkar, Journal For Islamic Studies, 7(1), pp. 521–532. doi: 10.31943/afkarjournal.v7i1.827.
